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leekohler

macrumors G5
Original poster
OK- I've had to do this in the past, but I can't figure out how to get an Illustrator file made on a Mac to work on a PC. In the older versions of Illustrator, there was an option in the Save dialog to do this. In CS, I can't find it. Any ideas?
 
It should work on either, I think. Is it that you've tried it on a PC and it doesn't work, or that you're anticipating that it won't work?
 
I think the problem might be that the company I'm sending the file to has an older version of Illustrator.
 
leekohler said:
I think the problem might be that the company I'm sending the file to has an older version of Illustrator.

Hmm, that sounds more likely. I've had a poke around in Illustrator, and I can't find any settings. Even in Photoshop with the Mac/PC settings save options, they should still open in either. Of course, someone could be along in a minute and tell me I'm talking nonsense. 😀

Is there any way you could save it as a .eps or a .pdf, depending on what they need to do with it at the other end?
 
leekohler said:
I think the problem might be that the company I'm sending the file to has an older version of Illustrator.


If so — and you're using CS — then under File>Export you have the option to save to 'Illustrator Legacy' or 'Illustrator Legacy EPS'.

The older the version you export to, the fewer the features are that are supported. Watch particularly for transparency effects. Find out what version of Illustrator they're running, export to that and check the resulting file carefully.

Also, from going from Mac>PC the other important issue is fonts. If there's type in the artwork that hasn't been converted to outlines, there may well be issues there if they don't have the exact same font on their PC. However, once type has been converted to outlines, it loses its 'type' attributes and can no longer be edited as type, only as shapes.
 
If I create an .ai file on the Pc then take it to a mac, it wont work for me again on a pc, even with the same version??
 
Blue Velvet said:
If so — and you're using CS — then under File>Export you have the option to save to 'Illustrator Legacy' or 'Illustrator Legacy EPS'.

The older the version you export to, the fewer the features are that are supported. Watch particularly for transparency effects. Find out what version of Illustrator they're running, export to that and check the resulting file carefully.

Also, from going from Mac>PC the other important issue is fonts. If there's type in the artwork that hasn't been converted to outlines, there may well be issues there if they don't have the exact same font on their PC. However, once type has been converted to outlines, it loses its 'type' attributes and can no longer be edited as type, only as shapes.

Did it. I sent the file zipped instead of stuffed too, just in case. I'm not dealing with geniuses at this place, trust me.
 
Umm- you guys won't believe this. The reason that company couldn't open my Illustrator EPS file (which they specifically asked me for) was because...



they don't have Illustrator. 😡 🙄

I've had it with people who claim to be in the graphics biz and don't know what they're doing.
 
leekohler said:
Umm- you guys won't believe this. The reason that company couldn't open my Illustrator EPS file (which they specifically asked me for) was because...



they don't have Illustrator. 😡 🙄

I've had it with people who don't know what they're doing.



Ha ha ha! 😀

Absolutely precious. Sorry for taking pleasure from your situation but that is the best laugh I've had all day.

So what happens now?
 
Blue Velvet said:
Ha ha ha! 😀

Absolutely precious. Sorry for taking pleasure from your situation but that is the best laugh I've had all day.

Yeah, sorry, I laughed too. 😱 Not at you, but at the sheer unbelievable idioticness of it all. How can they ask for a Illustrator file without Illustrator? <bangs head off desk>
 
leekohler said:
Umm- you guys won't believe this. The reason that company couldn't open my Illustrator EPS file (which they specifically asked me for) was because...



they don't have Illustrator. 😡 🙄

I've had it with people who claim to be in the graphics biz and don't know what they're doing.


😱

...

Uhh... Wow
 
Blue Velvet said:
Ha ha ha! 😀

Absolutely precious. Sorry for taking pleasure from your situation but that is the best laugh I've had all day.

So what happens now?

I can't tell you how I had to hold back on the phone. Apparently, they'll forward the file to another company to work on. I'm not going to pretend to understand what happened. I've gotta get out of the US. I know there are stupid people everywhere, but the smart/stupid ratio is WAY off-balance here!
 
Lau said:
Yeah, sorry, I laughed too. 😱 Not at you, but at the sheer unbelievable idioticness of it all. How can they ask for a Illustrator file without Illustrator? <bangs head off desk>

Oh- but they did! Here's the e-mail:

>>Hi
>>I was wondering if you rec'd my request for the artwork in Adobe
>>Illustrator
>>or Corel. please reply. Thanks, XXXX XXXXXX
 
leekohler said:
Oh- but they did! Here's the e-mail:

>>Hi
>>I was wondering if you rec'd my request for the artwork in Adobe
>>Illustrator
>>or Corel. please reply. Thanks, XXXX XXXXXX

😱 Crazy. Especially asking for Illustrator first, as if that was their preference over Corel. <shakes head>
 
Lau said:
😱 Crazy. Especially asking for Illustrator first, as if that was their preference over Corel. <shakes head>

Oh, I know! I had to go back and look up that e-mail just to make sure I read it correctly.
 
leekohler said:
Oh- but they did! Here's the e-mail:

>>Hi
>>I was wondering if you rec'd my request for the artwork in Adobe
>>Illustrator
>>or Corel. please reply. Thanks, XXXX XXXXXX

They were probably trying to import illustrator artwork into Corel, and the translators for Corel don't understand the more recent versions of illustrator.

For Reference, to save as an older version in Illustrator CS1 you need to Export rather than Save As and choose Legacy Illustrator or Legacy EPS from the drop down menu. I need to do this all the time, Adobe only introduced the Export menu item with CS1 and it's a pain compared to the old Save As method.

Hope this helps.
 
smeegs said:
They were probably trying to import illustrator artwork into Corel, and the translators for Corel don't understand the more recent versions of illustrator.

For Reference, to save as an older version in Illustrator CS1 you need to Export rather than Save As and choose Legacy Illustrator or Legacy EPS from the drop down menu. I need to do this all the time, Adobe only introduced the Export menu item with CS1 and it's a pain compared to the old Save As method.

Hope this helps.

I did that. Saved it back to Illustrator 9. If they needed Corel, then they should have said so.
 
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