Saving multiple Illustrator files (stored in cloud) to files for Escrow

[bdfjbnsduibfuidbvadf]

I have a bunch of Illustrator files I've created for a client. They don't have an Adobe account or licence, but want copies of all the resources I made for their project which they will hold in escrow. So I need to .ai files.

Now that the Creative Cloud sync folder has been removed, there's no easy way to export a bunch of files from Illustrator.

The only way I've found of dumping all the resources is to make a library, open each file, select the artboards and drag them onto the library one at a time (because if you select everything and drag it on, it doesn't take the artboard shapes).

I then export the library as a 'cclibs' file (which is actually just a zip file) and I can unzip it and find a bunch of poorly named .ai files and all the other brushes and bits and bobs.

The client can just have the cclibs file for their escrow, but this isn't the first client who has wanted the .ai files to go along with their project, in case they get someone else to tweak things sometime in the future.

Is there a decent way to bulk export .ai files from the home screen, so that I don't have to open-and-export each of the hundred-odd files manually?

[Mike Witherell]

CCLibrary was not meant to be a place to store whole files. Why not copy your 100 files to a shared free google drive and send them a link to it?

[Bobby Henderson]

The client doesn't have a Creative Cloud account, but they want Illustrator AI files? That doesn't make any sense. If they don't have the capability or know-how to edit Illustrator files it would be better to provide them PDF files saved with Illustrator editing capability preserved. They would be able to view the PDF files yet those files would still be edit-friendly.

If the client is using rival graphics applications (apps not made by Adobe) the Illustrator AI files would have to be saved down to an earlier legacy file version to be compatible. Depending on how far back the file is down-saved certain effects in the artwork (if used) would have to be expanded, flattenend or even rasterized into pixel-based form. Rival vector graphics applications have many feature gaps compared to Illustrator. It can be a real adventure trying to import modern Illustrator files into other graphics applications. Some effects, such as freeform gradients or gradients on line strokes won't be compatible at all.

Regarding CC Libraries, IMHO those should only be used for commonly used elements. Some people will rely on cloud-based storage as the only location to store an art file. I think that's a bad idea. Internet connections can get flaky or disrupted. If there isn't a copy of the art file on a local hard disc access to it will be lost if the Internet connection is disrupted. Worse yet, if a file is being saved directly to a cloud-based location and the Internet connection gets unstable during the save process the art file might get corrupted.

[bdfjbnsduibfuidbvadf]

I agree about storing files locally, however Adobe have integrated in their "Save to Cloud" and that makes sharing so much easier. And Adobe, in their wisdom, have turned off the Creative Cloud file sync thing that used let me just have that mounted as a folder and work offline/online like would be ideal.

Having 'physical copies' as source files is common in escrow - you copy all the work to a hard disk, which gets put into some bank vault somewhere and probably forgotten about - just so some lawyer can feel satisfied. It's one of those stupid hoops you have to jump through to do business with certain sectors.  Having 'cloud backup'  is considered a risk - what if adobe, or google, or dropbox go out of business or change their policies? I don't like it either.

Either way, Ideally there's a way to automate the export of hundreds of files which are currently only stored on the cloud and not in local files.

[Doug A Roberts]

You can download files from the CC app:

[Bobby Henderson]

Having 'physical copies' as source files is common in escrow - you copy all the work to a hard disk, which gets put into some bank vault somewhere and probably forgotten about - just so some lawyer can feel satisfied. It's one of those stupid hoops you have to jump through to do business with certain sectors.  Having 'cloud backup'  is considered a risk - what if adobe, or google, or dropbox go out of business or change their policies? I don't like it either.

By @bdfjbnsduibfuidbvadf

I've done graphics work for a lot of big, national companies. I can't think of any examples where I've had to provide the client all of the work files, related assets, etc, much less give it to them on something like a hard disc.

At worst, I was giving certain clients finished design files and shop drawings burned onto a CD-R, but that was in the 1990's going into the 2000's. Most of our clients just receive PDF files of shop drawing sketches via email. If it's something like a logo design or other graphics and they need files to work with most of that can be sent via email too. If the artwork file sizes are too big to email then it's alright to use a service like Dropbox and email them a download link. It's a waste of time and money to physically snail-mail them a physical hard disc containing the artwork. Heck, a USB flash memory stick would be a lot cheaper.

[Mike Witherell]

This conversation brings up the old question: Who owns the originating working files? Who owns copyright? When clients claim ownership, I charge accordingly for that. They should provide the means for storage of data.