Issue with linked files when using Adobe Suite on Mac

[rosner]

Dear Dropbox Community,

I have a question regarding an issue some of my customers are facing with Dropbox. While many of them are very satisfied with Dropbox’s features, a few have encountered a specific problem when using Adobe InDesign or Illustrator on Mac.

The issue arises when they import and use various elements from multiple folders. Initially, this works fine, but problems occur when another team member tries to work on the same file later. The links to the files are lost, and they have to be manually recreated, which is both tedious and time-consuming.

It appears that the problem stems from each user having a unique home folder name. Dropbox, unable to locate the identical home folder name, breaks the links.

The Dropbox support team suggested two possible solutions:

1. Ensure each computer has a home folder with the same name.

2. Place the Dropbox folder at a higher level than the home folder (such as Macintosh HD or the top level of the user folder). However, I have tried this, and the Dropbox app refuses to create a folder at that level.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? If so, what solutions have you found effective?

Thank you in advance for your valuable help.

[Rich]

---

@rosner wrote:

It appears that the problem stems from each user having a unique home folder name. Dropbox, unable to locate the identical home folder name, breaks the links.

---

You're correct that the issue is due to having different home folder names. The reason this happens is because most applications, when embedding links to other files, use the full path to the file starting at the top of the drive. This means the user's home folder will be included in the link. When another user tries to open the main file, the application is unable to find the linked files because the paths don't match.

However, this isn't a Dropbox issue and Dropbox isn't causing it or breaking the links. It's simply how the applications work. The links aren't changing or breaking. They're just pointing to a file that doesn't exist in that path for the other user.

---

1. Ensure each computer has a home folder with the same name.

2. Place the Dropbox folder at a higher level than the home folder ...

---

Option two would have been the preferred method before Apple's File Provider API. Now, however, Apple forces Dropbox to use the CloudStorage folder, so you can't move the Dropbox folder to a higher level.

Most applications deal with linked files the same way, using the full path, but some MAY work with a relative path or an environment variable set to a person's Dropbox folder and using that in place of the full path. Failing that, the only other option would be to make sure each computer uses the same home folder name.

[rosner]

Hello Rich,

Thanks for your answer and the time you took to explain this.  

May I just ask what you mean with "some MAY work with a relative path or an environment variable set to a person's Dropbox folder and using that in place of the full path"?

[rosner]

Dear Rich,

I don't know if you saw above message I sent as I didn't hear back from you. Looking forward to an answer.

Thanks in advance

[rosner]

Dear Rich,

Thanks for the time you took to answer. So only solution would be to have identical home folder names?