Opening Illustrator files results in empty page

[Gaige]

Affinity Designer 1.8.3 on macOS 10.15.5 (tested on both MacPro and MacBook Pro).

I've looked through the forums and see some instances where the older-format AI files are not importable, which I don't believe is my problem.

I have a large pile of AI files which result in a blank page when opening with File > Open. I am certain I've opened some or many of these in the past when I was evaluating Designer last year as my Illustrator replacement.

I've verified that Preview can open the files and I've opened the files with a text editor and looked for the PDF stream and it certainly appears to be there.

However, when I open with Designer, I get an empty file and a warning about assigning a Grayscale D50 color profile.

I'm attaching a simple example file.

Any help would be highly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Gaige
 

OverlayOperationIllustration-Clip.ai

[wonderings]

Got the same thing. Opens fine in Illustrator but not in Designer. I think it has to do with the .ai format. I know there are some issues currently with Designer and .ai files. I opened up the .ai file in Illustrator saved as an .eps and the file opened fine in Designer. 

test.eps

[Joachim_L]

Strange, not a spectacular file. Even opens with Inkscape.

[Gaige]

16 minutes ago, Joachim_L said:

Strange, not a spectacular file. Even opens with Inkscape.

Yes, that's why I chose it. I have a bunch of these that are simple illustrations. The PDF stream previews fine in Preview on the Mac, and it would seem they should import. I have some more complex ones (that also don't load).

 

[MEB]

Hi Gaige,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Thanks for your report. It should have opened the file. I've logged the issue and passed the file to the dev team for inspection.

[Gaige]

Just now, MEB said:

Hi Gaige,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Thanks for your report. It should have opened the file. I've logged the issue and passed the file to the dev team for inspection.

Thanks.  Let me know if you need more examples 🙂

Cheers,
-Gaige
 

[Patrick Connor]

We have made fixes/improvements to this area (Affinity Designer fails to import Ai file (empty page)) of the program in the latest release.

The fixes and how to update are described in these forum posts.

• Affinity Designer 1.8.4 for Windows            ( Microsoft Store and Affinity Store )
• Affinity Designer 1.8.4 for macOS               ( Mac App Store and Affinity Store )
• Affinity Designer 1.8.4 for iOS                      ( Apple iPad Store )
   
• Affinity Photo 1.8.4 for Windows                ( Microsoft Store and Affinity Store )
• Affinity Photo 1.8.4 for macOS                   ( Mac App Store and Affinity Store )
• Affinity Photo 1.8.4 for iOS                          ( Apple iPad Store )
    
• Affinity Publisher 1.8.4 for Windows         ( Microsoft Store and Affinity Store )
• Affinity Publisher 1.8.4 for macOS            ( Mac App Store and Affinity Store )

We would appreciate you checking that this issue has now been resolved for you,

[Gaige]

@Patrick Connor I've tried over a dozen of the files that wouldn't open correctly previously and all of them look great. No problems, no warnings, detail and representations as accurate as the original Illustrator.

Thank  you!
-Gaige

[Martin H]

I have the same issue, I am unable to open the ai files on my Macbook Pro. I have got the newest version of Affinity Designer 1.9.0 but once I am trying to open the ai file it shows up as an empty page.

Can you please verify it? Thank you.

[NancyS]

Hello - I'm new to Affinity Designer. I do not have Adobe Illustrator and used Vector Create to change my .png pic to an .ai pic. However, when 'placing' the ai file into Affinity Designer 1.9, it was an empty box.

I'm a novice - any help in understanding how I can get this .ai pic would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Nancy

[MEB]

Hi @Martin H, @NancyS,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Affinity apps are only able to access the PDF stream/data contained in the Adobe Illustrator file (that is, the file must be saved with Create PDF Compatible File ticked when you save the file in Ai), the rest is proprietary data which we can't load. Also, the contents of the file (objects) must be contained within the artboard/canvas area, objects placed outside the canvas (in the pasteboard) are not included in the PDF stream and thus cannot be imported as well.

[NancyS]

Thank you for the quick and detailed reply. Actually, I misspoke. I used a free online converter tool to make my .tif into an .ai and then tried to place the .ai image in Affinity Designer. Without having the Illustrator program to check the box 'PDF Compatible,' is there another way to get that .ai image placed in Affinity so I can send it to the printer in the correct format?

Thanks again.

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by NancyS
I wasn't clear on initial question

[MEB]

Hi @NancyS,
I'm not sure why you converted the TIFF into an Ai file? What's the purpose? Are you trying to trace the image or have to provide it in Ai format?
Why don't you open or place (File > Open or File > Place) the TIF file directly in Affinity (or in an existing affinity document in case of File > Place)?

[Ton Jenner]

@MEB: what about the layers in the AI file. How can we open an AI file and have the used layers also in our AfDesign panel?

[NancyS]

On 2/11/2021 at 11:20 AM, MEB said:

Hi @NancyS,
I'm not sure why you converted the TIFF into an Ai file? What's the purpose? Are you trying to trace the image or have to provide it in Ai format?
Why don't you open or place (File > Open or File > Place) the TIF file directly in Affinity (or in an existing affinity document in case of File > Place)?

I thought I had answered your question, but perhaps it didn't post. Anyway, the reason I converted a TIFF into an .ai file is that I was told by the laser printer that the graphic I was submitting wouldn't be clear/clean enough to use an .ai photo and then send as .eps. I thought that if I placed photos (jpg, tif, gif, etc) in Affinity Designer and sent the final to him in an .eps, it wouldn't matter. if it was an .ai photo to begin with. Am I wrong? TIA

[diego204]

Hi all.
I am newbie from Italy (sorry for my bad English…)
I use Designer on Mac (a PowerBook with Mojave and a iMac with BigSur) and I have the same problem already reported: (I just tried with version 1.9.1 and the problem is always present), with a difference: for my job I often use other programs (i.e. Rhinoceros) which allows me to export 2D drawings in AI format.
These drawings, when opened directly with Designer, turn out completely blank. If, on the other hand, I open them with Illustrator and save them again with Illustrator, without changing anything (or making only small changes), Designer manages to open them and the drawing is perfectly visible.
In my case, then, Designer can only read the AI format if the document was saved with Illustrator.
I'd be happy if someone could let me know how to directly open AI files saved by other programs, without having to go through Illustrator itself.
Thanks for your attention. Regards.

Diego

 

[walt.farrell]

28 minutes ago, diego204 said:

I'd be happy if someone could let me know how to directly open AI files saved by other programs, without having to go through Illustrator itself.

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums, Diego.

The other programs must have the same ability that Illustrator has, to create a .ai file that contains a PDF version of the design for compatibility purposes. The .ai format is proprietary to Adobe, and cannot be understood by Affinity. So the only way Affinity can get any data is by reading the PDF version.

[diego204]

14 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

The other programs must have the same ability that Illustrator has, to create a .ai file that contains a PDF version of the design for compatibility purposes. The .ai format is proprietary to Adobe, and cannot be understood by Affinity. So the only way Affinity can get any data is by reading the PDF version.

Thank you for the quick reply, Walt.

I understand, now. 😊

Edited March 5, 2021 by diego204

[MEB]

Hi @diego204,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Check this post from @Remy Konings. It may help you get data from Rhino to Affinity Designer through SVG.

[diego204]

21 hours ago, MEB said:

Hi @diego204,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Check this post from @Remy Konings. It may help you get data from Rhino to Affinity Designer through SVG.

Hi, MEB.

Thanks to you (and to Remy) for the tip. From the Rhino site it would appear that Grasshopper is only for Windows, but if Remy managed to install it, I should be able to do it too.

I'll try to download anyway Grasshopper and Aviary and let you know how it goes.

[4cyclists]

Hello,

 

I have an issue with .ai and .pdf that we edited previously with Illustrator. 
When we open the files in Affinity, they opens as a blank page without any warnings. 
Any ideas?

[MEB]

Hi @4cyclists,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Affinity apps are only able to read the contents of the PDF stream contained in the Ai file. For this to happen the file must be saved with "Create PDF compatible file" checked in Illustrator otherwise we can't import anything. Also make sure the contents/objects are all placed within the canvas /artbhoards. Objects placed in the pasteboard area are not included in the PDF stream and thus also not imported when you open the Ai in Affinity apps.