Illustrator Saving Issues

Question

So I was working on two images last night and today. On one file everything was just fine. On the second one when I saved to the cloud some really odd things started to happen. I normally prefer to save to my computer, but this year has been a hard year for me as far as computer crashes, and having to rebuild my dang PC several times. Just little things like lightning strikes, floods, random stuff happening...Needless to say, I have decided that I am now going to use the cloud to save my original files.

On the file that I had issues with I would save the AIC file, but then when I would reopen it there would be text and other things completely messed up as in the text would be gone. It was still there, but couldn't be seen. When I clicked on the text it said that it had been saved in a different older version of Illustrator. I only have one version, so I don't know what was going on. Then it started not saving my files as the same file but adding an (a) behind the file name and creating a different version of it. Oh, and I hadn't even shut down Illustrator and it wasn't doing this to my other illustration? Then when I would go to look at it, on the home screen of Illustrator thumbnail it was showing it about a 1/16 of an inch big. When I went to the cloud it was doing the same thing. It wouldn't let me save it and replace the last file I saved but kept adding letters behind it. Then when I would try to open things it would have things like text all messed up and stating it was saved under another version of Illustrator an older version. That is impossible, as both of these were projects I just started yesterday.

So, I seemingly solved the problem by fixing all the illustration and missing items in the file and resaving it as a different name myself. Then, I saw one of the old versions that were renamed by Adobe and the thumbnail looked to be 1/16 of an inch big (looked like a corrupted file) I thought I had deleted all of those and fixed everything. I got an error message that I was trying to open a file that I had created under a different Adobe ID/account. I only have one account/ID. I am finished with that whole project and I may never open those two files again, but it seems that I might need to fix something with my Illustrator app, and possibly uninstall and reinstall it. Does anyone have any idea what is causing this? The only thing I did differently was save to the cloud, which by the way, I am not impressed with right now I have to say.

Thanks for any suggestions on fixing all this so I don't run up against it again. I am on a tight schedule and way behind on things due to some health issues and I just need to keep moving forward as quickly, but creatively as possible. Sorry, I couldn't get you any screenshots as everything is looking normal now. What was showing on the cloud is no longer, since I changed the name of my file and saved it differently. I don't know what is going on with Illustrator right now.

Thank you,
SallyJane
PS - Last time I asked a question some lady jumped into the replies and called me an idiot and told me I obviously wasn't qualified or a professional. Adobe changes things all the time. I have been using Illustrator since 2005, so if you can't be nice and professional then don't reply. I want real answers, not someone putting me down and telling me I am an idiot because I have a question. I was so confused by her profile her only brag on there was her flute-playing abilities. LOL

Bobby Henderson · Answer

Generally speaking, I prefer saving active Illustrator project files to a local hard disc, be it on an internal drive or an attached external hard disc. The file saving process will be much faster than uploading data to a cloud location. If there is a power outage any kind of file saving that is in progress at that time will be disrupted, regardless if it's going to a local disc or a cloud location. It just takes less time to save to a local disc.

Cloud based storage can be convenient. I prefer using it to store copies of files I commonly re-use. I don't trust it enough for storing the only copy I have of a certain project file. Some desktop computers will feature two or more physical drives. That can be good for separating saved files from the OS and other data on the boot hard disc. If the OS gets trashed and the computer has to go through a factory reset it won't affect the data saved on the second physical drive. That's also a virtue for saving data on external hard discs.

Some cloud services, like Dropbox and OneDrive, can store copies of files in a local hard disc folder as well as in the cloud. The Creative Cloud Files folder works in a similar way. But AIC files saved in the Cloud Documents "sub-folder" are cloud-only files. When saving there the file has to fully upload too. I prefer placing files in the main Creative Cloud Files folder. I'll have to click the "Import and Open" command in the iPad version of Illustrator to get to those files. But I think it's a safer route.

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