Unable to open exported work paths into Illustrator

[photogant]

All work paths exported out of Photoshop to Illustrator will not open. I also cannot place the path file into Illustrator. Running the latest versions of Photoshop and Illustrator. Any ideas on how I can work around this?

[Mohammad.Harb · Accepted solution]

First, make sure all paths objects are in the paths panel in photoshop ( window -> paths) 

then go to File-> export -> path to illustrator..

this will save all paths in an illustrator document.

open the file in illustrator, the paths will be invisible ( unpainted objects) you can press ctrl + A to select All,

or you can press ctrl + Y ( to see them in The outline mode)  you can now select each path with the selection tool give it a fill color ( make sure to press ctrl + Y  to get out from the outline mode )

there is one more Tip,

In photoshop,  click on one of the paths in the paths panel, press ctrl + c ( copy) and paste in illustrator ( ctrl + V ) 

[davidk83030110]

I am having the same problem, I export the path from PS and when I try to open the AI file it just says "Cant open the illustration". Any fixes?

[Haitch@FAInc]

Also having same problem illustrator (2023) will not even open the Illustrator file created/exported from Photoshop (2022) Need urgent fix please.

Copy and paste does not work either

[Monika Gause]

Which system is it?

Where do you save the file?

Which error message do you get?

[melissimaus]

I'm having the same problem with Illustrator and PS 2024 (Mac desktop running Sonoma). I tried saving it both to my Cloud desktop and to a folder on my local hard drive.  The message is "Can't open illustration."

[Anubhav M]

Hello Haitch@FAInc,

Sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind trying to enable Full Disk Access for Illustrator (https://adobe.ly/3TCIoww) and then relaunching to check if it helps?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[melissimaus]

Thank you for your quick reply. That may have been the issue—I was able to copy and paste the path, as it turned out, but I've enabled this for the future.

[arabelle24821744zxk7]

Hi there,

seems i am having the same problem and tried this solution but it did not work for me. any other options?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @arabelle24821744zxk7,

Thanks for reaching out. Would you mind sharing more details, like the exact version of the OS/Illustrator, a public link to a sample file after uploading it to Dropbox/Google Drive/etc., and a screen recording of your workflow and the problem (https://adobe.ly/4gjwErW), so we can better assist you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[Larry29731486lwom]

Have mostly the same problem. Doesn't matter which version of Photoshop I export from, Photoshop 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024; Illustrator 2024 and 2025 refuse to open the file at all giving the "Can't open the illustration." I can however open it in Illustrator 2022 and 2023 as long as I check the "Legacy Arboard" option that appears during open (24/25 don't show this dialog).  Mac OS 14.6.1

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Larry29731486lwom,

That does sound strange. Would you mind sharing a sample PSD/AI file after uploading it to a file-sharing service and screenshots of the settings used when saving, so I can try and replicate this on my end?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Larry29731486lwom]

I just tried opening the exported paths on a secondary computer and they can be opened in Illustrator 24/25 (only as long as "Crop Area(s)" is un-checked) so I think the next step is trying to reset the AI preferences on the first computer. If this still has trouble then I'll try posting a sample file.