Export AI files?

[PaRunk]

Hello,

I would be very happy if I could not only open Ai files in Designer V2, but also save them as Ai files via export.

Would it be possible to integrate this?

[tudor]

No. The AI file format is property of Adobe and they will not disclose the specs.

[walt.farrell]

Probably not. The Affinity apps do not understand AI files, but only the PDF file included within it by AI when you request Compatibility Mode.

On the other hand, that gives a bit of a clue: Just export a PDF. Then, perhaps, rename the file extension to .ai, and you have a form of AI file.

[Alfred]

The Affinity apps don’t understand the native *.ai format, so they can only open Ai files that include a PDF stream. For the same reason, if you need a format that Illustrator can read then the best you can do is to export using the PDF option.

[PaRunk]

Well, the AI file format is Adobe's, I also know. But I can't quite imagine that Adobe wouldn't disclose the specifications. Because with Corel Draw and a few other programs, it is possible to open AI files and save them again as AI files.

I tried the tip of simply changing a PDF file's file extension to .ai. But when I open the rewritten file in Illustrator, the file is still recognized as a PDF.

In addition, Affinity Photo can also open psd files (Photoshop) and save them via export.

And in Affinty Desiger there is also the possibility to output psd files via the export.

It would therefore be desirable if you could also open AI files in Desiger and export them as AI files again.

[walt.farrell]

33 minutes ago, PaRunk said:

But I can't quite imagine that Adobe wouldn't disclose the specifications.

I don't think they do.

34 minutes ago, PaRunk said:

In addition, Affinity Photo can also open psd files (Photoshop) and save them via export.

Yes, but the PSD format is (partially) documented. You may have noticed that you cannot export a PSD with editable text from the Affinity applications, though. That's because other parts of the PSD format are not documented.

[dcr]

22 hours ago, PaRunk said:

It would therefore be desirable if you could also open AI files in Desiger and export them as AI files again.

Yes.  AI may not be an open format, but Corel apparently figured it out.  Also, I hate to bring it up, but there is a vector illustration program that gets hyped up here a lot and, from my understanding, it's done by one person and it can import and export AI files—the actual AI files, not the PDF stream.  So, either figuring out the AI specification is doable by programmers or that person is the Batman of coding.

[PaoloT]

A specs doc for a very old version of the AI file format does exist. I've no idea of how much it has changed over the years. Maybe this is enough to help reverse-engineering even the current format.

https://www.fileformat.info/format/ai/egff.htm

Paolo

 

[Calvert]

Not only has Corel, but many other software companies can open and export as .ai without issue including Sai Flexisign, Lightburn, and Vector software just to name a few. I wish Affinity would stop making excuses and fix their issue since the work around using .pdf is broken as well. Makes it impossible to move vector files outside of Affinity's software.

[LCamachoDesign]

I can chime in on this a bit from the perspective of print and packaging design.

Exporting a native AI file would be quite a welcome feature. And at least from the print perspective, it's a challenge that it's not as large as it might seem.

First thing to understand is that many printers and manufacturers, especially in China, want an AI file to print from. As such, when I do a packaging design, I always export a "print" .AI file. This AI file must follow a few rules to ensure you're not getting a call back from the printer. These rules actually might make Serif's work easier, and are as follow:

• Always export as Illustrator CS6.
  • Manufacturers are holding to CS6 for as long as they can. *
  • Anything newer will almost certainly cause issues.
  • Saving as Illustrator 2020 (the latest format) is an absolute NO.
• Always outline fonts to curves
  • Trying to keep fonts editable is a recipe for unmitigated disaster
  • Don't even think of sending the font files, there's so much that will go wrong
• Always rasterize and embed images
  • Keeping links live will always cause you problems, even if you include the files alongside the AI
  • Always rasterize to 300 DPI, or whatever the manufacturer asks for
  • Never keep full sized embeds, the manufacturer may run out or RAM
  • Remember they're holding onto Jurassic machines to keep CS6 going
• Always outline strokes to curves
  • The manufacturer may need to resize your art, and likely will not have the scale strokes and effects option on
  • Once they resize your art, any live strokes will become distorted
• If you use weird effects, or anything that's not basic vector really, expand their appearance
  • Have a vector blend? Expand.
  • Have a vector pattern? Expand.
  • Have funky vector strokes? Expand (all strokes anyway).
  • Funny text effect? Expand (all text anyway).
  • Transform effect? Expand.
  • Live paint groups? For the love of all, expand!
  • Anything that's not a simple vector? Expand.

As you can see, at least from a print perspective, you don't want an advanced Illustrator file exporter. Quite the opposite actually. The more advanced the file exporter, the more likely the manufacturer/printer will mess it, and you'll have to clean up. From that point of view, an Illustrator file exporter is not an unending gauntlet task. You just need a software that can export CS6, and keep the file as simple as possible. Don't try to keep weird stuff live, if it's not a basic shape, expand until it is. If it's not expandable, then rasterize. Yes, you read it right, rasterize. I ran into problem a few years ago as a client's manufacturer was completely clueless and didn't even do the most basic preflight. As result, me and the client resorted to rasterize everything, except the dielines, before sending to print.

I hope this sheds some light on the Illustrator file needs of print designers.

Thanks!

 

* Don't believe me? Back in the early 2000s I worked with someone that was keeping a 386 PC with Windows 3.1 alive, just to they could keep Illustrator 3 (not CS3, just AI 3.0 from 1990) going. That meant files going for production would need to fit into a floppy disk, as that was the only thing that PC would accept! 

[Boldlinedesign]

On 11/30/2022 at 1:49 PM, Calvert said:

Not only has Corel, but many other software companies can open and export as .ai without issue including Sai Flexisign, Lightburn, and Vector software just to name a few. I wish Affinity would stop making excuses and fix their issue since the work around using .pdf is broken as well. Makes it impossible to move vector files outside of Affinity's software.

Vectorstyler is another one that can open native illustrator files

[LOB]

Has anyone found a good workaround for exporting and opening in AI (file type, settings, etc)?  I know Illustrator works with SVG, PDF, etc....

[loukash]

4 hours ago, LOB said:

 I know Illustrator works with SVG, PDF

Export as PDF or SVG and see what sticks. Try various export options to figure out what works the best for each respective project.
There's no other way around it at this time.

[loukash]

On 11/30/2022 at 7:45 PM, PaoloT said:

A specs doc for a very old version of the AI file format does exist. I've no idea of how much it has changed over the years

Massively!  
In other words: EPS is literally dead as of 2024. At least on the Mac, that is.