A second (4k) pdf file is created when I save a file to PDFX1A out of Illustrator CC (v26.5)

[Robert26103237ydw5]

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this. The second pdf file is very small and is corrupt, but the intended PDFX1A file is fine. The PDF file was copied to a thumb drive for handoff to a sign vendor. The vendor called to alert me that there were two PDF files on the drive, and one of them (the 4k file) was corrupted and unusable. Thanks for any help.

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

Can you uncheck "Save in background" in the preferences?

Do you perhaps copy the file to the thumb drive on Mac OS? It creates a second file.

[Robert26304859h949]

Thank you, Monika. Yes, I generated the PDF out of Illustrator CC on a Mac Studio system. Will check the preference setting you suggested. I did notice that PDFX1A files saved that same way but to the Mac desktop, did not generate a second, corrupt "ghost" pdf. I appreciate you taking time to comment.