New Image Database, old InDesign Files

[CaptainofInd]

So we are updating our entire database, using Adobe Lightbox 1.2

Is there anyway we can set it so our InDesign files update as well? I'm just dreading having to relink 100+ page files the next time we open them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jerryrock]

I think you mean Adobe Lightroom. The latest version is 1.3 and it does not support InDesign files.

 

[CaptainofInd]

Spoke too quickly

I apologize. I put that in hastily.

We currently don't use any software to manage our files. We convert all our raws in Picture Project, store it on our server in an appropriate folder, touch it up in Photoshop, and invariably bring it into layout in InDesign.

With the number of images coming in for one client increasing exponentially, we decided we need to organize everything better.

My question is, once we pull all of our files into a communal location, is there a way to preserve/alter the path InDesign looks so that it will remember where we moved the file?

Or are we just going to be spending forever relinking?

Thanks again!

 

[snickelfritz]

Have you packaged the InDesign files?
This tidies-up the image links, so they always reside in a folder called "links".

If this is true, you can simply move the InDesign files to the same directory as the communal image directory, then rename the image directory to "links".
InDesign will still be looking for the "links" directory; the fact that it is a different "links" directory should not be a problem as long as the linked images are in there.

This probably won't be useful if you haven't packaged the InDesign files, or used a consistent naming convention and directory structure for your InDesign projects, though.

 

[shecky]

this is really pretty simple. when you move the links and reopen any ID doc, it will pull up a dialog asking if you want to fix the links. point to the new directory where the links for the files are, and as long as they are in the same relational directories they were when you made the file originally, ID will automatically fix all the links for you. in other words, if the images started out in:

user/mac hd/documents/project1/images/

and after your reorganization you moved all the images to

user/mac hd/documents/projects/2008/march/clientname/projectname/images

you can just point to the above directory and it will automatically relink all the images inside that /images/ directory.

where this could get more complex is if you are moving images all over the place. so instead of all the images living in /images/, some are in /dogs/ some in /cats/ some in /people/ etc.... in that case you would need to relink more manually.

like snick said, if you package each ID job before moving your images, the links will all live in the "links" folder of your package instead of somewhere on a drive.