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Sue Hauke
Inspiring
December 12, 2016
Question

artboards and layers disappear from ai files

  • December 12, 2016
  • 3 replies
  • 2139 views

I created several maps, each with multiple layers and 2 artboards each (one for map, one for legend).  Saved and imported artboards into Indesign.  Great.

Next day, I open the illustrator files - one artboard, no layers, legend artboard missing.  WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?  and how do I rectify this!  Panicking.

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    3 replies

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 12, 2016

    Looking at the File Info

    This file was not created in Illustrator but was a PDF generated from AutoCAD using Ghostscript.

    xmlns:illustrator="http://ns.adobe.com/illustrator/1.0/">

             <pdf:Producer>GPL Ghostscript 9.20</pdf:Producer>

             <xmp:ModifyDate>2016-12-12T13:50:58-07:00</xmp:ModifyDate>

             <xmp:CreateDate>2016-12-09T10:21:10-06:00</xmp:CreateDate>

             <xmp:CreatorTool>Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014 - English 2014 (19.1s (LMS Tech))</xmp:CreatorTool>

             <xmp:MetadataDate>2016-12-12T13:50:58-07:00</xmp:MetadataDate>

    S
    Sue HaukeAuthor
    Inspiring
    December 12, 2016

    Well, herein lies the bane of my existence.  These maps originally come from "a map guy" who must be working in either a mapping software or perhaps it's the Autocad you refer to.  He saves them into ai and pdf formats, so I can open them.  IN general, I try to work with the ai files (as I did with this problem file) after which I get to try to make sense of the nightmare of tiny disconnected lines, objects (if I'm lucky)... I try to eliminate the craziness that originates in his files, and sometimes I completely redraw lines, simplify the number of points making up lines, etc.  At a minimum, I group things onto separate layers, delete fonts that don't come over, etc. I hope I end up with a clean file, and for the most part, the files don't give me any grief once I've pulled things apart.  This is the first time I've encountered this problem.  I have more of these, and much larger, and detailed maps to generate through this process, so I'm hoping this will be a unique hiccup!

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 13, 2016

    Once you have opened them in Illustrator for the first time, make sure you save them as an Illustrator file.

    Probably the best option is to do a Save As and save them as the latest version of Illustrator.

    Mike_Gondek10189183
    Community Expert
    Mike_Gondek10189183Community Expert
    Community Expert
    December 12, 2016

    Well there is the obvious which is to confirm you are opening the correct file and not a copy with the same name.  Use edit original from InDesign.

    Then you may be opening the .pdf half of the file, try restarting your computer, and looking at the file size to see if the file is damaged.

    Can you post a copy of the file with dropbox or similar.

    S
    Sue HaukeAuthor
    Inspiring
    December 12, 2016

    Dropbox - Map.ai

    This is my original file.  The Edit Original in InDesign give me the same opening option - which artboard to do I want to open… 

    Mike_Gondek10189183
    Community Expert
    Mike_Gondek10189183Community Expert
    Community Expert
    December 12, 2016

    Looks  like the file got damaged as open .pdf is coming up, as Monika suspected..

    You can open in Acrobat and do a save as to get a .3 page pdf, or just open the .ai file 3x until you have a copy of each page.

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 12, 2016

    Tell us the history of your file.

    In which version has it been initially created?

    In which version has it been saved and exactly how and where?

    In which versions has it been opened?

    Have you encountered any error messages? Which ones?

    It looks like you opened the PDF part of the document which might have been caused by several incidents.

    S
    Sue HaukeAuthor
    Inspiring
    December 12, 2016
    • Working on a MacBook Pro, OSX El Capitan
    • Files created December 9 and 10, 2016 in Illustrator CC 2017. 
    • Files are saved as ai files to my laptop; same backed up to external drive via Time Machine
    • I'm only running CC2017.  Within InDesign, I selected the linked file to update.  When it tried to open it asked me for which artboard, so of course it only opens that artboard, but I would expect it should still include the layers.  Tried to open same ai file from the desktop, same thing.  no artboards, no layers. Pulled same file from Time Machine, no dartboards, no layers

    What are the "caused by several incidents" you refer to?

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