Faina Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I just switched from PC to Mac and I have a lot of files in AI created on my now dead PC. When I try to open my AI files with 'open in', AD is offered as default, but files are blank. What to do? Is possible to open AI files created on PC in AD? Do I need some additional soft to translate my old AI files, so that AD will see them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted March 21, 2016 Staff Share Posted March 21, 2016 Hi Faina, Welcome to Affinity Forums :) Affinity (and other software) is only able to read the PDF stream included in the Ai files, since the AI format is proprietary. If the Ai files are from an older version/don't include the PDF stream, then we are not able to import them. If you re-save them in AI with the PDF stream (Create PDF compatible File in Illustrator options when saving a file) then you should be able to open them in Affinity. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software | Affinity Quick Reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faina Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Thank you, MEB I had CS5, and some files are saved in PDF as well as in AI, I'll try to open PDF files. For the rest, it looks like I have to see if I can subscribe to AI for a short period of time, save my files in PDF and then transfer to AD. Unfortunately, my old PC died quite suddenly and I didn't know I would have to buy new computer in a hurry, I just didn't have time time to prepare. I'm just glad I had files backed up, so I can do something about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmac Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Faina, you don't have to save the files as .pdf's, though you can. You just need to save the .ai files with the option to include the pdf. checked in the save dialog window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faina Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Yes, I understand. Unfortunately, since my old computer doesn't work anymore, I have to go and check my AI files, one by one and see if they open in AD, Those, that were not saved with include .pdf option, wouldn't open in AD. I can subscribe for AI for 1 month for $30, save them with pdf option, or in pdf, and then drop AI subscription. Some files are pretty old, in CS3, so right now I have no idea what options were included back then. To save time, I think I better do everything in one batch, save as AI with .pdf option and go from there. For now - I'm learning my ways around AD. PS. Those Adobe subscriptions are insanely expensive. I got my CS5 just shortly before they started all this subscription business and I never subscribed to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmac Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I understand completely. I have CS6. That will be the last Adobe product I own. I hope to be able to transition to AD and AP and Affinity Publisher before my copies of Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign are no longer supported well enough to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faina Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 Thank you! I have another question for you. How do you one transitions from MS Desktop Publisher to Affinity publisher? Or is better to start another topic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted March 21, 2016 Staff Share Posted March 21, 2016 Hi Faina, Affinity Publisher is still in development and is only expected to be available as a public beta near the end of the year. From what i know at this point the best format to import documents to Publisher will be PDF. InDesign files may also be supported but not for its 1.0 release. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software | Affinity Quick Reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faina Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 Thank you! These files I have in PDF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JET_Affinity Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 I had CS5... it looks like I have to see if I can subscribe to AI for a short period... Faina, Apology in advance if I'm telling you something you already know. Perhaps it will help others in similar situations. If you have a licensed copy of Illustrator CS5, that would be a perpetual license. You can just open your legancy files with it, and save them as either AI files with the PDF compatibility option, or as PDF with the Maintain Illustrator Editability option. Either way, you will then have files that contain two complete versions of the content: the "dumbed down" constructs of PDF, and the fully-editable constructs of the native Illustrator objects. For example, if your Illustrator file contains a Blend, that construct will be just a stack of individual paths in the PDF version which other programs can open, not a live blend with adjustable parameters. There are many other similar object-specific situations. The point is, it's best to retain the fully-editable native constructs if you can, even if (like me) you never intend to rent software from Adobe. You never know when you may need to go back and edit the files in their native form. If you are saying that you replaced a dead Windows machine with a Mac, and no longer have access to a Windows machine, you should be able to run your existing copy of Illustrator CS5 with a Windows emulation (Parallels?). (Frankly, if I were still working on MacOS, I'd at least still have a current Windows machine around, if just for practical workaday compatibility with Windows-based clients.) You can automate opening your Illustrator files and re-saving them with PDF compatibility (or saving them as PDFs with Illustrator editability) by using an Action (Illustrator macro) in Batch Mode. Batch Mode lets you run the Action on a whole folder full of files at once, making it practical to re-save hundreds of files at a time. (User-defined automation by macros and Javascript scripting are major features which I hope are at least planned for the Affinity applications.) JET Faina 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotadesigner Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 There is a free Windows emulation: Virtual Box from Oracle. Just set it up for Windows, assign memory, install the apps you need and enjoy a smooth running guest OS. If you install the extensions, you can even open files from folders of your Mac. The icing on the cake: You can run Windows apps like native OS X applications (windowless) on your Mac. https://www.virtualbox.org Quote hobbyists discuss new camera features photographers discuss new software masters discuss light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faina Posted March 22, 2016 Author Share Posted March 22, 2016 Thank you, everybody, for such a great welcome to AD community! I'm a little overwhelmed with the transition and I'll try all the suggestions. First, I have to think and see what is the most cost (in time and frustration, aside from money) vs benefit. Meanwhile, I discovered the real problem with my files. I now see that it's as a bad habit, but in AI I used the whole canvas, not only artboard area for designing. And frequently, I would leave even final version away from artboard. When I open AI file in AD, AD shows only artboard. So, it looks like empty file. I have to think how to deal with it, and look if anyone had the same or similar problem and what are the ways to fix it. Thank you again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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