Comparing InDesign linked files.

April 1, 2009 1:03 PM

Looking for a way to compare linked filed in InDesign with the linked files in folder that contains both said files and other unlinked ones.

The paper I work for has a workflow setup where the person laying out a publication has access to a folder full of new and or updated ads for the week. Is there a fast and easy way to confirm that all the ads in that folder are placed in the publication.


We place files from several location, so I can't just package up and compare the total number of files from the package vs the new ad folder.

posted by travis08 to computers & internet (11 comments total)

The Links palette seems fastest, just click on a file in the palette and it'll tell you where it's stored.

Under the submenu in the palette, there's also an option to open the containing folder the file is in.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:11 PM on April 1

Brandon, I already know where the linked files are stored. I need to be able to look at a folder full of files and see which ones are linked or not.

I do this to ensure that all the new ads for the week have been inserted. BTW I am on OSX.

Thanks though.
posted by travis08 at 1:25 PM on April 1

I need to be able to look at a folder full of files and see which ones are linked or not.

Maybe I'm being dense, but why? And what are the other files doing in the folder? Maybe if they're not involved with the current issue they shouldn't be in the folder and anyone who does put ads in that folder for stuff not of this week is taken out back and beaten (this is how we do it at the paper I work at).
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:35 PM on April 1

They are for that current issue. I want to be able to confirm that all of the files in that folder are placed.
posted by travis08 at 2:24 PM on April 1

How many files we talking about here? This sounds overly complicated, like I'm not getting something. How can you not be sure the PDFs are placed, don't you a layout guide that shows what ads are supposed to go where and can't you verify using that?

I don't think there's any native capability to do this in Indesign. Otherwise it would just have to be done manually via comparing the Package report vs the actual files in the folder.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:00 PM on April 1

Temporarily move all of the new files out of their folder. Open the Links palette and make sure that all your links show up as broken. If any do not, they are still linked to the old version of that link.
posted by misterbrandt at 3:18 PM on April 1 [1 favorite]

It sounds to me like you might want to make use of collections labels in Adobe Bridge. There's an overview of the feature here. You'll have to build a collection and label the images that are current, but you can update the labels or collection as the ads change.
posted by ashabanapal at 5:10 PM on April 1

"How many files we talking about here? This sounds overly complicated, like I'm not getting something. How can you not be sure the PDFs are placed, don't you a layout guide that shows what ads are supposed to go where and can't you verify using that?"

Sometimes up to around 50 ads. Yes we have a layout guide, but its an alt. weekly, and stuff gets shuffled around all the way until we send out for press. We have a common folder that we all put new ads into, so if there was an easy way to check that the ads contained inside have been placed it would make for a quick way to check that nothing got missed.



"Temporarily move all of the new files out of their folder. Open the Links palette and make sure that all your links show up as broken. If any do not, they are still linked to the old version of that link"

That's getting closer, it would show me is an ad wasn't updated from last weeks file, but not if there are any new ads that have been missed. Also we sometimes are pulling ads and other resources from multiple folders so not all of the links would break.



"It sounds to me like you might want to make use of collections labels in Adobe Bridge."

We know what ads are current, I just wanted a way to confirm that all of the files in a folder (or collection) of current ads are placed.
posted by travis08 at 8:26 PM on April 1

That's getting closer, it would show me is an ad wasn't updated from last weeks file, but not if there are any new ads that have been missed.

Not trying to be snarky, but why not count them? the Package tool will tell you the # of links even if you cancel before actually packaging (I can't remember if the Links Palette can do so, and I don't have InDesign at home).
posted by misterbrandt at 10:31 PM on April 1

If it's only 50 ads, you should be able to keep track of it with a list from the publication, marking off each item on the list as it's confirmed that it's been placed.

I've done the layout for an alt weekly type paper for the past eight years, first by hand with pencil and paper, now with a fancy shmancy digital system. We generally have about 70 ads a week, over a hundred for those big speciality issues.

There should be a single folder for ads for a single week, period. Anything else and you're asking for trouble. I still don't understand why you have

As to your problem, maybe a subfolder in the current folder named "zzzPlaced" should be used for final, ok'd ads. Currently we use this system: Indesign docs of ads for this week are in one folder. When the ad is oked, a PDF is made and placed in a subfolder with the Indesign docs folder. For pickups, we copy the old PDFs into the folder for this week and give it a new ID number for this week (a function of our pagination system).
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:52 AM on April 2

We do confirm that ads are placed vs a master list, and thanks for all the different answers, but it still would be beneficial to be able to look at a folder via finder or bridge and have it show what files in that folder are currently linked to any InDesign Documents.

This is not something that is really needed, rather if there was a fast way to do this it would have been a nice way to have an additional safeguard against potential screwups.
posted by travis08 at 8:40 AM on April 2