Working with linked images and relinking in Vectornation

Linking an image instead of copying it into the drawing is how most designers keep files light and pictures current. Vectornation by Zaweba supports this with File > Place linked and a Links panel at Window > Document > Links, where you can relink, update and embed.

A linked image stays a separate file on disk. The drawing only remembers where it is. Change the picture in its own folder and the drawing can pick up the new version.

Placing linked

Choose File > Place linked and pick the image. It lands in the drawing like any placed picture, and you can scale, rotate and arrange it in the usual way. The difference is underneath: the pixels live in the original file rather than inside your drawing.

That matters when a photographer is still retouching, when the same image appears in many drawings, or when images are large. Your drawing stays small and fast, and every drawing that links to the picture sees the latest version.

The Links panel

The Links panel lists the linked images in the drawing. From there you can relink one to another file, update it when the file on disk has changed, or embed it so the drawing carries the pixels itself.

Update is the everyday button. If someone has saved a new version of a photo over the old one, update brings it in without placing it again, so its position and size stay as they were.

Relink points a placement at a different file. Use it when a file has moved, been renamed, or when you want to swap one picture for another in the same frame.

Relinking a whole folder at once

Missing links usually go missing together. A project folder is moved to another drive, copied to a laptop, or arrives from a colleague with a different folder path. Every image then points at a place that no longer exists.

Vectornation handles this kindly. When you relink one missing image, it relinks the others it finds in the same folder. Point it at the new home of one picture and the rest follow, which turns a tedious job into one step.

Linking versus embedding

Neither is always right. Link while you work, so files stay light and images stay current. Embed when a drawing must stand alone: sending a single file to a client, handing over a finished piece, or archiving. The Links panel's Embed button and the Embed and Unembed image tools let you switch either way.

For a print job with many links, File > Package is often the better finish. It gathers the drawing, its images and a fonts report into one place, so the printer gets everything without you embedding large pictures.

Avoiding broken links

Keep images near the drawing. A folder of pictures beside the drawing file is easy to move as a unit, and if links do break, the folder relink will find them together.

Renaming images after placing them breaks their links. Do your file naming first.

When you send a file with linked images, send the images too, or package it. A drawing that links to pictures on your own drive will open on another computer with the pictures missing.

And when a linked image changes, check how it sits in the layout after updating. A new version with a different crop or size can shift how it sits next to the artwork around it.