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james90293
Participating Frequently
September 9, 2023
Question

Symbols I created in AI are broken or corrupted. Why?

  • September 9, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 438 views

I created (6) different symbols made up of type and rectangles. I did this so I could easily edit the colors and re-use them at different rotations within a print document.  Yesterday I opened the file and all of the symbols are broken or corrupted. They are still there but most of the elements are missing or not displaying correctly. Luckily, I had the PDF so I used that to recreate the art. I have never had an issue with symbols before. I use symbols all the time for elements that repeat a lot in a document.

 

I have a suspicion that I did something to cause this. After I saved the file I realized I had a typo in the file name so I renamed it outside of Adobe Illustrator. I highlighted the file in the folder and changed the name.  I would normally correct this by doing a SAVE AS within AI but I was in a hurry. Any chance this was the cause? (I was using Adobe Illustrator 2023 on a Mac)

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1 reply

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 9, 2023

Did you correct the file name while the file was open in Illustrator?

Where did you save the file?

J
james90293Author
Participating Frequently
September 9, 2023

The file might have still been open. I thought it was closed. The files was saved on a local hard drive. I don't know for sure. I think this was probably a self-inflicted wound. I typically don't change file names in the directory. Normally I would open the file and do a save as.

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 9, 2023

It's not a good idea to do that kind of thing.

 

But even then I would not expect that particular thing to happen. WHen saving goes terribly wrong, then all you have left is typically a PDF file. And that would not have any symbols.

 

So this could just be bad luck. I would watch it. If it happens again: maybe reset the preferences. Reboot regularly. That kinf of stuff.

 

Also: Uncheck "Save in background" in the preferences. This setting can corrupt files.

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