Pixels to Print: Package a Document

February 13, 2020

Sometimes a brochure, banner, or business card will have assets such as graphics or photos linked to somewhere on your computer. It’s important that these assets are embedded into your design file. Sometimes that can be overlooked so when it comes time for another designer or printer to open the file, it’ll have missing links. These missing links are trying to point to some asset on your computer that other computers won’t have. This could lead to a project being delayed because the printer is waiting to receive those missing assets. To avoid any headaches, remember to package your design files. This process will create a copy of all assets including fonts, photos, and other graphics as well as the design file itself into one convenient folder that you can share with your printer or other designer. That way, when they go to open the file, the design program will look for all the linked assets in the packaged folder and all will be present. Here’s how to package your files!



How to package a document in Adobe InDesign:
Packing contents is very common with Adobe InDesign. When you create something as large as a 40-page brochure, there may be a plethora of assets linked within each page.

Step 1: Go to File > Package…

Step 2: Then click “Package…”


Step 3: Navigate to where you want to save your packaged folder. Make sure the items in the left column of options are checked. I also like to include an IDML file, which is an InDesign file that can be opened by older versions of InDesign. Name your folder and hit the final “Package” button.


When you open your packaged folder, you will see a folder for Document Fonts, Links, and the InDesign files.


Step 4: To make this folder a .zip file, go up one level and right click the packaged folder, then select “Sent To” > “Compressed (zipped) folder. Now you can share this .zip file with your sharing client of choice (such as Dropbox or Wetransfer.com). Packaged files tend to be large and cannot be sent via email due to file size restrictions.


How to package a document in Adobe Illustrator:
If you create shapes and type in Illustrator, for the most part they’ll be vector files unless you place in other assets. If you go to Window > Links, you can see if there are any items the document is pulling from. If it has a symbol to the right, that means the asset is embedded in the document.


You can embed assets that aren’t already by clicking on the item in the list, then click on the top right menu button, then “Embed Image(s)”. Embedding images will make the document file larger since these assets are being saved within. This also makes editing the embedded asset a little difficult, so the best method is packaging the file. Note: When you package a document in Illustrator, only the non-embedded items will be copied into the folder.


Step 1: Go to File > Package…


Step 2: Find the location you would like to save your packaged folder. Name the folder. And make sure “Copy Links” and “Copy Fonts” are checked like in the example below. Then click “Package”.


When you open your packaged folder, you will see a folder for Document Fonts, Links, and the Illustrator file.


Step 3: To make this folder a .zip file, go up one level and right click the packaged folder, then select “Sent To” > “Compressed (zipped) folder. Now you can share this .zip file with your sharing client of choice (such as Dropbox or Wetransfer.com). Packaged files tend to be large and cannot be sent via email due to file size restrictions.

Have any questions? Reach out to NorthPoint's design team to guide you and provide expert advice!

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