Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 6/28/2010

Question
I'm using Illustrator 10 in Windows Vista. Any time I open a graphic and make changes it will not allow me to resave the file with the same name. I get the error message 'Acrobat PDF File Format is having difficulties. Unable to open file for writing. It may be locked or unavailable.'

I have unchecked the default option of 'Create PDF Compatible File' however I still cannot save with the same name. I can save with a different name, but it will not allow me to delete the original file and rename the new one. It tells me that 'The file is open in another program'.

Is this an Illustrator or Vista issue? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Holly,

A few things come to mind. But first do not turn off the "Create PDF Compatible File" ever! It will eventually corrupt your file.

Normally I see this error if you are saving across a server connection. If you are saving to an external drive or server, save it to your desktop and drag it to the server.

The second thing is to make sure all your updates are run and you do not have acrobat open at the same time.

I know that Vista does not support Illustrator 10 (it cut it off with CS3), and there have been a number of issues with compatibility, but I have not heard of this one before.

Let me know if neither of these is the case and I can see if I can dig up some technical references for this.

Thanks

Kevin