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brittanyh5741680
Participant
July 22, 2017
Answered

Saving a PDF out from Adobe Illustrator NOT WORKING, please help!

  • July 22, 2017
  • 10 replies
  • 83835 views

I have not been having issues saving my AI files to PDF's before, but now all of a sudden whenever I save a PDF out and then go to open that said PDF I am given the error:

"This is an Adobe® Illustrator® File that was

saved without PDF Content.

To Place or open this file in other

applications, it should be re-saved from

Adobe Illustrator with the "Create PDF

Compatible File" option turned on. This

option is in the Illustrator Native Format

Options dialog box, which appears when

saving an Adobe Illustrator le using the

Save As command."

I have tried resaving my AI file and making sure the "Create PDF Compatible File" is checked and it is, yet I am still having this issue?? Please help!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Mohammad.Harb

    Have you tried to copy the objects from that document to another new document and re-save It again as pdf?

    10 replies

    P
    Print5C68
    Participant
    May 12, 2021

    You can reset your adobe illustrator settings, this will sort it too!

    S
    sashav96761648
    Participant
    June 29, 2021

    Hi - just found such a simple solution when I was getting this error message! I did "save as - Adobe Illustrator (ai)". Then I opened that newly saved .ai file in Illustrator. From there, I was able to save as a .pdf file no issue! 🙂 So basically just creating a new .ai file will replace the "bad" .ai file. 

     

    Sasha

    Nathan Cavanaugh
    Nathan Cavanaugh
    Participant
    June 29, 2021
    Cool, thanks, Sasha! This issue has been resolved but I will keep this
    trick in mind if I encounter it again.

    Nathan Cavanaugh
    Creative Studio Lead

    P: 206.588.7182

    D
    defaultsr70jgvgqysh
    Participant
    January 5, 2021

    Close Illustrator and open it up again. Worked for me. Clearing clipboard. 

    C
    Chiran03
    Participant
    June 17, 2020

    Hey. I have a 50 page pdf. How do I do that? Anyone?

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 17, 2020

    "Hey. I have a 50 page pdf. How do I do that? Anyone?"

     

    So you already have the PDF - then what is the problem?

     

    Seems like your issue is different from what this thread is about, so please create a new thread, tell us your system and version and tell us exactly what is happening step by step.

    Glenn Rac
    Glenn Rac
    Participating Frequently
    May 28, 2020

    Thank you Mohammad Harb. I know it's a bit late but this is the only time having an issue with my converted Illustrator file into a PDF file. Did exactly as you suggested and bingo immediate load into PDF viewable.

    I
    ingarumun
    Participant
    April 15, 2020

    I'm having the same issuse. Nothing seems to work.

    Vadim91
    Vadim91
    Participant
    May 21, 2020

    I was just having these issues and saving in a new file or resetting preferences didnt work. Checked Adobe Cloud and there was an update for Illustrator and this fixed the problem for me.

    Nathan Cavanaugh
    Nathan Cavanaugh
    Participant
    April 10, 2020

    I am having this issue as well. It started when I updated to Illustrator 24.1.

    The workaround I'm currently using is to open the AI files in Acrobat then save it as a PDF from there. 

    • I am saving files directly to our company server via a VPN connection. 
    • There is no text in the files. 
    • I do not have a printer connected.
    • I do not have any third-party plugins installed.


      hellocaira
      hellocaira
      Participant
      February 5, 2020

      Help!! I've also tried copying objects to a new document and re-save it as PDF. I've also put my files offline but none worked.

      hellocaira
      hellocaira
      Participant
      February 5, 2020

      Already working. Reset my preferences, quit application, restart. Thanks!

      Rishabh_Tiwari
      Community Manager
      Rishabh_TiwariCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      February 10, 2020

      Glad to hear it has been resolved! Feel free to reach out if you run into any other questions or issues in the future. Thanks!

      S
      SiewLingC
      Participating Frequently
      February 3, 2020

      I'm having the same problem now. I'm using Mac OS 10.15.3, Adobe Illustrator 2020. The layouts are all purely typographic, there are no linked or embeded images. The text are intact. And when I use the "Save As a Copy" function, I get the error in Acrobat Reader. I'm a heavy Illustrator user. I don't understand what is causing the problem.

       

       

        Rishabh_Tiwari
        Community Manager
        Rishabh_TiwariCommunity Manager
        Community Manager
        February 4, 2020

        Hi there,

         

        Sorry to hear about the trouble. Could you please confirm if you have already tried resetting the preferences? If yes, I would request if you can confirm if this is happening on a specific file or on multiple files?

         

        Regards

        Rishabh

          hellocaira
          hellocaira
          Participant
          February 5, 2020

          I already resrt my preferences. It's happening on multiple files.

          Thanks,

            I
            Ingrid Schmuck
            Participant
            September 6, 2018

            I've the same problem, I can't save the document. Pdf is not working and I tried to copie and to open a new document....

              Monika Gause
              Community Expert
              Monika GauseCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              September 6, 2018

              ingrids21552840  schrieb

              I've the same problem, I can't save the document. Pdf is not working and I tried to copie and to open a new document....

              Please create a new thread.

              Tell us your system and version in the new thread.

              Where do you save the files?

              Is text in your file?

              Do you have a printer connected and turned on?

              Any third party plugins installed?

              superfiveo
              superfiveo
              Participant
              September 17, 2018

              Hi, I am also having this frustrating issue!!!

              Mac OSX 10.13.6

              upto date illustrator CC

              Yes, text is in the file

              Yes I have a printer connected and turned on.

              What do you mean by third party plugins installed?

              please help!

              Lizzy

              Mohammad.Harb
              Community Expert
              Mohammad.HarbCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
              Community Expert
              July 22, 2017

              Have you tried to copy the objects from that document to another new document and re-save It again as pdf?

              B
              brittanyh5741680Author
              Participant
              July 22, 2017

              This worked!! Thank you so much!! I have to see if i can figure out why it was doing that with a couple files? I am not sure if some files got corrupted or something? I just don't want to have to keep doing that. Thank you for your help

              Monika Gause
              Community Expert
              Monika GauseCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              July 22, 2017

              Do you by any chance save directly to a network?

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