Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 4/9/2008

Question
QUESTION: I am saving an Illlustrator CS3 document, with 11 layers, in Illustrator 8 (a requirement of iStockphoto) and when I re-open the AI8 document, there is only one layer, labeled layer 12.  I have not had this problem with other documents.  Is there a limit or something in Ai8?

ANSWER: Hi Jeanne,

There is no limit when saving out to AI v. 8. I have tried to replicate the problem and was not able to. The only thing I can think of is if you have complex layers, such as clipping masks, transparencies, or effects applied in the layers, where it would have to flatten your artwork in order to preserve the look of the document.

Thanks

Kevin

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have tried saving 2 or 3 layers (out of the 11) at a time, and that does preserve the layers but also always adds a new empty layer (labeled Layer 1) to the document.  Does that ring any bells?  I am at a loss, as I have not used clipping masks or transparencies or other effects.  I used gradients, but they normally work fine when saving in AI8.  Thanks.

Answer
Sorry Jeanne,

There has to be something with the gradients or other oddity with this one document that is causing the issue. My suggestion is if this is necessary to keep all the layers in the v. 8 doc is to copy each layer to a multilayered file and see which one is causing it to collapse.

Otherwise, if the document visually is ok, I wouldn't worry about it. Hopefully you are saving your original art in CS3 anyway.

Thanks

Kevin