Publisher 2: Do Linked Images use Relative or Absolute paths?

[Roger D]

I have my whole project in a folder on the desktop and images linked to TIFFs in sub folders.

Is it safe to move the folder somewhere else if I retain the same structure.

[GarryP]

Linked resources use absolute paths so moving the resources, or the document they are linked in, would cause you some problems.

However, you can use the Resource Manager to re-link the resources.

Another option might be, depending on what you are doing, to save the document as a Package before you moved things but that might create its own storage problems as the package will also contain a copy of all the linked resources and some other things. See the application Help about Packages for more information.

[Roger D]

I will use the Resource Manager then.

Many thanks!

[GarryP]

You’re welcome.

In addition to what I said above, when you open a document which has missing (moved?) resources you should get a pop-up dialog asking you what you want to do.

I can’t remember what the options are but one of them is a way to quickly tell the software how to re-locate the resources by selecting a new ‘root’ folder.

[Roger D]

That sounds even better. Thank you.

[Loopkin]

And what if my ressources are stored and shared via a cloud plateform (Dropbox)?

If I open my project on a different computer all my links are broken!

Is there a workaround? This is very annoying, why not using relative pathes?

Thanks!

[GarryP]

13 hours ago, Loopkin said:

And what if my ressources are stored and shared via a cloud plateform (Dropbox)?

The answer to that is to move/copy them to local storage before you use them.

The current general recommendation is not to use linked resources which are on non-local storage because of the many known problems with accessing non-local storage, because of how the software works.

This might change in the future, but if you want to try and be safe use local storage only.

If you want to use a project on different machines then Packages might be the best way to do that as they contain everything which the document needs.

[Loopkin]

Thanks, Garry, for your reply!

My files aren't just on Dropbox! They're on my local storage AND duplicated online on Dropbox, so it's completely safe (local storage + Time Machine (local) + Dropbox (online)).

We use Dropbox primarily so we can work on the same project from different computers without having to create a package each time, as a project often requires a lot of back-and-forth.

I hope this will change in the future, as relative paths are essential for proper workflow integration!

[Alfred]

14 minutes ago, Loopkin said:

My files aren't just on Dropbox! They're on my local storage AND duplicated online on Dropbox, so it's completely safe (local storage + Time Machine (local) + Dropbox (online)).

Duplicating to Dropbox from local storage is safe, but loading/saving directly from/to Dropbox is not.

[RobWu]

16 minutes ago, Loopkin said:

Thanks, Garry, for your reply!

My files aren't just on Dropbox! They're on my local storage AND duplicated online on Dropbox, so it's completely safe (local storage + Time Machine (local) + Dropbox (online)).

We use Dropbox primarily so we can work on the same project from different computers without having to create a package each time, as a project often requires a lot of back-and-forth.

I hope this will change in the future, as relative paths are essential for proper workflow integration!

No offence, but this could be asking for trouble at some point....

But... If you work from a Dropbox folder set up on your machine, those files are already local.
The fact that they are linked/synced to the cloud doesn't change that fact.
As long as you have - the same - folder setup for Dropbox on - every - PC you use, it -shouldn't-  matter, as paths/drive letters (OSX/Win) are the same. But YMMV on this.

At least you're already one step further than most users, regarding backups

[Loopkin]

Quote

Duplicating to Dropbox from local storage is safe, but loading/saving directly from/to Dropbox is not.

For information, on Dropbox, you cannot edit an "online-only" file, the file must be "available offline," meaning it must be stored locally (and still on the Dropbox server).

You cannot therefore save it directly to Dropbox... You save it locally, and it syncs to the cloud... that's the principle... So don't worry 🙂

[Loopkin]

1 hour ago, RobWu said:

No offence, but this could be asking for trouble at some point....

I dont understand, no offence for who? 🙂

1 hour ago, RobWu said:

As long as you have - the same - folder setup for Dropbox on - every - PC you use, it -shouldn't-  matter, as paths/drive letters (OSX/Win) are the same. But YMMV on this.

If I work on an other computer all my links are broken. Because paths are absolute, that's what you can see in the Window>Ressource Manager

1 hour ago, RobWu said:

At least you're already one step further than most users, regarding backups

I mainly use Dropbox for collaborative work. It allows multiple people, on different computers, to work together on the same projects. The backup is just a plus…

[RobWu]

2 hours ago, Loopkin said:

If I work on an other computer all my links are broken. Because paths are absolute, that's what you can see in the Window>Ressource Manager

Do you have the Dropbox app running on your machine, as that is the basis for Dropbox syncing.
Everything in the DB folder on your PC than reflects the folder structure online.

If you set up the app on all the machines the same way, the paths should all be the same. If that doesn't work, the app is doing something odd, or you didn't set it up like that.
Folder D:\Dropbox on PC A should have the same path as drive D:\Dropbox on PC B for the app to find the files.
On a Mac this should work the same, no? Desktop/Dropbox on machine A, is the same as Desktop/Dropbox on machine B?
Unless you go from Mac to PC, at that point I guess all bets are off because the Mac doesn't use driveletters.

[Loopkin]

1 hour ago, RobWu said:

Folder D:\Dropbox on PC A should have the same path as drive D:\Dropbox on PC B for the app to find the files.
On a Mac this should work the same, no?

On Mac that's: Users/UserName/Dropbox/etc...
And in my teams, user names are different and some computers are running Windows...

[RobWu]

19 hours ago, Loopkin said:

On Mac that's: Users/UserName/Dropbox/etc...
And in my teams, user names are different and some computers are running Windows...

Well, there's your issue then.

For the Mac, try to use a rootfolder that is independent of the username so it will at least sync up.
Using the desktop for the root of projects is more of a no-no imho.
But then you still have issues with the Mac/Windows mix.
So keep the root/folder structure for the project as strict as possible, and relinking resources will have to be done often I'm afraid.

[Peter vw]

Please please please make an option to store paths to linked files relative!

I know this discussion got sidetracked by the Dropbox thing.

Example for simple local non-shared projects.

I want to keep a versioned copy of a project, and "branche" from it for my v2:

I copy the whole folder with all the assets nicely sorted onto subfolders.

I rename the new folder to "v2" or the date of today. And that will be my new folder and project to work from...

I open the project and the nightmare starts. I need to relocate or replace all linked resources. Crazy.

This really stops me in my workflow.

 

 

[Peter vw]

And oh yeah, even more fun. My Publisher project will link to other Affinity Photo and Designer projects, which have linked resources too.
Now I need to relink all resources within those too.

Please make it possible to make stuff contained within a folder.
I understand that things can get weird when you link to stuff outside the folder the project file is in. But if you link to stuff inside the project folder (or subfolders), ... Seems like a no-brainer.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, Peter vw said:

Please make it possible to make stuff contained within a folder.

Are you talking about something other than File > Save as package?

[Old Bruce]

2 hours ago, Peter vw said:

Please make it possible to make stuff contained within a folder.

In the Resource Manager window there is a button; Collect. This will allow you to gather copies of your images into a folder you specify. I suggest making a new folder/directory in the location you want. Make sure the new folder wont be shifted to any cloud based services as they can cause problems.

[Peter vw]

No, that's not what I mean. I don't want it to copy or package. I want the paths to be relative.

 

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, Peter vw said:

No, that's not what I mean. I don't want it to copy or package. I want the paths to be relative.

Relative to what exactly? What if not all the items are always in an accessible file path? @GarryP raised this issue in several of the earlier posts.

[Old Bruce]

2 hours ago, Peter vw said:

No, that's not what I mean. I don't want it to copy or package. I want the paths to be relative.

 

4 hours ago, Peter vw said:

I understand that things can get weird when you link to stuff outside the folder the project file is in. But if you link to stuff inside the project folder (or subfolders), ... Seems like a no-brainer.

Okay, I understand now. The other sentence kind of confuzzled me.

Yes, I could get behind this. It is how I try to work. Make a folder with my Publisher/Designer document in it and the images I am linking go into a subfolder named Art or Pics or Graphics. But, as you point out the linking is to the entire file path so my careful working method is for naught. 

[Peter vw]

18 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Relative to what exactly? What if not all the items are always in an accessible file path? @GarryP raised this issue in several of the earlier posts.

Relative to the location of the publisher (or photo or designer) file of course.

 

[R C-R]

3 minutes ago, Peter vw said:

Relative to the location of the publisher (or photo or designer) file of course.

OK, but what happens if an image the file contains is moved to a different location or deleted while the file is closed? How & when does the relative path to it get updated?

[Peter vw]

42 minutes ago, R C-R said:

OK, but what happens if an image the file contains is moved to a different location or deleted while the file is closed? How & when does the relative path to it get updated?

 

Seems to me you are pulling this off-topic.
Why would that be any different to how it is now with absolute paths?

The idea is simple and straight-forward (and very not novel!):

My Publisher file:

/Users/peter/Documents/Whatever/My Special Project/MyProject.afpub

I link to a file:

/Users/peter/Documents/Whatever/My Special Project/assets/images/Background.png

I choose to keep it relative, so the MyProject.afpub saves the path to the image as:

assets/images/Background.png

If I then make a copy of

/Users/peter/Documents/Whatever/My Special Project

to 

/Users/peter/Documents/Whatever/My Special Project v2

Then the afbub file in that folder will link to the image in:

/Users/peter/Documents/Whatever/My Special Project v2/assets/images/Background.png

 

Not sure how more simple I can explain it.