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laser119875612
laser119875612
Participating Frequently
March 2, 2020
Answered

file is always flattened when reopening

  • March 2, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 1900 views

When I open an ai. file the layers are flattened and turned into clipping paths. I save as ai. with layers. Why is this happening?

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Correct answer Ton Frederiks

Your are saving as Illustrator CC.

The current version is 2020.

It looks like you are opening the newer 2020 files in CC2019. This should give you a warning.

Can you click in the Preferences the Reset All Warning Dialogs button and see if you get a warning when opening a problem file?

 

4 replies

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
March 3, 2020

Your are saving as Illustrator CC.

The current version is 2020.

It looks like you are opening the newer 2020 files in CC2019. This should give you a warning.

Can you click in the Preferences the Reset All Warning Dialogs button and see if you get a warning when opening a problem file?

 

laser119875612
laser119875612Author
Participating Frequently
March 3, 2020

I reset. Illustrator 24.02 now. I've been using an old icon to open files that points to the older version.

I think this is what's been going on.

Yes the files are opening correctly with all the layers. Thank you so much for your help Ton!

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 3, 2020

Glad to hear I could help!

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 2, 2020

Can you give some more details like Illustrator version, operating system and a screendump of the Options when saving as Illustrator?

laser119875612
laser119875612Author
Participating Frequently
March 2, 2020

23.1 64bit
windows 10 version 1903

Not sure of what screen dump you want


Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 2, 2020

Something like this:

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 2, 2020

The fact that layers are flattened and many clipping paths appear look like you are opening the pdf part of the Illustrator file. Which should not happen when an Illustrator file is saved as .ai.

Where do you save them? Local harddisk, network, cloud service?

laser119875612
laser119875612Author
Participating Frequently
March 2, 2020

save them in local drive

​Melanie Powell



Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
March 2, 2020

Do you save as Illustrator 2020 or in an legacy format?

    laser119875612
    laser119875612Author
    Participating Frequently
    March 2, 2020

    No legacy file. I think I know what's happening. I think it's being saved with the pdf box checked. Would that be a likely culprit?

     

     

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