Adobe illustrator export to pdf is blank

Forum|Forum|9 days ago
February 17, 2026
3 replies
46 views

Help! I am unsure why but when I export Ai as a pdf. The pdf is blank. Why is this the case? Nothing is clipped into a mask layers are showing.

barbara_a7746676

Community Expert

Check if you have artwork that is outside the artboard. Make sure there are no hidden layers or unprintable layers (check Layers panel to make sure layers are set to print).

Try using File > Save As instead of Export.

It is possible that the file is corrupt. If so, copy the contents to a new file and try again.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Exactly how are you exporting and where are you saving the file?

WHat’s in the file?

Which Version is it?

Tina_Irvine

Community Expert

Hi @esther0708, do you have multiple artboards? Perhaps it’s showing another artboard first..? Also, just to troubleshoot, maybe try “save as” rather than export?

esther0708Author

Participant

Hi tina, only one artboard and I tried save as to pdf and even jpeg but it did not work. I then saved to eps and it worked. Very odd. Is it a bug ?

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @esther0708

Could you confirm the version of the OS/Illustrator installed and share a link to a sample AI file, along with screenshots of the export settings used, so we can try and replicate this on our end?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

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