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Forum Discussion
Links/syncing stopped working for InDesign files in Dropbox, after Adobe InDesign crashed.
Application Affected
Dropbox and Adobe InDesign
Device
iMac M3 - 2023
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
MacOS Tahoe 26.3.1 (a)
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
244.4.6580
In advanced, I'm sorry for my long text and spelling errors)
I have a shared Dropbox with my colleges, and I work from home. Earlier this week I was working in InDesign, and it crashed while I was working. A message said it was a serious error, but no info what the error was about. (I have attached several screenshots below) Anyway, I started InDesign again, but the document I was working on could not be opened, because it was damaged. I work as a freelance book designer, but luckily for me I was only working on a book cover, and not the inside of the book. It was annoying, but not the end of the world.
This was just the beginning. Now every single time I open an InDesign document from Dropbox, all the links is just shown as blank, like there is nothing there. It's just like a white new document, with nothing there, only the text. Nothing is linked anymore, and I have to link every singe images again. Let's say I have 50 images in a folder, it doesn't link everything at once, which is crazy annoying and extremely time consuming. Sometimes when I open a document in InDesign it seems fine for one second, but then all the images shows up like "crazy art" (screenshot 2) After I link an image, it seems to be okay the next time I open the document, luckily. But I have a lot of book projects and it's a crazy amount of time fixing everything manually.
I also get weird messages when opening a document (the bottom screenshots)
It also seems to be a problem when I have a document open, and want to edit a picture. I choose to open the picture in Photoshop, and edit there. When saving the document, it usually update the file in InDesign automatically, but not now. I guess it's just a part of the same problem.
I have no idea what to do to fix the problem. All Indesign documents on my computer is fine, so the problem is only between Dropbox and Indesign, and not InDesign alone. I always work with the documents/folders (available offline) and I have never had a problem with this before the crash.
I have already contacted Dropbox customer service. After a lot of back and forth, they said the problem is with Adobe. Then I contacted Adobe (which has terrible customer service) and they told me the problem is Dropbox. So here I am, with no clue on how to fix the problem.
I have restarted Indsign and Dropbox, but nothing changed. I don't know what will happen with new documents placed in dropbox yet, but fingers crossed the issue will not effect new work. Time will show after the Holiday.
Happy Stressfull Easter to me I guess :P
3 Replies
- Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
I’m glad to hear that seemed to help a bit, even though I understand it may not be the most ideal workaround.
As for your new projects, the only way to know for sure is by adding them to Dropbox and working on them; we can’t be certain otherwise, unfortunately.
And thanks for clarifying what I asked! All good.
Hi Nancy,
Thank you for getting back to me. I just tried, and it didn't change anything. But what did work was when I opened the document, and linked one picture. Then I saved it, and when reopening the document, I tried to relink the next picture, and THEN it found the rest of the pictures in that folder. I guess that is the way to go. My only question is if this will happen to all new projects added to Dropbox as well, or if it only did affect what was already there.
Yes, I see I have got an email, and I will get back to that. Today has just been crazy busy, but I will report back for sure.
I guess my wording was maybe not correct, but I have my own Dropbox account, that I pay for myself. But I get access to all the project folders from the client I work for. They give me access to only the folders I need, to do my job, so it's not shared login or anything like that. I hope that helps, and is what you needed to get clarified?- Nancy
Thanks for your post on our forum, Frogbert!
If you copy one of your InDesign files, paste it out of the Dropbox folder and try to open it then, are you still experiencing the same issues?
I’ve also located your ticket with our support team in the meantime and left an internal note to them on your behalf. I can see that they’ve replied to you, so please take the time to go through their response, in case you haven’t already.
Finally, and as a side note, can you please clarify what you mean when saying that you have a shared Dropbox with your colleagues? I just want to make sure that you’re not all accessing the same Dropbox account with the same credentials, as this can pose a security risk, and it’s also against our Terms of Service.
Keep me posted for any updates.
