Image unreadable

[Neilw_05]

I frequently encounter a problem where attached raster images become unreadable. This happens when I open a file that has an image attached and I redirect the path to a different image. The sources and format of the images are identical so I know it is not a compatibility issue. I can detach and reattach no problem.

This also just happened in a file that had an attached image that didn't change in any way. The path didn't change, the image didn't change, yet when I opened the file, the status was Not Found in the XREF manager, even though the path in the setting was right. I went ahead and re-applied the path, then the status changed from Not Found to unreadable. See attached screen capture.

I can't find any forum posts on this issue so it doesn't seem to be a common problem. Anyone know what is going on?

I am using Civil 3D 2023.

[pendean]

Does closing and restarting C3D2023 fix the issue?

S: drive is what/where?

Does the "...2004 Engineering" folder name mean these are old year-2004 era files/images or something else?

"unreadable" and "not found" tend to be different issues, if this happens often, are you by chance facing other C3D 2023 issues recently with XREFs and attachments?

is your software current? ABOUT command screenshot please.

[ChicagoLooper]

Based on your description, it's not behaving like an XREF, despite showing up in External References palette. What's in the folder alongside the Google Earth.jpg? 

Are you able to open the image using the default Windows image viewer or using Adobe acrobat? What does it look like when you open it using an image viewer? 

[Neilw_05]

Chicago: There are no other files in the Google Earth folder. I can open and view the image fine in Windows. I detached and reattached it and it loads fine. No idea why these images become unreadable in ACAD. First they are fine then something changes. I have to detach and re-attach them to fix them.

Dean: The Land Desktop folder was set up by our IT dept long before I came to work here. There are too many file/folder references to change the name so we keep it as is. The files I am working in are current Civil 3D dwgs. In today's instance the status was Not Found when I opened the file, then became Unreadable after I re-pathed it.

About screen shot attached.

[ChicagoLooper]

Hmmm...that's a strange one.

I'm wondering whether, RELOAD would've worked just as well as detach/reattach.

 

[Neilw_05]

No, reload doesn't help.

[Cadguru42]

I wonder if this is related to another issue I've been having. I have some drawings made in C3D 2022 (latest updates) where I'm using GEOMAPs. After getting the area I needed I did the Capture Area. Every time I open a drawing with a captured area image I get a Missing XREF warning, but the missing XREF is empty. It shows just empty quotes. The map loads after dismissing the warning, so I've kinda ignored it. I do wonder if this is somehow related, though.

[Neilw_05]

If it is related it has nothing to do with the workflow. I am not using GEOMAPS at all. I'm just inserting JPG's.

[Cadguru42]

---

@Neilw_05 wrote:

If it is related it has nothing to do with the workflow. I am not using GEOMAPS at all. I'm just inserting JPG's.

---

But they are both image references, which is why I was wondering if they're related in some way. Both of us seem to have an issue with image references not being found even though we're using different methods and images.

[Neilw_05]

For me it is not just an image not found issue. For example, I copy a Cover Sheet layout from another file that has location and vicinity maps inserted. The new project needs the same images, just for different locations. So all I need to do is remap the old images to the new. After doing the remaps, they became unreadable. This has been happening over the last year maybe.

[ChicagoLooper]

Are the 'Not Found" images from Captured Areas derived Bing aerial maps?

If they are, they should only be used for reference, not for deliverables. Captured images don't cooperate. They don't appear in the Xref palette. Why?

And their borders don't behave like xrefs. If you grab the corner of a captured image you can increase (or decrease) the image's coverage area and that's not xref behavior. Did you really capture an image or did you just define the extents so only a portion is displayed while others portions become hidden?

Various images at many locations can be downloaded at no charge. Since they are available for public viewing without any expectation of payment and download without any offer to pay for those images, the user is free to use them. As long a user DOESN'T claim they're something they're not, such as a 'This is a survey ,' the user is safe.

[Cadguru42]

---

@ChicagoLooper wrote:

Are the 'Not Found" images from Captured Areas derived Bing aerial maps?

If they are, they should only be used for reference, not for deliverables. Captured images don't cooperate. They don't appear in the Xref palette. Why?

And their borders don't behave like xrefs. If you grab the corner of a captured image you can increase (or decrease) the image's coverage area and that's not xref behavior. Did you really capture an image or did you just define the extents so only a portion is displayed while others portions become hidden?

Various images at many locations can be downloaded at no charge. Since they are available for public viewing without any expectation of payment and download without any offer to pay for those images, the user is free to use them. As long a user DOESN'T claim they're something they're not, such as a 'This is a survey ,' the user is safe.

---

For me, this is what happens right after I get the Online Maps dialog asking if it's OK to sign in to use them.

And yes, I did the Capture Area of the Bing maps that's part of the GEOMAPs feature. The image itself is a Geomap Image object type that behaves the way you described. 

[Neilw_05]

I am using multiple sources...Snap Shots from PDF, jpg's generated from our local GIS mapping service, etc. I don't use BING at all, nor any other dynamic imaging service. These are standalone JPG's. As I said, I have no problem inserting them, nor do I have problems with them loading when I open the dwgs. This only happens when I re-path as I mentioned. The latest incident was unusual in that nothing got changed before it went unreadable.

Apparently this is not a known issue in the community. I'll file a support request to see if ADESK has anything.

[coshiro-leavitt]

Hi Neilw_05 - I've been having the same issues as you've described in this thread - currently some of my images loaded correctly and some are unreadable. Can you post anything ADESK shares with you? Thanks!

[Neilw_05]

I submitted a support request. They did not have any answers. I didn't have a file to use for trouble shooting so I closed the case. If you have a file that is misbehaving, maybe you could go over it with them.

[coshiro-leavitt]

Thanks for reaching out!

[neilyj666]

@Neilw_05 I've had this issue too.

I typically extract screenshots from my Infraworks model and put them in a drawing for submission. For the next project I thought I'd use the last drawing I produced as it was set up correctly with the jpgs located and scaled correctly and that it was simply a matter of repathing the new jpgs but I got the unreadable message so I had to revert back to first principles.

[Neilw_05]

I have encountered the problem again. I am posting some files if anyone wants to have a go at it. I'll also submit to ADESK.

UPDATE: I just discovered the images will load after re=pathing if I close and re-open the dwg, at least in this file. This is the first time I've noticed that happen. As I noted previously, I encountered this behavior AFTER I closed and reopened a dwg. Now I doubt the files I posted will be of any use for troubleshooting as-is. Try changing the path to some different images and see if it happens. Let me know your image source.

[ChrisRS]

This looks complicated.

Maybe you could simplify it by putting everything in the cloud.

I understand that is where all the cool kids hang out.

😁

[ChicagoLooper]

ACC

AutoCad Construction Cloud?