CS: "Acrobat PDF file format is having difficulties"

[d***@adobeforums.com]

Just installed CS a couple days ago. Worked fine for about a day. After that, I started getting this message when I create a new file or open an existing one.

- File > New gives me the error and allows me to click through and create the file, but when I try to save, Illustrator crashes.

- File > Open gives me the error and does not open the file.

I tried trashing prefs a few times, and I tried the Time Zone trick that has been mentioned here (sounds dubious to me). No effect.

Didn't find any reference to this in a search. Is anyone else having this problem?

[d***@adobeforums.com]

Update: Reinstalled Illustrator, and again it worked for a day and a half before giving me the same error.

Sigh. Guess I have to install for the third time ...

[W***@adobeforums.com]

Try creating a new user account and log in do not install or launch any other programs or haxies when log in to that user account and see if you still have the problem.

[G***@adobeforums.com]

I get the same message in Illustrator 10. It doesn't happen all the time, or on any predictable basis. I get it when I save a file that I have saved before, and edited. Some times I lose the file (won't open again), and sometimes I don't. It happened in OS 10.1, 10.2, and now in 10.3. Surely someone has a fix for this(?????).

[a***@adobeforums.com]

I've been getting the same message. it used to just be once in a while, but now it's every time i save a file. The only way around it seems to be doing a SAVE AS. Having to do that every time all day long is a nightmare.
Can anyone here give advice on how to fix this? So far I've tried dumping preferences, reinstaling, going to Preferences and unclicking in Clipboard "save PDF"
NOTHING!

[G***@adobeforums.com]

Doing a "save as" dosen't fix the problem, for me. Once a file gets "tagged" as a "Adobe PDF format is having difficulties" file, it is screwed forever.

Also, if I try to move any type from that file into any other Illustrator file, that second file get's screwed forever, too. And, if I try to move anything from a screwed-up Illustrator file to Photoshop 7, I get the PDF format message in Illustrator, plus an "import failure" message in Photoshop.

I have figured out a long workaround, by converting all the type to outlines in the Illustrator file, copying everthing from the screwed-up file into a new file, and saving it under a new name. The file will save without the "PDF format" error then, and I can copy and paste from the new Illustrator file into Photoshop.

[j***@adobeforums.com]

get the same message in 10 at home, and at work we get it in 10 and CS. i ended up having to save as an eps - no idea how else to fix it.

[L***@adobeforums.com]

For the record; I'm getting the same error when I try to open AI9 files in CS. Happens on about 50% of the files -- some files have fonts, some files have no fonts (and never did).

My AI9 files are half a year old, so I can't remember the details of how they were built -- and I can't open them to see!

Is it possible that the problem is related to colour space or embedded colour profile?

(AICS / OS 10.3.3 / 3 GB / all files save locally / administrative user)

[T***@adobeforums.com]

I'm having the exact same problem. Not with saving new files, but with getting my AI9 files to OPEN! I have allot of hours into some of these files and I REALLY don't want to have to re-create them. I posted a different message about CS not opening 9 files and haven't gotten many responses.

Can anyone help with this!?

[M***@adobeforums.com]

Same problem for me using AI 10. I can save my files for a while using command s and then out of the blue I get the message. What does Acrobat have to do with saving the file when I'm saving it as an Illustrator file, not a pdf. I would really like to know what the last part of the message, Object label badly formatted. means. I'm still able to save the files by doing a Save As.
I hope it doesn't get any wore and that it gets fixed soon.
Maria

[K***@adobeforums.com]

I am one of those unlucky ones facing problems with adobe illustrator cs. I beleive that its a problem with CS running on OS X 10.0.3 to 10.2.8. We have a number of clients that are running CS on panther (10.3.3) and have no issues except for the occasional font related stuff. will get the solution by the end of the week as i have a client who has it running on 10.2.8 and will be upgrading him to panther to see if it fixees his problem.

[M***@adobeforums.com]

Actually, I'm running 10.3.3 and am having the problem in AI 10. I should be upgrading to AI CS tomorrow, but it sounds like it is happening there also.
Maria

[R***@adobeforums.com]

For me, it tends to show up at random when I'm copying from Illustrator to paste into Photoshop. At that point, I'll quit both apps. I'm guessing it's some shared component, because when in this state, after I quit AI, quitting PS causes it to crash with an "unexpectedly quit" message.

After relaunching them both, they work fine (until the problem comes up at random again). OS X 10.3.2.

[S***@adobeforums.com]

We had the same problem with OSX 10.2 and 10.3 in combination with Illustrator 10.
In our document there were Cyrillic fonts used, when we removed these from the file the problem was solved.
But we still needed the Cyrillic fonts, so we put the fonts straight into the system/library/fonts folder instead of using Suitcase.
This solved the problem for us. (Putting the Cyrillic fonts in the user/library/fonts folder didn't help)

So I gues the problem lies in a font which is being used in the document, which have to be in the system fonts folder to make it possible for Illustrator/OSX to process the file......

Hope it solves the problem for you all !!!!

[T***@adobeforums.com]

I run OS 10.3.3 and came here looking for information: Indeed, a forum search for the string "Acrobat PDF file format is having diffuculties" gets a lot of hits.

I get it several tims a day. I'll be working on a file for maybe an hour, doing save every few minutes (I've been doing that with all software since my first IBM PC XT). Then, all of a sudden, I get ... difficulties. It's been happing for a couple of weeks, but fortunately only one file has been totally trashed.

My error is an "error code 3". Sometimes the save I tried to do at the time does work, other times not (the next time I open the file, I'm one save behind).

I'm not using Cryllic fonts, only Type 1 Helvetica.

Today I'm working on some .AI files, so one thing I'g going to try is to turn off Acrobat compatibility. Later I will monitor to see if I get the error with EPS files.

[j***@adobeforums.com]

I've had this happen a total of one time, and since it happens randomly I can't duplicate it at will to find out what's causing it.

When it happened to me, I was working on a document which was in .ai format. This is rare for me, so I suspected that was the issue. Normally I work on .eps files, and keep Append Extension checked on at all times.

I'm wondering if anyone has experienced this problem while working on Illustrator eps files (not .ai) with append file extension turned on? If so, my hunch is most likely bogus.

More specifically, can this be tied to .ai format files alone, or is this happening in any other format as well?

[Dee Holmes]

OS9.2.2
AI10.03

I get it sometimes when saving as .eps with append file extension on.

[T***@adobeforums.com]

I sure hope they address these file issues ... I just had an EPS croak with "can't open the illustration. All objects in a compound path must be paths, and they cannot be brushed or be part of an object". Oddly enough, I can "place" it in a new file, so I'm not S.O.L.

It's not the same problem as the original thread, but the bottom line is that other than hardware failures, there is no excuse for a badly saved file, either from the point of view of what would appear to be a human error (such as my compound path error today) or a true data error.