Several .afdesign files corrupted

[andrewcroce]

Hello, I have several Designer files that will not open; a dialog tells me they are corrupted and need to close. I can see the artwork on-screen when I try to open them, however, so I am hopeful there is some way to recovery. Please note, these are client files that cannot be shared on a public forum, so if theres a different way to share, that is preferred.

I am running AF Designer 1.8.6 on Mac OS 10.15.7.

[stokerg]

Hi @andrewcroce,

Sorry to hear that your Affinity document is no longer opening for you. Please upload the file to us using this Dropbox Link and we’ll take a further look at the file to see if we can recover any of its contents. We would obviously also like some additional information to see if we can work out the cause of the problem and stop it happening in future. To assist this process, as well as uploading your file, please can you also tell us the following:

 

1. Which Operating System are you using?

MacOS 10.15.7

2. Which version of Affinity did the file last get saved in?

3. What drive type was the file last saved to (select more than one if needed)?

 

• Local disk
• USB disk/Flash disk
• Google Drive folder
• OneDrive folder
• iCloud folder
• Dropbox folder
• Network location
• Other (please specify)
   

 

4. Any other information you think would help us try to find the problem

 

We suggest that you check to see if you have any backups of the document available in case we’re unable to recover the file. The investigation process can take some time, but we’ll be back in contact with our findings.  Also due to the Annual Company Closure if i need to submit the files to the Dev team then it won't be until the New Year till they are looked at.

[andrewcroce]

Hello. The link above has been closed, can I have another dropbox link?

Which version of Affinity did the file last get saved in?
I don't know how I would know that, the version of Affinity Designer is 1.8.6. I don't recall having updated it recently so it couldn't have been a version very far back.

What drive type was the file last saved to (select more than one if needed)?
Google Drive

 

[andrewcroce]

Hello. Is it possible to open up this question again? I haven't received a response.

[jmwellborn]

Welcome to the forums @andrewcroce 😊.   If you will type @ and follow it with the poster’s name (in this case @stokerg) that person will get a notice (like those highlighted in blue here) that someone has asked a question or addressed a reply specifically to him or her.  Since your new post is over two months since the initial request for information (and since the developers have been working overtime with questions related to the rollout of v. 1.9) it is possible that @stokerg has been swamped and has not had time to browse the forums.  It would not be from a lack of interest in your issue!  I hope you will now be able to raise your question again! 😷

[h_d]

From other posts on the forum it's also not recommended to work on cloud or network storage. Keep your work on your hard disk and save before copying to anywhere external.

Cheers,

H

[andrewcroce]

I do genuinely hope "don't use google drive" is not seriously the recommendation for how to avoid this problem. Our entire company storage system and related workflows are tied to google drive, and that recommendation would be disruptive. In any case, the question is more importantly about restoring some lost client work.

[walt.farrell]

12 minutes ago, andrewcroce said:

I do genuinely hope "don't use google drive" is not seriously the recommendation for how to avoid this problem.

The recommendation is to work on your files using a local disk drive. If the file is on a network drive you should copy it to a local drive, work on it there, and when done you can save it locally and then copy it back to the network drive.

With the design of the Affinity file format the application loads only the portion it needs at any time, and is very sensitive to losing its connection to the base file. If the connection is lost then it can cause problems while working on the file, or while Saving.

[andrewcroce]

Yes I understand, thank you for the explanation. My main priority is recovering the corrupted files.

[walt.farrell]

46 minutes ago, andrewcroce said:

My main priority is recovering the corrupted files.

You're welcome.

Recovery may be possible, but sometimes it is not. Serif is very busy right now, but stokerg should be along at some point to provide a new Dropbox link for you. All I can suggest is patience.