Can't open jpeg files

[amandas78825728]

I am trying to open some stock jpegs I have bought, but get a notification saying "insufficient memory was available to complete the operation". What does this mean?

Thanks

[Mylenium]

Without any details about your computer, your version of AI and the files nobody can tell you much. Most of the time this has little to do with actual lack of memory but rather things like color profiles vs. some setting.

Mylenium

[jane-e]

Can you Place them instead of Open them in Illustrator?

[Debbie Keller]

Try opening Illustrator first and then opening your jpg file, File --> Open.

I have this same problem on a computer at work that I do not have admin rights to and this works for me.

[MACnTUTOR]

This is the Adobe Illustrator Forum. If you are looking for help with Photoshop (usually Photoshop is used to open and edit JPEGs), you need to ask in the Photoshop Forum.

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Generally, opening one or more JPEGs is a bad idea in Illustrator. Why? JPEGs are bitmap (pixel-based) and Illustrator is a vector program. Even if you manage to open a JPEG in Illustrator (which is possible... my students do it by mistake often), you will have problems with various panels and other controls not working properly in Illustrator.
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The way to get a JPEG into an Illustrator document is to create a new blank document in Adobe Illustrator, Then, as mentioned above, place the JPEG by using the "File... Place..." command from the menu bar.
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Once your JPEG is paced in your Illustrator document, you have several options for working with the JPEG such as (1.) the Photoshop Effects in the bottom half of the Effects menu or (2.) the Image Trace feature to convert the Bitmap Image into vector so you can use Illustrator's vector-based toolset on it.

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If you are still seeing that "Insufficient Memory" error message while trying to place a JPEG, then I would suggest deleting your Illustrator preferences. Right (immediately) after you double click the Adobe Illustrator icon to start it, you must press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT+ALT [Windows PC] or COMMAND+SHIFT+OPTION [Mac] at the same time right away - and if correctly done, a pop up box will ask if you wish to clear your preference files - click Yes. This is a good general troubleshooting technique for when you have Illustrator woes.

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Hope that helps,

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

MACnTUTOR  schrieb

If you are still seeing that "Insufficient Memory" error message while trying to place a JPEG, then I would suggest deleting your Illustrator preferences. Right (immediately) after you double click the Adobe Illustrator icon to start it, you must press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT+ALT [Windows PC] or COMMAND+SHIFT+OPTION [Mac] at the same time right away - and if correctly done, a pop up box will ask if you wish to clear your preference files - click Yes. This is a good general troubleshooting technique for when you have Illustrator woes.

If you continue to see this insufficient memory message then the first thing would be to close everything, restart the computer (to clear all RAM), then start only Illustrator and try again.

Of course compare your installed amount of RAM to the system requirements (should be at least 8 GB). In case that is a large JPEG you also have to consider that it will get even larger when expanded (which happens when you place it in an Illustrator file): that is: e.g. a 250 MB JPEG file might be 1.5 GB when expanded.

So this "insufficient RAM" message might actually be just that: insufficent RAM. Expecially with JPEGs.

Resetting the preferences is not always the best idea. It will reset everything. And everything has to be set up again. Actually I don't remember the last time I had to reset the preferences. And I'm using Illustrator every single day.

When resetting the preferences then at least do it the non-destructive way: by renaming or moving  the folder as described in here: How to set preferences in Illustrator