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epic_work0C17
Participating Frequently
November 14, 2019
Question

(Mac) Error copying simple object from Illustrator 24 to Photoshop 21.0.1

  • November 14, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 1133 views

Updated to the latest version of everything (including Photoshop today) and can't copy a simple object from Illustrator and paste to photoshop. It doesn't matter what the object is. Made a simple box and no go.

 

I open both apps and create a blank document in photoshop. Open a document in illustrator. Copy an object and switch to photoshop. Hit paste and I get the dialog box asking how I'd like to paste the object. Smart Object, Pixels, etc.

 

Once I make my selection and hit okay, Illustrator throws an error:

"The operation cannot complete because of an unknown error. [CANF] (Note that the bit in brackets is different sometimes.)

When I hit okay on this error photoshop follows up with an error:

"Could not complete the Paste command because the clipboard data is empty or invalid."

 

I've confirmed I have no pending updates, restarted the apps, and restarted the computer.

Nothing seems to help.

Any ideas? This is entirely debilitating as I'm sure you can imagine.
Thanx in advance for any hints y'all can provide. 

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

epic_work0C17
Participating Frequently
November 15, 2019

So it appears to profiles I'm trying to remove a built in profiles.

I did remove the files I thought were behind them but the profiles remain. The only profiles that matched your description also appear to be defaults - in that they're in brackets and can't be removed via the interface.

 

The two that seem to be upsetting all this are the PDF/X-1a:2001 and PDF/X-3:2002.

I have no more files I can remove, so I'm not quite sure what to do now. 😞

Legend
November 15, 2019

PDF default presets are non-removeable. Select the first, Illustrator default. I have never touched those settings.

Could you please provide the version numbers (last is a vague term) of Ai and PS, and of the OS?

(in windows: Help>About Illustrator, in MAc: Illustrator>About)....

 

Have you tried already to restore the Preferences on both apps?

 

Ashutosh_Mishra
Inspiring
November 14, 2019

Hi there,

 

Thanks for reaching out and highlighting this. Could you please confirm if you are using any custom PDF presets? If yes, please try the following steps and let us know how it goes:

1. Go to Edit > Adobe PDF Presets
2. Check PDF compatibility of PDF presets that are not default.
3. Make a note of presets that use PDF compatibility version 1.3

4. Quit Illustrator
5. Navigate to user presets folder Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings
6. Move the presets identified in step 3 out of this folder
7. Launch Illustrator and check how it works.

 

Regards,

Ashutosh

epic_work0C17
Participating Frequently
November 14, 2019

Thank you so much for the speedy reply! Much appreciated.

 

I did what you asked but had the same issue.

I checked PDF Presets and found that the problematic profiles were still there, so  I checked the folder containing the presets to confirm that they weren't recreated or anything. They weren't, but while there I noted the "Extras" folder. It appeared that there were files illuding to those profiles there so I took the initiative and removed those too.

 

First thing to note is that I can copy and paste now. Great news!
Second thing is that I get an error the first time I try to go to Illustrator's PDF Presets menu:
"The operation cannot complete because of an unknown error. [1]"

When I try to open it again it works and the pesky PDF profiles I removed ARE STILL listed. Note Copy/Paste still works at this point.

 

I close illustrator and reopen it. I check the PDF profiles and the ones I removed are listed.
But copy paste now works.

Is this the outcome we're looking for? It just seems weird that the problem profiles would still be in there.

epic_work0C17
Participating Frequently
November 15, 2019

Just to follow up:

After closing and reopening everything the problem is back, so this has something to do with the problem but doesn't appear to be the perminent fix for it. 😞