Creating artwork often involves the use of a number of derivative graphic assets. Setting up relationships (links) between these assets allows you to find the necessary files much faster. Examples of file relationships (links) include:
- A brochure that contains several photos, a company logotype, and vector corporate style elements.
- A model release agreement document linked to all the photos of the model.
How to link items
To start linking items select a single item in the thumbnail browser, right-click and go to the “Linking >Link Item…” menu or press the “Ctrl + L” keys to bring up the “Linking” panel:
The “Linking” panel has two tabs where you specify the relationship between the selected item and the items it is linked to:
- “What this item is linked to” – for example, a piece of artwork might contain a logotype, several photos, and some vector images.
- “Where this item is linked to” – for example, a logotype may have been used in a piece of artwork, several calendars, and some banner ads.
The next step is to switch to the “Where this item is linked to” tab, click on the “Start Linking…” button, and in the thumbnail browser, check the items you want to link to.
The files you check are added to the active tab in the “Linking” panel. Click on the red “Finish Linking…” button or right-click anywhere in the workspace to finish linking.
Items with specified relationships (links) are marked with a small “link” icon in the thumbnail browser (in the bottom right-hand corner of the item thumbnail). Clicking on this icon reveals a small menu indicating the number of items linked to the selected file. Clicking the menu items opens the “Linking” panel directly from the thumbnail browser.