Remove Image Links to DWG

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I have a DWG with some links to images on.  I would like to remove these links but am having a bit of a hard time.

See attached screenshot of the missing images.

I have tried to use 2 different macro's to remove these but it appears these are not OLE objects (which the macro's remove).

There is no delete menu item when you right click on the image like either.

Thanks

[Cadmanto]

Miles,

Just a shot in the dark here, but have you tried doing a file save as copy, calling up the newly saved file and see if you can delete them in that file?

Also, what version are you running?

If this solved your issue please mark this posting "Accept as Solution".

Or if you like something that was said and it was helpful, Kudos are appreciated. Thanks!!!! 

     

[yannick3]

Hi

Maybe you can try with manage link icon in drawing environment

[Anonymous]

Hi to you both!

I have tried saving a copy and it reacts the same as the original.

The links button is greyed out on my software.

I am running 2014 pro.

Thanks

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

A workaround I would suggest would be to 'save as' and use the .idw format. Then open this and save back as the .dwg.

This should remove any phantom connections as it does not transfer them to the .idw

Hope this helps

[scottmoyse]

---

@Kokoza wrote:

A workaround I would suggest would be to 'save as' and use the .idw format. Then open this and save back as the .dwg.

This should remove any phantom connections as it does not transfer them to the .idw

Hope this helps

---

Nice touch Kokoza! That worked a treat. This shouldn't be happening anyway. But what a PITA. At least this means you don't have to recreate the drawing.

[gavbath]

I had this issue a while back and looked at the internal workings of the file through VBA and found the links.

While I could see the erroneous links, I couldn't delete them programmatically.

That's an awesome workaround though Kokoza! Well done.

I think I'll build an automated routine to do that.

[gavbath]

Here's a very rough and ready macro that automates the process:

Sub Main()

    Dim doc As DrawingDocument
    Set doc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
    
    Dim existingfFileName As String
    existingFileName = doc.FullFileName
    
    Dim trimmedStr As String
    trimmedStr = Left(existingFileName, Len(existingFileName) - 3)
    
    Dim newFileName As String
    newFileName = trimmedStr & "idw"
    
    Call doc.SaveAs(newFileName, True)
    
    Call doc.Close
    
    Dim newIdw As DrawingDocument
    Set newIdw = ThisApplication.Documents.Open(newFileName, True)
    
    Dim newDwgFileName As String
    newDwgFileName = trimmedStr & ".dwg"
    
    Call newIdw.SaveAsInventorDWG(newDwgFileName, True)
    
    Call newIdw.Close
    
    Kill (newFileName)
    
    Name existingFileName As existingFileName & ".old"
    
    Name newDwgFileName As existingFileName
    
    Dim newDwg As DrawingDocument
    Set newDwg = ThisApplication.Documents.Open(existingFileName, True)

End Sub

You'll have add it to a module in the application project. If you don't know what this is, it's probably not a good idea using this macro.

To use the macro:

1. Open the Inventor DWG

2. Run the macro

3. That's it

You'll end up with a new dwg with the links removed. The old bogus one is in the same folder with a ".old" extension.

Hope this helps someone.

[scottmoyse]

For anyone who wants all the steps to do this and use the macro @gavbath has written. You can take a look at this blog post, which contains a few additional details than this video:

[jamesjung]

Is there a way to remove 3rd party links on a part file?

[scottmoyse]

Try saving as an idw, then back to DWG again.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much! I have been pulling my hair out trying to fix this, and your solution worked perfectly. Thanks again

[Anonymous]

Does anybody have a copy of the script used in the video, it appears to be slightly different to the one posted. I'm having problems with ghost links in inv2018.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! You should be able to go to Tools -> Link -> break link. If it does not work, it means the link may be corrupted. Please share an example here so forum experts can take a look.

Many thanks!

[Anonymous]

This appears to be a common problem after doing a bit of googling on the subject. I can't check in a drawing to Vault as it as there were images within the drawing border which even though they have been deleted from the drawing appear to linger on as ghost links and stop the drawing from being checked into vault. Additionally the tools links option is greyed out.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! What Inventor release are you on? I recalled there was an issue on 2015 or earlier, which had been resolved already.

Try this and see if it helps. Copy and paste an image file with the same name to the folder. Then resolve to the new image file. Now, are you able to break the link using Link command?

Many thanks!

[t_fransman]

the macro does not seem to work on an idw.

 Complains on this line i think it's line 15

Call doc.SaveAs(existing file name, True)

Can you help this is in our templates and linking our copy design together into a big list of bad ref and copy Design is almost impossible to use at this point.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Like I mentioned on the other thread, the drawing is likely corrupted. You may want to start a new one and copy the sheets from the old drawing to the new one.

Many thanks!

[Anonymous]

save inventor drawing as .idw. Reopen drawing in inventor and save as .dwg. This will remove all ghost image links.

[t_fransman]

Tried that, even ran the macro, the macro did not work. and it did nothing. The reason was it was actually used in a sketch block.