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AC Intl.
New Participant
September 3, 2021
Question

The operation cannot complete because of an unknown error. [PARM]

  • September 3, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 14496 views

Hi,

 

I am experiencing an error message which states:

 

The operation cannot complete because of an unknown error.

PARM

 

I found a similar topic, but for some reason when I try to post a reply, I get an error message in the forum as well.

 

The problem in my case occurs even with different .ai files or .pdf files, when I try to use Trace after I rasterised a group of shapes/text for a logo.

 

I can easly get rid of the message clicking Ok fortunately.

 

My tech specs are:

 

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5

8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 1536 MB

macOS Big Sur 11.5.2

 

Yesterday I performed a troubleshooting which did not resolve the issue:

- Uninstalled Illustrator.

- Deleted .plist files.

- NVRAM Reset.

- Recovery Mode/Disk Utility/First Aid.

- Safe Mode.

- Reinstalled Illustrator.

- New Admin User.

 

I was just concerned that the project files are corrupted and that the message was due to the damaged files, but happening with different files in different Admin users, it seems to be just a bug.

 

Is this just a software related issue, isn't it? I mean, shall I be concerned about my files or are they healthy?

4 replies

New Participant
May 6, 2025

I understand this is an old post but I just experienced this fault with an emergence map I am updating and found that some of the paths were the cause. All I needed to do was set the path stroke back to Basic and then add back the arrows and added attributes. Once I had completed this I have not received anymore errors

 

FYI I’m running V29.5

Anshul_Saini
Community Manager
Community Manager
September 20, 2021

Hi there,

 

Sorry about the trouble. Could you please share a few more details like:

  • Please confirm the exact version of Illustrator in which the error occurs.
  • Could you please share a sample document with us? You can upload it to the Creative Cloud (https://helpx.adobe.com/in/creative-cloud/help/share.html) and share the download link.
  • Where are you saving the files (Network Drive/ System HDD/ Shared Folder on System/ External HDD)?
  • When did this start happening? Are there any recent changes made to your system? For example, any antivirus, system updates, or web extensions installed recently.
  • @Dee_Funk, please share your device specification? Does your machine has 8gb of ram?

 

Also, I would request you all to re-install the latest version in your free time and try resetting Illustrator Preferences ( https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html) and see if that help to resolve the issue?
Disclaimer: Please note that resetting preferences will remove all the custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also take a backup of the folders in case you want to. Location is mentioned in the article.

 

Will be looking forward to your response.

 

Thanks & Regards,

Anshul Saini

Dee_Funk
Participating Frequently
September 20, 2021

This is happening on the latest version of Illustrator using Mac intel and/or Mac M1....

I have a support ticket in with your people. They are aware of the issue. I have already shared documents, its not a document issue.. Its an issue in the programming of your latest version for Mac..

 

The solution was to uninstall the latest version and go back one version...

 

This not only happened on my Mac M1. But this also happened to people at my office with Intel Macs and their random Macs at home...   This is not isolated to any particular file..

 

The PARM error comes up when trying to access the EDIT menu in Illustrator. As soon as I click on that menu, PARM ERROR!

I hope this helps you to understand..

 Thanks for reaching out..

Dee_Funk
Participating Frequently
September 5, 2021

I am having the same issue.. Did you ever get this resolved? if so, how?

Monika Gause
Community Expert
September 5, 2021
quote

I am having the same issue.. Did you ever get this resolved? if so, how?


By @Dee_Funk

 

If you are having this kind of issue, contact Customer Care and have them take a look into your system:

https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
September 5, 2021

It could be document specific.

Try if it still happens after a restart and in a new document.

I had the same warning when working on a file with an embedded image from this post:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/color-overlay-not-exporting-to-jpg/m-p/12358784#M289817

 

 

AC Intl.
AC Intl.Author
New Participant
September 3, 2021

I forgot to mention the tasks I perform before to get the error message:

 

- Select all the shapes/text of the logo.

- Rasterize.

- Click Object to use Trace.

 

It does not happen every time, but sometimes the message shows up and I have to click on OK.

 

It did happen before, the issue started yesterday and I did not change anything in my system (like updates for instance).

Monika Gause
Community Expert
September 4, 2021

I don't quite understand why you are first rasterizing and then autotracing a logo?

AC Intl.
AC Intl.Author
New Participant
September 4, 2021

I was trying to prevent the scale up of the logo's shape as Transform/Scale & Strokes unticked does not work for a line, I thought to rasterize and trace it to vectorize it.

 

I reckon it is not the right way in this case, but I tried to find a workaround.

 

However, the error message does not appear anymore at the moment.

 

Yesterday evening it was occurring.

 

My concern is related to the project file though, just to make sure I was not working on a corrupted or damaged file having confirmation that the [PARM] error message was only referred to the software.