Links move with InDesign CS4 6.0.5 update

Shawn

Well-known member
Before installing I was just checking out the InDesign CS4 6.0.5 update and noticed this text at the top of the release notes.

"IMPORTANT: This update fixes an issue in how InDesign CS4 calculates the bounding boxes of placed AI/PDF files. The behavior is now consistent with the behavior of InDesign CS3. Users with existing CS4 files may notice a repositioning of placed AI/PDF files when updating their links"

Hopefully I'm overreacting here, but from a service provider standpoint this could be a production nightmare. If we're running 6.0.5 and a customer is running 6.0.4 or earlier, then placed AI and PDFs will shift in position when we open their files. This is not something that I want to see happening in a point upgrade, especially since there isn't an easy way to tell if an incoming file is done in 6.0.4 or 6.0.5.

Has anyone else seen any issues with this? If so how much of a repositioning can we expect. If all our customers were updated to the latest version of CS4 right away it wouldn't be a problem, but that's never going to happen.

Anyone from Adobe care to comment on the thoughts behind making this change? Seems like a really bad idea to mess with image positioning engine at this point in what is otherwise a minor bugfix upgrade. I'd expect this kind of thing in a full upgrade from version CS4 to CS5, but not going from CS4 6.0.4 to CS4 6.0.5. I mean I've got to keep a different point versions of Quark to avoid type reflow problems between 7.2 and 7.3 and I really don't want to see that happen with InDesign too.

Shawn
 
The key word "may" is just a warning, even in CS3 you can get images shifts when relinks especially when link file's trim size has been modified and no one informs you about it. Most image shifts usually are visible enough as long as you aren't completely automated or walk away from your workstation while it's updating the files. I make it a practice if I'm relinking any modified links, be sure to run a quick visual check.
 
InDesign Links

InDesign Links

It is always a good idea to place links with "media" selected instead of "bounding box." When the original is changed, the link will not shift at all, unless the page size was changed.
 
---Begin Rant---
My real problem here is more with the expectations that come with a minor update and being able to trust that the files we open here will match what the client has sent--assuming we follow traditional workflow procedures for re-linking fonts and images.

To be successful in this print environment you need to run a pretty tight ship. If we update open a catalog file done in 6.0.4 with 300 repositioned images who should eat the cost for fixing each one? Don't get me wrong, we're progressive about PDF workflows--where this wouldn't be an issue--and client training, and emphasize getting the client to sign off on a proof. But we also have to work WITH what our clients provide and many of them don't upgrade regularly and won't know about this issue with 6.0.4 files.

According to the version number change, going from 6.0.4 to 6.0.5 should be a minor bugfix type of update. Introducing a change in behavior that makes image placement in this version of CS4 act differently than earlier versions of CS4 introduces another variable that we just don't need at this point in the game, especially with CS5 out.

I really hope that the "may" in the warning means we won't run into this issue. The "IMPORTANT" tag at the beginning of the Readme leads me to think otherwise though.
---end rant---
 
I would say inform your clients about the release. If they do not want that risk, they need to make the PDF, this could ofcourse mean introducing other risks. There is no 100% safe system, our job involves risk and there is no way out. Introducing preflight is a risk, but often worth while ;)
 

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