File Problems - Logo now black

[Social Outcomes]

Hi all,

I haven't worked on these illustrator files in a few years but when I opened them today, the once colourful layers are now dark/blackened. I have the file as a PDF (originally created by the same .ai file), and the colours are as they should be. See below:

Original File

Current File

If I opened the same PDF in Illustrator, then I receive the following error:

"The document contains PDF objects that have been reinterpreted:

An unknown imaging construct was encountered."

The file has many layers and a number of the layers used 'Multiply' @ 50% as their transparency setting. All my working files (in this project) have not been touched and I'm stumped as to how this was once working, but now it's not. The files were created in Illustrator.

I guess my question is, has Illustrator changed the way it handles transparency and is there a way to save this?

Many thanks!

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

try and disable your GPU acceleration in the preferences and then open one of the AI files

[Social Outcomes]

Thank you immensely Monika Gause​!

That has worked perfectly and saved me an embarrassing conversation / hours of work trying to fix it!

[Monika Gause]

You're welcome!

You might try and check if there's an update for your graphic card's driver available that really fixes this.

Illustrator GPU performance | Driver updates

[Social Outcomes]

Once again, thank you for your help, much appreciated!

I thought my GPU drivers were up-to-date but after installing the latest driver, all is well again...