This article is based on content at this page at tech.svija.love.
Most Illustrator users are familiar with the “Could not find the linked file…” dialog box:
This happens when a document or its linked images have been moved, and paths to the placed images have changed.
An Easy Solution
There is an easy way to make sure that Illustrator can always find placed images: put them in a folder called “links” in the same parent folder:
Whenever Illustrator can’t find an image, it looks for a folder called links in the same place as the open document.
Now, you can move the parent folder wherever you want and never worry about breaking links to any placed images.
This behavior is useful in working with Svija, but it is also useful for any other project done with Adobe Illustrator.
When Images Go Missing
Occasionally, Illustrator will link to images that are in the wrong place. This usually happens when a project has been copied.
To fix this and other problems, Svija Tools includes a button labeled Reset Image Links:
This tool will automatically repair linked images:
- if the image is in the same folder as the .ai file, it will be moved to a links folder
- if the image is elsewhere on the computer, it will be copied to the links folder
- if the image is embedded and the original is still available, it will be copied to the links folder and converted to a linked image
- if the image is embedded and the original cannot be found, it will be highlighted in yellow