Export Paths to Illustrator: blank AI file with no paths

Forum|Forum|1 day ago
March 19, 2026
2 replies
38 views

I have a vector path logo in a PSD file to be printed for t-shirts. When I “export paths to Illustrator” Photoshop creates an AI file, no problem.
When I open the AI file, nothing is there, including nothing showing in the paths tab.

I have done a fill on the path, made copies of the path & made sure I was on the right path, etc., everything I can think of to make the AI file anything other than completely blank, but with no luck.

I have made a PDF, SVG, etc. for the printer, but he says he can’t use those now & needs an AI file. I don’t have Illustrator now to test, but nothing looks wrong in Photoshop & it was a ton of work & all other formats seem OK except AI, but at this point I’m desperate to get anything other than a completely blank AI file.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

I believe that you have unrealistic expectations here.

Photoshop paths to Illustrator simply exports paths from the paths panel with no fill or stroke. This has always been for specific use, exporting clipping paths.

Do you have vector shape layers?

Photoshop isn’t a vector design or production tool, it’s a raster design and production tool with limited vector capabilities which aren’t really designed to work in a seamless fashion with true vector apps.

colorofgreyAuthor

Known Participant

I understand what you mean about Photoshop not being a vector-first program, but to be fair, this is a legitimate concern we’re trying to get help with; Photoshop does have vector tools & we spent a lot of time creating it & it’s functional in vector, and again the only problem with any format export is AI so I just thought this would be a good place to ask for help is all, know what I mean? Expectations of zero data I think are fair to be surprised by, but there are no errors on either end & this is a good place to ask for help for many people.

D Fosse

Community Expert

@colorofgrey

To be honest, I think you still misunderstand how this is supposed to work.

When you “Export Paths to Illustrator”, this will not produce a visible image in Illustrator. What you get is a naked path with no fill and no stroke, in other words, a seemingly blank document.

But if you look in the Layers panel in Illustrator, the path is there, ready to be stroked or filled.

Any stroke or fill the path has in Photoshop is pixel data, not vector data. So that will not transfer. It will just be stripped.

However, if you Export to PDF or SVG, the export will also include pixel data.

colorofgreyAuthor

Known Participant

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