Use Adobe InDesign to Open a Corrupted .AI file
Illustrator files (ai files) can become corrupt when your machine crashes or you find that you are working off a server or thumb drive. The file is constantly replacing and noting the steps taken in the vector process, but if there is an error in the saving of a single step, you can get a nearly fatal error.
The soution to this problem involves the simple solution of using a workaround which will recognize the vector elements. This can be achieved with Adobe InDesign, so let’s see how it can be done.
You can often recover illustrator .ai files in InDesign. This can often solve the corruption issue, because InDesign will choose to rewrite all the postscript code all by itself.
To attempt the recover your corrupt Adobe Illustrator file using Adobe InDesign:
- Create a brand new InDesign document with the same page size as your original Illustrator file (or you can choose to use the default size if it is large enough).
- Select “Place File” ( File > Place… ) from the menu.
- Seek out and choose your corrupted Illustrator file in the dialog box.
- Click on the corrupted Illustrator file to place it. Adjust it to fit on the page entirely, or place it at 100%.
- Export this InDesign file as an .EPS ( File > Export > Choose .EPS )
- Open this .EPS document in Illustrator
By exporting this document, the .EPS format will completely rebuild the file and the postscript materials from scratch. This will give you a file you can work with. From here, the vector elements can be recognized within your illustrator file, and set yourself back on the right track. The only issue you should have here will be loss of your text objects. Illustrator to InDesign type is always an issue, and in this instance, unfortunately, you will lose. Your type should survive in one form or another, but most likely will not be editable.
In Short: Recovering your corrupted Illustrator files with InDesign is a reality, and may very well work for you with little or no problems. A solution is within reach, all you have to do is have working access to your Adobe InDesign program.
Pros: You’ve got a working file with all of your vectors intact, and freshly postscripted.
Cons: Your text will probably be broken into numerous textboxes- some of them only a single character or word long. Some layers or all may be flattened.
Tyler Dockery Suggests: Use InDesign to Open your Corrupt .AI Files
Files can get corrupted on any given day. It seems that Graphic files which are saved directly to a server or thumb drive are corrupted much faster and much more regularly than those saved on your machine. At Dockery Design, we cannot stress enough how covering your “best practices in design” will improve your design and creative process, even though best practices in design aren’t always practical. Sure, you should really save your work every 15 minutes or so. But better still, is to work iteratively, saving a backup file under a different name when the work is sent out for approval or takes a new direction. Work on your hard drive, and then save back to jump drives or servers from there.
If you found this tip helpful, let us know. Thanks!
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This is really helpful for when your files get corrupted. I think I’ll keep this so i don’t have to go hunting for solutions right when you only have a few mins.
I like the layout of your website. I’ll check out your graphics more often.
Hello, firstly I want to say that I follow your blog. Great post, I fully agree with you. Have a good day matey.
Hi, it looks like your site is going to grow some notice. The search engines seem to like your site. How do you get indexed so fast? I saw that one of your pages had been indexed within 10 minutes of the time is was posted…
Like your blog
I’ll check your site later again.
Yes, our creative lead Tyler Dockery has found some ingenious ways of getting noticed through the search engines. Its really amazing what he can do.
I also heard that weex-france had a weak interface and technology. I think they are currently in receivership
When I look for Wix-France, I find a lot of complaints, spam entries in blogs, and news articles about the receivership. Flying like a black-hat-lead-balloon. hahah. float like an anchor, sting like a moth
It is great that you took the time to write all this up; it’s nice to hear another’s opinion. I respect your work on this page, and I’ll come back for more information.
Wow this is a really good article. I m glad to have read it. I m looking forward for more of your articles
You should post the digg link, so others can find it
I don’t normally post to digg, so unless this is spam, a link would be helpful.
you can adjust your font height in any browser, so if the fonts are too small, make them larger.
After a discussion on this with my friends, I now have a clear picture….It really helps to talk to people who are normally not involved in your business. They can give you a very clear picture on what’s happening….
Just thought i would comment in addition to say neat theme and great website, did you code it yourself? Looks great.
Yes. I didn’t start out to be a code monkey, but I certainly am now.
So glad you had the answer to my organizer database problem as well as opening up *.ai that had been corrupted. Kudos!
Guys, just check that, you’ll thank me later. Online flash creators will ruin your work and waste your time. Your best bet? Hire a REAL designer.
Hi there, let see what I found! the InDesign solution worked like a CHARM!
Can’t believe how nicely this is put together! What a great post and nice design to boot. Was this made with an online flash developer? becuase usually those things are crap.
hey, your post… Just how important is illustrator anyway? And designer that doesn’t use photoshop for their logo creation, or their magazine layouts is simply lazy! I didn’t earn my associates degree in art just to be bossed around by so called “smart” designers.
um… Ok.
First of all, Associates Degree holders are just as smart and savvy as lots of designers out there, so please understand that I give them the utmost level of respect.
Second, Photoshop is a fine tool, and yes, it may just be versatile enough to create a full magazine
Third, I’m not sure what prompts you to note that there are “smart” designers out there. I’m sure that there may be plenty who try to flaunt their smarts, but please don’t take issue with them here.
Photoshop is not the end-all be-all of the design world. I would highly recommend you look into other programs in Adobe’s fine stable to see what you are missing. I don’t mean to come down on your comment like a ton of bricks, but being ignorant of the other tools doesn’t make you in the position to slam other designers. Very few professional designers actually use photoshop for final designs due to the many issues with scalability. Look into these programs, and I feel you will be pleasantly surprised.
I flipped OUT when I couldn’t open this file. Thanks for helping me repair this with acrobat.