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Exporting PDFs from Ai 2020 gives error "saved with no PDF content" when opened in Acrobat on macOS

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
December 16, 2019
8 replies
13363 views

I've been experiencing difficulties exporting PDF files in Illustrator. Everything looks normal until I open the file (preview, Acrobat etc.) to find white pages with a text that says my file has no PDF content. This has been happening inermitently over the last two months. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I've already checked with IT Support at work and they can't seem to find anything wrong with my computer, which would just leave the software.

Some help would be much appreaciated.

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This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer SKS Graphics

Hi Srishti,

Wow, that is a unique name! Awesome!
I was able to fix the problem. I deleted the old preference files and
started up Illustrator 2020. All works now. It looks like a lot of people
have the same issue. Easy fix if one knows what to do - it was frustrating,
but in the Adobe community I found the fix.
Thank you!
Silvia

{Personal Information Removed By MOD}

Srishti Bali

Community Manager

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out. We have tried to address this issue in our latest build of 24.1.2. If you are not already on v 24.1.2, then we recommend you to update to latest version and let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Srishti

L

lisan99934753

Participant

Hey there!

Isn't there an user fiendly way to solve this? I've been having the same issue for weeks, I've been trying all kind of videos and tutorials and I still can't get it exported.

Shouldn't it be possible to just export the PDF when clicking on "Export PDF"? without having to go backstage?

I need to give this document to my client and I can't because of this Illustrator issue.

Is there an update that solves this problem coming anytime soon?

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Is it at least version 24.0.1? Did you reset the preferences when updating?

S

SaraHadian

Participant

"This is an Adobe® Illustrator® File saved without PDF Content.

To Place or open this le in other applications, it should be re-saved Adobe Illustrator with the "Create Compatible File" option turned on. option is in the Illustrator Native Options dialog box, which appears saving an Adobe Illustrator le using Save As command."

this message keeps showing every time I save illustrator file into pdf

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

From the Related Conversations on the top right of this page, it seems that some got this solved by resetting the Preferences:

S

Sophieo8

Participant

I get is message when I try to save my file as a PDF

"This is an Adobe® Illustrator® File that was saved without PDF Content. To Place or open this le in other applications, it should be re-saved from Adobe Illustrator with the "Create PDF Compatible File" option turned on. This option is in the Illustrator Native Format Options dialog box, which appears when saving an Adobe Illustrator le using the Save As command."

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Ashutosh_Mishra

Inspiring

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. In addition to the question asked earlier, I'd appreciate if you can share the version of OS and InDesign as well.
I'd recommend resetting the preferences of Illustrator once. You may follow the instruction provided on https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html#setting_illustrator_preferences and let us know how it goes.

**Please note that resetting preferences will remove all the custom settings and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also take a backup of the folders in case you want to. Location is mentioned in the article.

Hope it helps.

Regards,

Ashutosh

S

Sophieo8

Participant

It's Indesign CC 2020 15.0.1. I was getting that message will all of my PDF files and not just a specific one. I simply restarted my computer and it fixed itself. Nothing else worked.

A

ADVPTAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi Silvia,

That's great! How do I delete the old preferance files?

Thank you!

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Here's how: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html

A

ADVPTAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thank you!

Srishti Bali

Community Manager

Hi,

So sorry to hear about this issue. That's definitely not normal. I would request if you can share a few more details like:

Which PDF preset you are using?
Does the same thing happen when you save PDF from a new file?
Share a screenshot of the settings used while saving PDFs.
Was the PDF opened in any other application after creation?
It would be a great help if you can share a sample file.

Regards,

Srishti

A

ADVPTAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi Srishti,

Yes, the same thing happens when I save new files in PDF
Most of them haven't been opened in any other program. I'll notice there's a problem when I see the preview when I look for the PDF file. I've tried opening the blank PDFs in other programs and other computers and they don't seem to have any content. My computer's been formated an cleaned, so I know it's not my hardware.
These are my settings:

I know they're modified, but I've never experienced this problem before, and I've used them many times. The same thing happens with the default settings, for both compressed and default Illustrator PDF formats.

Ashutosh_Mishra

Inspiring

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. Would you mind sharing some more information like:
1. Version of OS and Illustrator.

2. Is it happening with a specific file or all the files you try to save as PDF?
3. Have you checked the PDF output settings such as PDF Preset?

All this information will help us understand the issue and work accordingly.

If it is a specific document, I'd recommend to create a copy of .Ai file and then try to save it as PDF. You can also copy all the objects from one file to another and then try to do it.

Let us know if it helps.

Regards,

Ashutosh

A

ADVPTAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi Ashutosh,

Sure thing.

1. High Sierra with Illustrator 2020

2. It's with all files I export. And it comes and goes. One day I'm able to export PDFs and the next they'll come out white pages with text saying there's no PDF content in my file. Illustrators preview will show the file as normal, but when I open it it won't have any content.

3. I have checked and it doesn't seem to be the problem

I tried installing Catalina and went back to High sierra to see if that was the problem. It didn't solve anything.

Thanks

Nancy OShea

Community Expert

Moving this post from Get Started to Illustrator.

Meanwhile, can you create your PDF from Acrobat instead of Illustrator? In Acrobat DC, go to Tools, Create PDF and select your .ai file.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

A

ADVPTAuthor

Participating Frequently

Yeah, that works.

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