I created a series of files in .ai format using Cloud. My printer has an older version of Illustrator. I tried down saving the files to their version and sending it that way. This works fine for small files, designs that are a few feet across or less. There are multiple files that are for wall-sized graphics. When I down save these files it converts the units from feet to points and they are no longer to scale when the printer opens them. The same thing seems to happen with large files when I send them as PDFs. They open fine on my end but are downscaled when the printer opens them in their older version of Illustrator. Is there any solution to this besides me breaking the large files into many smaller pieces and having them manually reassemble them at installation?
Illustrator versions before 2020 don't support work areas larger than 227 inches square. If they need to open large canvas files in Illustrator, there is not much you can do except work at scale or break up your files as you suggest.
Change your printer. If they can't invest in themselves for the benefit of their customers, you shouldn't either.
If your art is entirely vector with no pixel effects or placed pixel files then the scaling isn't an issue, just have them scale the art for correct output size.
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