Illustrator 2020 files cannot open 2019 - why?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
September 14, 2020
2 replies
4224 views

This is only one version behind... im having illustrator crashes and what to see if the version of Illustrator 2020 was the cuplrit. went to open a filein 2019 that was created in 2020 and it was not compatible.. this was never a problem in the past. I dont save my files with PDF editing capabilites as it makes them HUGE! but it seems to only recongnize files that were saved this way... does anyone else have this issue?

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Ton Frederiks

If you want to open your Illustrator 2020 files correctly in Illustrator 2019, you need to save them from 2020 as an Illustrator legacy file and choose Version > Illustrator CC (Legacy).

M

MichelleDiamond

Known Participant

I am also really distressed about this because one cant open previous work. Some of us have a huge amount of previous work where clients may want to reuse it or portions of it. It is physically impossible to open all files and save as a legacy format. Who on earth would do that! Adobe! I can understand opening a newer version but still, that should be able to be opend and editiable, possibly droping any newer features. Im not happy at all.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Previous work will open fine in the latest version.

M

MichelleDiamond

Known Participant

Ive been experiencing issues myself. Perhaps i am mistaken and will try again tomorrow. Thanks for response.

Ton Frederiks

Correct answer

Community Expert

If you want to open your Illustrator 2020 files correctly in Illustrator 2019, you need to save them from 2020 as an Illustrator legacy file and choose Version > Illustrator CC (Legacy).

joryellenAuthor

Participating Frequently

That really fustrating, so basically your saying that 2020 is not backwards compatible... knowing that many printers and other designers may still be working on 2018 or 2019 due to general adobe issues, that mean i have to save everything as a legacy file? Seriously not cool! thats enough right ther to go back to 2019 all together.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

I don't see problems currently when I save my 2020 files as 2019 with the exception of the new text align features (but there may be more).

It seems logical to me that new features are not supported in older document file formats and that you have to save them as legacy.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded