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Illustrator CS6 - opens in window too small

Guest
Nov 26, 2012 Nov 26, 2012

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Anytime I double-click on an Illustrator file to open it, the Illustrator CS6 window opens up too small to view the file. It comes up with an error message that says "Can't open the illustration. There is not enough room for the window; increase document area and try again."

Illustrator-CS6_error_window-small-default.PNG

If I then click on the box to expand the Illustrator window to full-size, then I can open the file. It's just frustrating that everytime I try to open an AI file by double-clicking on it, I get this error message.

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Valorous Hero , Aug 30, 2013 Aug 30, 2013

Try and let me know if this helps, right click on your desktop shortcut and choose Properties. In the Shortcut tab choose Maximized from the menu next to Run.

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Adobe
Community Expert ,
Nov 26, 2012 Nov 26, 2012

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Turn off the Application Frame from the Window menu if you can.

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Guest
Nov 26, 2012 Nov 26, 2012

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I cannot find an option under Window/ to turn off the Application Frame (in Windows 7 version).

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Community Expert ,
Nov 26, 2012 Nov 26, 2012

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The OS in your first post wopuld have been helpful. The Application Frame cannot be turned off in Windows.

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Guest
Nov 26, 2012 Nov 26, 2012

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If the default size for the Application Frame in Windows 7 is to be tiny, and not be big enough to view any illustrations, then I think this is a software error that could be fixed.

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Community Expert ,
Nov 26, 2012 Nov 26, 2012

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You might try resetting the Preferences. Hold down Ctrl-Alt-Shift on restarting the application. You should get a dialog asking if you want to reset the preferences; say yes.

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Guest
Nov 29, 2012 Nov 29, 2012

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I found the answer. If you go to Edit/Preferences/User Interface/ and unselect the checkbox marked "Open Documents As Tabs" then Adobe Illustrator will open normally when you click on an AI file. See image.Adobe-illustrator-preferences-window.png

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New Here ,
Dec 03, 2012 Dec 03, 2012

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I am having the same problem, also Windows 7, and this solution did not fix the problem. I've had this version for three months now and it only just started doing this. Unfortunately I didn't note when it started to check if it had to do with an update or something.

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New Here ,
Dec 03, 2012 Dec 03, 2012

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This bug causes the most hassle with email attachments that are not saved anywhere yet. However, when I go File > Open Recent Files, the file is listed, even with email attachments. When I double click on the file from there it opens.

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Guest
Jul 18, 2013 Jul 18, 2013

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A little late to the party, but I've found this error only happens if the Illustrator window is maximized. If your window is not maximized, you should be able to double-click an .ai file and won't get the error. Still, it's a bug that should be addressed.

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Contributor ,
Aug 30, 2013 Aug 30, 2013

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I am also having this problem in Windows 7.  I tried the fix (unchecking "open in tabs"), but that did not work.  Anytime I try to open Illustrator CS6, it opens in a tiny window.  Really annoying to have to max it every single time I open it.  This is whether or not I click on a file to open it or click on my desktop shortcut to open it.  Surely after a year, Adobe has released a fix to this problem.  Anybody know where I can find it? 

I'm also getting constant messages when I save saying Illustrator is not responding.  Over and over...  I know this isn't the spot for that, but my CS6 seems to be very buggy.

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Valorous Hero ,
Aug 30, 2013 Aug 30, 2013

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Try and let me know if this helps, right click on your desktop shortcut and choose Properties. In the Shortcut tab choose Maximized from the menu next to Run.

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Contributor ,
Aug 30, 2013 Aug 30, 2013

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You are a genius!  Thank you so much, it worked like a charm. 

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New Here ,
Jun 09, 2014 Jun 09, 2014

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this almost fixed it for me (it got the error to go away but it still resized my window to a bad size).

what i did to fix it the rest of the way is set it to maximize as you said but  then, close illustrator and reset it back to normal window (in the shortcut options again)....and its all back where it should be.

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Community Beginner ,
Jul 29, 2014 Jul 29, 2014

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Great thanks emil emil - that fixed it! 

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 19, 2014 Sep 19, 2014

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Thanks , it worked for me!

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New Here ,
Oct 31, 2020 Oct 31, 2020

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Oh Yeah it worked! Only, I still lost 2hrs of work, because I was stuck with the small window and clicked "OK' and ℱailed TWICE. Before I found your amazing discovery! BUT IT WON'T HAPPEN NEXT TIME ☺ AMEN! 

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Advocate ,
Mar 04, 2021 Mar 04, 2021

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This doesnt fix it sadly.

The way i got it fixed is once this happens simply resize that small window to a pretty big size. Then next time it will again resize the window, but you can get passed that error about the window being to small. Its still hideous that this bug is still in since 2012!!!!

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New Here ,
Nov 25, 2014 Nov 25, 2014

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This worked for me. CS6, Win7

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New Here ,
Sep 05, 2014 Sep 05, 2014

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Like many I'm experiencing the same problem.  'Can't open the illustration.  There is not enough room for the window; increase document area and try again.'  Running Windows 7 - dual monitors although I don't believe that's the problem.  Tried the suggestion in preferences uncheck 'open documents as tabs' didn't work.  Tried Properties shortcut tab choose 'Maximized' didn't work.  This is what I find, when I right click to open a PDF in Illustrator - I can open the first  illustration (if it was closed using Exit), but I get this error on the second illustration I try to open in the same way.  If I close an illustration using the X than when I try to open the illustration the next time I get the error message.  If I chose Close or Ctrl W - the next time I open the application I get the error - HOWEVER, if I close the application by hitting Exit it will open properly the next time.  Even if the first illustration opens properly I still have a problem with the second one.  Can anyone help as this is a pain.  Been using CS6 for sometime but this just started happening ~ 3 months ago so it didn't start with the upgrade. 

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Participant ,
Dec 16, 2014 Dec 16, 2014

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I'm having the same issue with CC on Win 7.

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New Here ,
Feb 02, 2015 Feb 02, 2015

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Using File>Exit and then clicking on the file to open it is the only thing that works for me.

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New Here ,
Oct 29, 2015 Oct 29, 2015

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I sort of ran into this problem and found the answers helpful but none solved my problem. The problem I had was not with the application window but the files I was opening. I'm on a laptop running Win 8.1 and CC2015. I have 2 or 3 monitors hooked up (including the LT) depending on my location and it happened in both instances. I have my application window on my left monitor with palettes attached together floating on top. I always open/move my file windows to the right monitor to maximize my work area. I hadn't had a problem with this ever. A few days ago I tried docking my attached group of palettes to the right side of the app window. That was the culprit. The moment I detached them, the windows started opening normally. I guess it was trying to fit it into the remaining space which wasn't much, not even the width of a palette.

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New Here ,
Nov 20, 2015 Nov 20, 2015

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Ran into the same problem just recently using Win 10. I think I found a solution. With AI running maximized I pulled down the title bar to bring it to windowed mode. Then I resized the window manually to a comfortable working size. That's it.

Everytime I open and AI file by double clicking on explorer AI launches on windowed mode at the size I set.

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New Here ,
Dec 17, 2015 Dec 17, 2015

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@emil emil it worked!! thanks a lot!!

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