Generally speaking, it’s a better idea to link to images, rather than embedding them in an InDesign file. Embedding increases the file size, and puts all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. But there are times when embedding is a good idea, like when you want to make a layout file self-contained and easily portable, and you don’t care about the ability to edit the images separately. But one issue that most folks never consider is the fact that embedding an image reveals information about the computer of the user who embedded it.
For example, if I place an image from my desktop in a layout and embed it, I can see that the Desktop of my computer was the last known location of the file.
No big deal in this case, but I recently shared a good laugh with some folks about a few of the templates that Adobe makes available to InDesign users via the new New Document dialog box, because the artwork that was embedded in the templates revealed some rather funny directory names of folks who work for Adobe.
I sincerely hope that Caitlin got her drive back from RF at some point.
So the moral of the story is, if you’re going to embed images, be careful about what you name your folders. Best to steer clear of “This Stupid !@#$ Project,” “My Idiot Boss,” etc.
Also interesting in a geeky way is how InDesign displays the location of images that were embedded in a Word file that was placed in InDesign. It appears as though the images are embedded inside the InDesign application itself!
But this is just a glitch, since the images must be embedded within the InDesign file (that’s kinda the whole point of embedding them), and you can easily confirm that they’re not inside the application package.
Caveat embeddor.
This article was last modified on July 7, 2021
This article was first published on April 12, 2018
Commenting is easier and faster when you're logged in!
