Updating all image and data links in an Indesign Book

Question

I'm fairly sure that this is impossible but I thought I'd ask anyway.

I have an Indesign Book file composed of a large number of documents, each with multiple image and .csv links. The linked files (the .jpgs and .csvs) are updated automatically every month, so there's new images and data that currently have to be relinked manually, which is time-consuming given the number of documents.

Is there a way for all of the links in all of the documents in the book to be updated? I'm almost certain that there's no ordinary way to do this, but maybe there's a work-around, plugin or script that might help.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I'm not certain if you're asking if there's a way to replace automatically links that have new file names or update all links without doing it manually. So these are probably very simple ways you already know. Unfortunately I don't know any script or plugin that can replace different files with different names.

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To update all links that are in the same original link folder and have the same file names as before:

Click on the top corner option on your link panel and select "update all links".

If the issue if that you need to relink manually new files because they have new file names...

Simply rename your files using the same file names as the previous version, put them in the same link folder and stick to that workflow.

If you're lucky enough to already have some kind of alphabetical or numerical naming system, you might even be able to rename in batch your file names using a script. Otherwise it might be a good idea to ask people to rename their files before sending them to you or to create your own workflow and rename your new files as you receive them.