Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 10/1/2008

Question
Hi Kevin,
we've getting this error often, "Cant open illustration. the illustration eneded unexpectedly. offending operator: "XI"." I've been able to save the file by pasting the file in a new Illustrator CS2 document. that is pretty much all i can do, but my questions is what is the cause? i've always adviced the users  to save a copy to their desktop and work off the desktop instead of working off the network, but old habits are difficult to stop. i appreciate any advice.
thanks

Answer
Hi James,

The error is because you saved it without the pdf compatibility turned on. It is a common error that can occur from this.

Here are some tricks you can try:

Remove the offending error command in your text editor.

Place the file in a new Illustrator Document.

Place in InDesign and save as a pdf.

Try to open in Acrobat. While this is a slim chance, it may still recognize the postscript and open. Then resave.

The only way this will come back as a complete AI doc is if the text editor option works, otherwise you will just have a flatend image with no paths.

Thanks

Kevin