"There was an error opening this document. This file cannot be found"

[graphicd22604340]

I updated my Illustrator this morning (v 23.1?) and now whenever I Save-As my files to PDF, and check the box View PDF After Saving, Acrobat opens but then displays an error message, "There was an error opening this document. This file cannot be found," even though it saved exactly where I told it to, and I can subsequently open it through File Explorer just fine.

After running a couple tests, I found out the error is only happening with files on which I use certain work templates (proofing designs for customers), which have never given me any trouble before.

I already uninstalled and re-installed Acrobat to no avail... would uninstalling and re-installing Illustrator result in loss of all my pinned files, preferences and scripts? Are there any other ideas or solutions?

I also discovered I am not given the error when Acrobat is not initially open and Illustrator opens it as the PDF is created. If Acrobat is already open, the error is given.

[ls_rbls]

Hi,

I have had this issue before when working with the same file using two different Adobe Acrobat products, like Acrobat Reader and Acrobat Pro (or even with just with Acrobat Pro by itself).

In this case I had to make sure that the file is not being opened simultaneously with both programs , or being synchronized to a cloud storage service simultaneously by both programs as I am opening the file.

Additionally, in Adobe Acrobat Pro, under Preferences---> Categories---> General...  I have unchecked " Show Online storage when opening files", "Show online storage when saving files" and "Open PDFs from last session".

I've also observed that when I save a file that I just edited with Acrobat Pro, for example, the program performs the Save As function correctly but that doesn't means it will exit  my current active document automatically.

Unless I specify during the Save As method to change the filename (not just the directory where I want to save it in) the file will remain actively opened in my Acrobat Pro until I exit. That is one of the scenarios noted.

On the other hand, I've also noticed that I get this message if I save the file to another folder but with the same filename. 

When I get this message in this last scenario it appears like the warning is given because the  Save As operation performed a "move" of the file from the previous folder to another folder rather than duplicating the filename from the current folder that it was originally saved in to another folder destination (meaning that it is not saved  in the current directory that you are working with anymore).

For testing purposes only --- It seems like your best solution is to sure you exit the document in Illustrator (and even close the Illustrator porgram completely) as soon as you finish Saving As ,  then try opening the Saved As file with Acrobat Pro.

Another possible soultion is to to check in Preferences---> Security Enhanced ---> Sandboxed Protections  ...turning Off Protected View, enabling/disabling Enhanced Security AND/ OR setting up trusted documents/trusted sites under Privileged Locations

[graphicd22604340]

Hi ls_rbls, thanks for your reply! Unfortunately, neither of the solutions you presented have fixed the issue. And I don't quite follow the test you suggested, my problem has never been with simply opening a file manually in Acrobat, that I can do just fine, but I'm trying to use the time-saving measure of telling Illustrator to automatically open the file in Acrobat after saving. Does that make sense?

[graphicd22604340]

Interesting development, I figured out that I'm not presented with the error when I save to my local drive / desktop, but when I save to my company's server it does give the error.

[qwertysmith]

I can confirm this.

[ls_rbls]

That is good that you are getting to the root of the problem. Then in this case it looks more like a file synchronization issue? A conflictive clod storage service that needs to be modified or disbaled perhaps?

[ls_rbls]

In the case of networking , are using sharing these files simultaneously? Are they sharing these files through mapped networked drives?

[graphicd22604340]

I'm not so familiar with the workings of servers, can you explain what you mean by sharing these files simultaneously & mapped network drives? I did try saving to a separate company server than the first and was given the same error

[ls_rbls]

Yes, I will login from a computer later and reply back . Typing in a mibile device is not helping me

[qwertysmith]

In my case, I am receiving the error when saving to a mapped network drive. I do not receive the error when saving to Google Drive File Stream.

[graphicd22604340 · Accepted solution]

MAYBE SOLVED!? Go to AI Preferences > File Handling & Clipboard > UNCHECK optimize File Open and Save Time on Slow Networks (Beta). Confirm if it works for you!

[ls_rbls]

this tip makes sense to me, tooo bad I don't have Illustrator yet. Thanks for sharing that feedback!

[Amanda_Irene]

This solved my issue!

[ls_rbls]

Yes,

I had another user a few months ago that posted a similar question. We never found a solution through all the work arounds though.

In his case, He had an engineer firm sharing plan layouts and blueprints in their tablets while working on a site. Meanwhile other users at the office site were also viewing the same file in real time. Since the same file was being viewed (or shared in this case) by many users at the same, The problem this posed for them was that if a user decided to make changes to the file they would only be applied if the user selected to save as in the local hard drive , not to the mapped networked driver.

This is like having a file always open , so in reality this problem was more related to  a digital workflow solution.

Mapped network drives also sometimes fail, forcing the user to delete and recreate their mapped network drive (mapped network drives act basically a short cut in your desktop computer that connects you somewhere else in another File or Web server; an a lot of things can go wrong if the network admin doesn't have a solid file backup plan and how to enforce file sharing redundancy and file securtiy restrictions via Group Policy, for example).

The other user I met with a similar issue was using a 3rd party VPN that enforced an encryption and security service while storing their files to a shared cloud storage service.

Same thing would apply here in terms of how often the file that is being shared by all the users is synchronizing (saving over a web service or Internet medium) with the cloud storage service to reflect the latest changes and avoid file corruption and hangs that were experienced frquently at the dektop level.

Aside from all of these observations above,  I've documented myself a little better and I think this question should also be posted in an Adobe Illustrator support forum.

Nevertheless, please read through these links. There is very useful insights in the steps to follow on how to export, save, Save As, or Save As Web from Illustrator to Adobe Acrobat PDF document: https://books.google.com/books?id=OC4LxxBXINYC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=exporting+a+file+from+Illustrator...

Se also here: https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/119076/how-to-stop-adobe-illustrator-cc-from-chang...

and here: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=169496

[graphicd22604340]

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. I guess I am still skeptical about this being a "viewing the same file in real time" issue. Whenever somebody on the server tries to save over a file that is being viewed at the same time, they receive the common message, "can't save the illustration, the file may be read only or the file is in use by another application," inside Illustrator. This error is instead shown by Acrobat, and the file is created just fine, the issue is about Acrobat not opening it automatically like it should.  

[ls_rbls]

Yes you're welcome, and that is an interesting issue. I''l keep an eye to see what else I can find out there and post back

[qwertysmith]

I have the same problem since the update. I also find that the name of the file in Acrobat is now displayed with a prefix (ai15704658569_[name of my file]). The file itself does not have the prefix. 

[graphicd22604340]

Yes! I found if I close Acrobat entirely, then export a PDF from Illustrator, it WILL open the first time, but with that weird prefix you mentioned. If I try it a second time, it just gives me the error message.

[andyholliday]

I'm also having this exact problem all of a sudden and no suggested fixes i've seen so far

[graphicd22604340]

The AI Preferences > File Handling & Clipboard > UNCHECK Optimize File Open and Save Time on Slow Networks (Beta) did not fix it? 

[andyholliday]

YES! Thanks so much. I'd not seen this fix. Worked a treat!

[Jay.B]

I solved my problem. Was getting the same error.

Found out that Adobe Reader is giving these errors when opening files through mapped network drives.

No problem in opening them through the direct path.