Cannot copy necessary linked file(s)? – Error Message

The message really doesn't tell us anything.

Are all the links up to date in the Links panel – no warning symbols?

Check your Layers Panel

And expand each layer – ensure there are no “Hidden Layers” that is the “eye” icon is showing beside each layer

I had the same problem just now. I looked for Hidden Layers as suggested above and also tried replacing the preferences as outlined in the Adobe Forums about this issue, but had no luck. However, I did find a solution that seemed to work … as long as you still have a previous version of ID on your system: I “saved down” the file (from CS5.5, exported as an .idml file) then opened the .idml file in CS4 and was able to successfully package the file from there. Hope this helps.

That is not a recommended workflow. Any new features used in CS5.5 or CS5 will be lost downsaving to CS4, as CS4 did not have those features. You risk messing up the entire document text layout.

I’m using InDesign CC and have just had the same error message.

I’ve done some digging around.
1 – None of the links in my links panel are broken.
2 – None of the file names have a / in them, which was sited as the most common reason this would happen.
3 – I tried resaving all the links to a new location and was met with another error message that links could not be moved.
4 – I renamed two of my images as they had extremely long names and this was also sited as a reason for this error.

I still can’t package it and the error message is frustrating since it doesn’t explain why and preflight shows no issues with the document.

I have recently upgraded to Maverick and now I can’t package any files. I am currently using CS6. I have tried repackaging a file that I could before the upgrade and I get the error message as stated above. This is very frustrating since I can’t do my job and have to rely on others who are able to package the files.

I even resaved the file as an idml and reopened in CS5.5 and I get the same error. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have a suggestion not to use long file-names instead use a small, easy to read names. Also try not to use any special characters i.e. ~!@#$%^&*()-=+[{]}\|;:'”/?.>,< as these symbols reserve some place in the Operating Systems’ coding.

You will get numerous error messages on PC if any of these character is used somewhere in the file-name, whereas on MAC, these are ignored sometimes by the MAC OS. One might not get any error on a MAC but might get errors on PC with the same file.

Rather than copying or pasting or downloading the stuff from the net and using it straight away, try to rename the file if the name is too long or contains special characters.

Remember the Golden days of DOS where 8.3 was a file-naming standard :)

Files that I was able to package before we upgraded tot he new OS, I can no longer package. None of our files have any special characters in them and we try to keep them short as possible. We are so confused as to why after upgrading tot he new OS (Maverick) I can’t package any longer.

Hey, all,

I have just experienced this problem in CS5.5 while attempting to package an 80-page book with 300+ linked files. The problem turned out to be several linked jpeg files that had the slash character (“/”) in the file names. Once I changed all those offending file names and re-linked all those files in the ID document, the packaging function worked perfectly. Hope this helps others experiencing this problem!

I just started getting this message. I’ve been working in CC for quite a while now, well since its unveiling, and never got the message until now. The original file might have been created in CS6 but I’ve done this with earlier versions and while I did have to relink I never got this message. I’m also connecting to a remote server using VPN which I thought might be the case. Anyways, no errors in preflight, tried relinking files, embedding them…no luck. There are only 6 links, not a lot to handle, and no special characters in file names…I’m going to try Kait Hatch’s idea and save all the files to a common subfolder under my work folder and see if relinking them to there works.

I only had 16 links so I could have checked each one … I had an illustrator, ai file which I saved as an illustrator pdf and replaced … and then it worked … if that helps anyone …

You will get that error if your document links to media on an older drive or another user, which you do not have proper permissions for.

ok, ran into the same problem, I think I found a solution.

first, embed all your links. then unembed all the links, NOT to the original location, but to a new location. so create a new folder for all the linked files. after you have copied all the files into that folder, you can check for any files that have “/” in their names.

I did this and sure enough, found this one file with “/” in its name. I didn’t bother to try to package again with the same file name just to see if the reason for the problem is indeed the “/”. I just changed the file name and the package was done without any problem.

I’ve this problem and it was down to a bad file name.

I ran into to problem too. I had all my images in a folder name “IMAGES” and once I changed the folder name from “IMAGES” to “Links” I was able to package it.

Wow thanks for this info I had 339 links & 2 had “/” in them, removed them and it fixed the problem.

The Fix: / at the start of file names need to be removed. No need to do anything else.

1) Find the original file – rename it without a slash
2) Proceed to relink the file in indesign.

FIXED!

Worked for me I had 562 links, removed all image files with a “/” and saved perfectly :-)

I don’t think this is limited to slashes, here we work in French and we had the same problem with accents in filenames, i.e.: é è à ô etc.
We seem to be regressing back to DOS. :)

I just had the same problem in InDesign CS6. Although when trying to package it, ID said all 13 linked files were problems, only one had “/” in it. It exports to a package just fine now that the “/” is replaced with a “-“. Thanks to all who contributed to this thread!

I had exactly the same problem and changed an “/”.
It’s a pity, it’s like we are back in DOS again :(

There are several reasons you will get this error without Indesign showing any broken links:
1- Your preference file is corrupt. FIX: Close Indesign and restart it by also pressing Cmd+Option+Control+Shift (Mac). I’m not sure of the PC commands for this.
2. You have a special character in one of your link names (ie. /$%<*.~)
3. Some of your file names are way too long.
4. You have a backup drive (or several) with linked images on them and you either recently updated Indesign, or your computer causing Indesign to NOT see the links. You don’t see a link error because technically your external drive is still there and hasn’t been renamed but your indesign &/or your computer settings were updated.
FIX (Using Indesign 15.1): Select all your links in the “Links” panel. At the top right of that panel click the options tab (four hamburger lines), Select “Relink To Folder” and select the folder where your images should be. If Indesign cannot find all your images there it will highlight the links it cannot find. Those are the files causing your problem. Take a screenshot of those highlighted images in case they become deselected while you search for them. Drop them into your main images folder and repeat this process until Indesign locates all the files. When all the links are located “Package” your document to prevent this happening in the future.
Hope this helps.