Use Adobe InDesign to Open a Corrupted .AI file

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.

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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:

1. 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).
2. Select “Place File” ( File > Place… ) from the menu.
3. Seek out and choose your corrupted Illustrator file in the dialog box.
4. Click on the corrupted Illustrator file to place it. Adjust it to fit on the page entirely, or place it at 100%.
5. Export this InDesign file as an .EPS ( File > Export > Choose .EPS )
6. 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.

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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!