really old backup files

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
March 24, 2025
3 replies
2023 views

I have six illustrator files from 1993 that I had saved from a class I took then. I wanted to send the images to someone, but when I tried to open them, all I get is text files. I tried online conversion, but since the images are so old, they don't have suffixes and adding suffixes did not work.

I refuse to give in to not being able to convert them, so does anyone have any suggestions?

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

When you open them in a text editor, do they look similar to this?

If so, they are definitely Illustrator files. Since they didn't have a suffix, they are old Mac files that didn't use them., and will have lost their creator code on modern systems (that tells a program what type it is). Adding a suffix should do it, but make sure you're adding ".eps" and not ".ai". After which, Open the file from inside Illustrator; you shouldn't need to, but you might have to select "Illustrator EPS" or "Encapsulated EPS" file format in the Open dialog.

If, however, you are seeing something else in the text editor, your files have been modified/compressed/corrupted in some way. But if you'd like one of to try, send them along.