Generic Error in Illustrator

[Geology_Rocks101]

Good morning all,

I've just sat down to continue working on my geological map as part of my dissertation which I had hoped to finish today.

I tried opening my map in Illustrator but first of all it tells me it couldn't find one of the linked files, which I thought I had embedded in the Illustrator file and this hasn't happened before. After clicking "ignore" (since this particular file isn't essential anymore) it comes up with a second error message saying;

"The file could not be read due to an error".

That is it. It does actually open the file in the background and I can see all of my work and it looks exactly the same as I left it yesterday evening, but after clicking "OK" it just closes the file leaving Illustrator blank.

This has also happened to my back up version, I backed everything up onto my hard drive last night before I left. This has not happened with any other Illustrator file, I was working on four yesterday, saved them all and backed them all up in the same way. They are all working fine.

This represents 14 hours of work (it was a long day) which may as well have been lost. I can't think what I would have done differently to this file that I haven't done to the other ones.

I have the version I saved Wednesday evening...but I managed to do quite a lot in 14 hours and since the dissertation is due in Monday I don't have the time to spend re-doing everything...

Any help would be most appreciated! If anyone knows how to rectify said error and get my work back and also what I may have done to trigger this error...?

Many thanks for taking the time to read this,

Sam

[Jacob Bugge]

Sam,

What happens if you create a new document and place the troublesome file in it?

Or you may be able to open the PDF part in Acrobat, resave as PDF, and open that (surely, you have made a PDF compatible file which may be what you see).

[Geology_Rocks101]

Thank you for the reply.

I created a new file and tried to place the troublesome one...it came up with a number of options headed by "Place PDF" (but they are all saved as .ai files?), I've tried all of them and the same time it just places a blank box with a bit of typing tiled in the bottom left hand corner saying;

"This is an Adobe Illustrator file saved without PDF content. To place or open this file it should be re-saved from Adobe Illustrator with the 'Create PDF compatible file' option turned on. This option is in the Illustrator Native Formation Options dialog box, which appears when saving an Illustrator file using the save as command".

Curiously it seems to be the case that I have saved some files with the PDF compatible option and not others but I just saved everything with whatever was default.

When I try and open it I can see the thumbnail of the file... 

[Jacob Bugge]

Sam,

What happens if you try to open it with Acrobat or Reader (I am afraid I know the (very short) answer)?

At least normally, when a file is corrupt you will get a more definite error message to that effect, but you may try to follow the instructions here,

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/500/cpsid_50032.html

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/500/cpsid_50031.html

and compare a copy of the troublesome file with a sound one, especially at the beginning; if you see any differences, you may try to replace different parts with corresponding parts from the sound one. Remember to work with a copy.

[Geology_Rocks101]

That's what confused me and why I just called it a generic error because there was no scripting or anything else, I thought it was unusual. Below is just a screen shot of what I get, the image behind it is my more-or-less completed map...a few of the layers are switched off (like contour lines) but that was how I left it. When okay is clicked it just goes to a blank screen.

When I open it in Acrobat or Reader it just opens the blank box with the message tiled in the bottom left hand corner that I mentioned before, same as when I tried to open it in a new file.

I'll have a go at the links you suggesed, see what happens and let you know. I've been to IT support on campus and they can't do anything so I have contacted the central university IT services to see if they can do anything, I don't know if they back all the servers up or something each night because if they do there is a chance they might be able to recover it...otherwise I might have to apply for an extension because I cannot do all this work again in such a short space of time.

Thanks again,

Sam.

[Geology_Rocks101]

I can't do the method suggested in either link because I'm on the university computers so access is denied to the program files...did not think of that.

Four hours and 20 minutes and I've accomplished nothing today...

Just waiting for IT support to phone back...

My graphics tablet has just stopped working as well...not sure why everything has decided to go wrong now three days before it is due in...

Thank you for your help,

Sam

[Jacob Bugge]

Sam,

I am very sorry to hear that.

I am not sure whether any of the natives here may be able to do something.

In 2006 there was a thread by Shane, called Damaged Illustrator Files Wanted, but it did not promise any help. It seemed to imply that it was possible to recover files, though.

You may try to send a Private Message (PM) to Teri Pettit. She a mother of Illy, and hopefully she sees PMs, although she has not been in the forum for a while.

http://forums.adobe.com/people/Teri_P?view=profile

[Larry G. Schneider]

What happens if you don't choose Ignore but use Replace and either find the file or choose another one?

[Geology_Rocks101]

That was one of my first ideas, I tried using another file and it then just went to the next error message anyway with the same result. I tried a variety of files and eventually managed to dig out the original one but that didn't work either.

None of the IT people at university have been able to do this. Not been able to get an extension confirmed with my supervisor and he's gone home now for the weekend. Due in Monday...I guess I will just have to live in the IT room this weekend and see how much I can get done and pray that I get the extension.

I'll send a PM to the person you mentioned and see if I get a response. By the sounds of it though if the IT people here haven't been able to fix it or get it off the databases then I don't know if it really can be fixed.

Grim weekend ahead of me considering I would have had everything done by now...

I'll turn on my optimistic face and just get on with it. Nothing more I can do. Really quite bored of drawing lines.

Thank you for your help,

Sam

[Jacob Bugge]

Sam,

Just to grasp at a few silly straws:

Have you tried DoubleClicking the file, thus opening Illy that way?

Have you tried opening the file in whichever other version you may have?

By the sounds of it though if the IT people here haven't been able to
fix it or get it off the databases then I don't know if it really can be
fixed.

But they lack the knowledge of the inner world of Illy, which Teri knows because she has mothered it.

If there is anything you come to think of that might be done in an easier way or something like that, quite a few of us will be off and on here during the weekend (I am still with 10, but others know the fancy stuff (and bugs) in later versions).

10.40 PM Friday here.

In any case, the best of luck.

[Larry G. Schneider]

Can you make the file available on a server somewhere that we can download and try different things?

[Geology_Rocks101]

I did try double clicking the file but it had the same result.

I personally haven't tried opening the file in a different version but I watched the computer-man on campus had CS4 on his computer and it came up with a different error, well, it wasn't really an error message as such. It tries to open it as a PDF regardless of whether you tell it to. Because, apparently, I didn't enable the PDF compatible option when I saved it (was unaware of this, some files are saved PDF compatible, others aren't, I just did whatever was default) it couldn't open so came up with the blank box with some text in the bottom left hand corner that I typed out a few messages ago.

Not sure why the techies don't have as up-to-date a version as us meagre undergraduates have...

I'll send Teri a message, thanks for the suggestion.

Larry - I personally don't have access server but my uncle does and I'll drop him a message to see if he can put it up there. He tends to travel a lot and their family is notoriously difficult to get hold of with any degree of urgency but I'll see what I can do. I'm very intrigued to find out what has happened. While I don't have any real expertise in computers I have always thought I knew a few things about them and I like to know why they go wrong so often...

I suspect the corruption occured during saving. I had re-finished doing another file which had corrupted and wanted to convert it to a PDF and when I tried the program crashed and the files were damaged and wouldn't open, different error message though. Fortunately had backups of it so wasn't lost. The program is point-blank refusing to convert any Illy file into a PDF so I've resorted to more primal methods of exporting them.

For the record...a few annoyances with Illy that I haven't really worked out how to rectify:

The rubber/eraser (sorry, I'm British...!) tool is by default a reasonably large circle. How do I change it to a really small square so it can be of any use for what I am doing?

The spray-symbols tool is by default a gigantic circle which is entirely unhelpful for what I need so I've been copying and pasting symbols, which is time-consuming. Can it be made smaller? Alternatively, if I want symbols to be in a very particular area (I'm making a map, so I do...) can I set some sort of boundaries in which symbols will be placed, i.e. can I define the area so that symbols will not be put down anywhere else even if I tell it to? Furthermore, can I stop the spray-symbols tool from moving my symbols every time I click?

The live-paint bucket thing has frustrated me more than anything else on the program. Bearing in mind I have been tracing contour lines on a very detailed, high-resolution map as well as geological boundaries and lots of other long, difficult and convoluted lines on ancient (well, 1950's) Russian military maps which are exceptionally difficult to read. As such, there are quite a lot of holes and bits I have accidently missed in the process and so it won't acknowledge a live paint bucket. I've tried merging and setting gap limits but much of the time it just doesn't do anything. Can I use a fill-function in any other way other than selecting lots of lines and using a live-paint bucket? Also, why did Adobe decide to put the live-paint bucket behind the shape-builder tool? It took me hours to find it.

Adobe have withdrawn my case based on the fact the program isn't registered to me but is registered to the University of Southampton...apparently it isn't registered to them because they can't find that on their database which means it is registered to some guy or department at university which I can't find out. I was then told to "have a great day", I'm not entirely sure the guy quite understood the urgency of this...

I was advised by my dissertation supervisor to do as much over the weekend as I possibly could, come in early on Monday (submission day) and speak to the module co-ordinator and see if I can get an extension. So basically I will not have an extension confirmed or otherwise until the day it is actually due in. Less than ideal.

I was toying with the idea a while ago of starting to do digital art...I do portrait art for fun anyway and wanted to branch out a bit...a new-found respect for anyone who does it!

[Jacob Bugge]

Sam,

... As such, there are quite a lot of holes and bits I have accidently missed in the process and so it won't acknowledge a live paint bucket. I've tried merging and setting gap limits but much of the time it just doesn't do anything.

I believe the JET_JoinNearest.jsx (rather than theJET_JoinNearestStraight.jsx) javascript made by James is your friend for that particular issue. It is available on his site here:

http://www.illustrationetc.com/AI_Javascripts/PathScripts.htm

You may take (hopefully not waste) a short time to have a look round and see whether some of his other scripts might save some time. James has made the scripts for use in all versions from CS on (I think).

[Wade_Zimmerman1]

Did you try placing the file in a blank Ai document? Then saving that or something a little funky which I have never tried with myself. Trry to place it in Photoshop as a smart object if you can then open the smart object and save that file with a new name.

[plutonak]

Hi. What about trying to open the .ai document with Inkscape (you have to first install inkscape if possible) ?

[Geology_Rocks101]

Cool, I'll give it a go and see what happens...good to have a go at other bits of the software when this is all done...eventually.

I tried placing it as an object in Illustrator and Photoshop and it didn't do anything. Just the blank box with the "you didn't enable PDF compatible...etc."

Don't have Inkscape and I can't install it on this computer but I'll try on my laptop later on.

Thanks for the suggestions. Now going to argue my case for an extension...on Monday morning four hours before it is due in. I don't mind living life on the edge but there is a limit.

[Geology_Rocks101]

University will give me an extension for the map but not for the whole dissertation. The map was worth about half of the whole thing and I spent the whole weekend resurrecting and redoing my map working from 07:00 till 23:00 every day. Just about finished most of it last night. Found out that I just wasted all that time because I should have focussed on the rest of it and then re-done my map during the extension period. My actual project is written but not proof-read or neat and of submittable standard. It still needs my graphics and everything in it, which are done. I'd allowed plenty of time to get all of that done because I could have done it all in a day but not in three hours...and then I need to get it printed and bound, which will take eons.

Failed my dissertation. Hand it in after 2pm and it gets capped at 40%. Great.

[Jacob Bugge]

I am very sorry to hear of the disaster, Sam.

When will you be able to reenter your dissertation, or is it even worse than a mere delay?

[oddscenes]

For anyone else reading this I had this issue as well. It was specifically from trying to import a jpg into Illustrator. I fixed it by:

Opening the JPG in Affinity Designer (A better version of illustrator)

Saving the file as a jpg from Affinity Designer (just switch to using this better software if possible - no contract or grimey business tactics)

Then opening the re-saved jpg file in illustrator and using the it for the few features it has Affinity Designer is yet to have, like live trace

[Doug A Roberts]

brz0  wrote

For anyone else reading this I had this issue as well. It was specifically from trying to import a jpg into Illustrator.

that doesn't sound like the same issue.

[oddscenes]

I tried opening my map in Illustrator but first of all it tells me it couldn't find one of the linked files

This is regarding failed importing of image files, when trying to import/open the linked files the error appears. The workaround I described had the same process cause the error message and a fix for it.

It might not always fix this issue but I think it's related since its the same process. Might be of use to someone

[Monika Gause]

brz0  schrieb

Might be of use to someone

Actually not.

Your "solution" is not related to the question, since the question was about missing links (not about being unable to read a file).

If Illustrator is unable to read a raster file (which might happen, since Illustrator is not a dedicated raster editing software), then what helps is trying to open the file with a dedicated raster editing software (which Affinity Designer is not), such as Photoshop or Graphic Converter (Graphic Converter can in fact read lots of files that are already corrupt).

[oddscenes]

Both Affinity Desiger or Affinity Photo (raster editing software) were able to open the corrupted file that was causing the exact error being displayed as a missing link in illustrator

[GraphicsDood · Accepted solution]

Just had this issue come up in a very large, multi-page document.  Figured out it was a corrupt JPEG that was placed that was causing the issue.  Had to open all the JPEGs in Photoshop until I found the corrupt file.  Was able to go back to the PSD version and resave the JPEG version as a different name.  Then when I opened the Illustrator file and it notified me that it couldn't find the missing file I just had to relink it to the newly saved JPEG.

Saved me hours of work.  A little late to the thread but maybe it can help someone in the future.

[bhanukiran4299]

Thanks a lot graphicsdood. It worked for me & saved my time.