File is an 82 MB ai file. It has a bunch of imported PNG images.
Worth noting - when I deleted all the imported PNG images in the ai file, the preview then started working. But that's a deal breaker for me obviously.
The mystery is just last week I opened the very same file without preview issues. No changes to the hardware that I've done whatsoever.
Could you confirm if Illustrator behaves this way with specific files, or files stored in a particular folder location (internal/external/network drive or a cloud-synced folder like Google Drive/Dropbox/etc.) as Monika suggested, to see if it helps?
Also, try running Illustrator under a different administrator account (macOS) and share your observations.
I run all my files from my desktop/source hard drive. Never from the cloud or from external hard drives.
Not sure I can change the admin. Do you mean log into my Mac another another user name?
I think Monika might be on to something re a PNG image that turned sour. I would have to delete each of the 17 imported PNG files one by one. If I delete all of them, the preview works. So it does have something to do with those imported images and/or the amount of RAM I have allocated to the AI program.
Which then begs the question - how do I allocate more RAM to AI exclusively? Outside of quitting out all of my other apps.
If removing all the linked images solves the problem, chances are that either a particular file is corrupted or Illustrator is having difficulty accessing it. To confirm this, try checking if Illustrator has Full Disk access enabled under macOS settings (https://adobe.ly/3ZOI1RP) and then relaunch Illustrator to see if it helps.
If Illustrator is able to preview the file successfully under Safe Mode, another application might be interfering with/preventing access to one of the files, causing this problem. You will need to close all other apps while running Illustrator to see if it works under normal mode, and then launch your other apps one at a time to find the conflicting app.
'..To confirm this, try checking if Illustrator has Full Disk access enabled under macOS settings (https://adobe.ly/3ZOI1RP) and then relaunch Illustrator to see if it helps..'
So I looked for this as a first step, and nowhere I can find 'ActiveProtect' when I do a system search. I'm on MacOS Sequoia 15.5.
And I do not see Adobe Illustrator in the list of Full Disk Access {attached}.
You will need to click on the + icon at the bottom of this window and then add Adobe Illustrator for Full Disk Access. You might need to relaunch Illustrator if you already have it open for the changes to take effect.
Just wanted to follow up on the issue. Were you able to resolve the issue by following the suggestion? Please feel free to update the discussion if you need further assistance from us.
Thank you for the follow up. So as I noted in my earlier post, I do have full disk access on for Illustrator and still go the 'can't finish previewing..' error message.
However I have been able to successfully isolate the PNG file that was causing the issue. I have about 15 or so transparent PNG files linked to the AI file. Once I substituted this particular transparent PNG with a JPEG, the preview started working again.
Conclusion: This version of illustrator cannot handle an excessive number of linked transparent PNG files? Size-wise the PNG files are nothing exorbitant - 382kb to 3.5mb. Once replaced with a JPG version of same graphic, preview started working again.
Thanks for sharing the details. I tried replicating this on my end, but could not. Could you share a link to a sample file along with the linked PNGs after uploading them to a file-sharing service, so I can check this with the team?
If possible, you can also DM me the link to the files. The files do not need to have any proprietary elements; just what is needed to replicate the problem would work. That way, I'll be able to check what's causing the issue with the team.
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