AI 2020 V.24 Unknown Error while saving in AI "when a PDF joboption file is present in the adobe PDF preferences folder"

Just updated to V.24.
There is a critical bug while saving on an external hard drive or a network storage. The saving process ends with a generic error and the file just DISAPPEAR from the server.

I'm on MacOS 10.14.6

78 votes

Anonymous shared this idea · Nov 5, 2019 · Report… · Admin →

Need More Info ·

AdminAnkit Goyal(Illustrator Team) (Admin, Adobe Illustrator) responded · Jan 15, 2020

Hi,

Thanks for reporting the issue .
We have fixed the bug which was orignally reported but it seems some users are still facing the issue.

We are not able to reproduce this issue in house now ,Kindly provide following info to nail down this issue:

1)Kindly provide some video , Test file(Via File→Package) & some steps with which you are facing issue and share with us at ShareWithAI@adobe.com .

2)Please try the below mentioned workaround and let us know if that helps:

If you do not use custom Adobe PDF presets/joboptions or not heard of it then follow the below steps
1. Navigate to user presets folder
Win: appdata\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings
2. Rename the folder to “Settings old” and create a new empty folder “Settings” in the same place
3. Launch Illustrator and check if you can save the document

If you use custom Adobe PDF presets then follow below steps
1. Go to Edit > Adobe PDF Presets
2. Check PDF compatibility of PDF presets that are not default
3. Make a note of presets that use PDF compatibility version 1.3
4. Quit Illustrator
5. Navigate to user presets folder
Win: appdata\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings
6. Move the presets identified in step 3 out of this folder
7. Launch Illustrator and check if you can save the document

3)Please share your preset folder in a Zip File
Win: appdata\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings

4)Please try the below mentioned workaround and let us know if that helps:

Steps:
i)Launch Illustrator
ii)Open preference by pressing “Cmd+K”
iii)Go to “File Handling & Clipboard”
iv)Uncheck "Optimize file Open and Save Time on Slow Network (Beta) "
v)Click ok
vi)Try to save file and let us know if that helps
If it is still reproducible
i)Open preference by pressing “Cmd+K”
ii)Go to “File Handling & Clipboard”
uncheck “Save in background”
iii)Click ok
iv)Try to save file and let us know if that helps

Kindly share the above with us at ShareWithAI@adobe.com in a Zip file. Please mention the title of this issue as the subject of the mail.

Thanks and Regards
Ankit Goyal
Illustrator Team

Show previous admin responses (4)

Completed (Comments Open) ·

Anish Kumar responded · Nov 28, 2019

We have the fix available in the latest release. Please update Illustrator using Adobe Creative Cloud application to the latest build for version Illustrator CC 24.0.1

Please refer to our knowledge base FAQ – https://illustrator.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/1844590 if you face difficulty in update.
Or get in touch with us at any of the other support channels – https://helpx.adobe.com/support.html

Thanks
Anish Kumar

Done (In Beta) ·

AdminRama (Mgr, Software Development, Adobe Illustrator) responded · Nov 8, 2019

This issue is fixed in 24.0.1 beta build and you can download it from the location: https://www.adobeprerelease.com/

You need to join the Adobe Illustrator CC pre-release program after logging into the above site under the “Available Programs” tab. Your Adobe Creative Cloud login credentials will work perfectly here.

After joining to the pre-release program click on the “My Programs” tab and click on “View Program” button under the heading Adobe Illustrator CC.
In the downloads section builds are posted under title “24.0.1 Build 1”.

Please do let us know if the issue still persists on your system with this build or you have any other queries regarding Illustrator.

NOTE:

Please note the build is from our pre-release program. The information discussed within the program is confidential. Your participation and your knowledge of this information cannot be shared outside of the people in pre-release group per your acceptance of the Pre-release Agreement.

Following is the workaround for 24.0.0

Under Review ·

AdminRama (Mgr, Software Development, Adobe Illustrator) responded · Nov 6, 2019

This issue is reproducible at our end and investigation underway.

This issue is caused due to one of the PDF preset using custom Flattener preset. Users who run into this issue can try the following and update us in the comment

1. Go to Edit > Adobe PDF Presets
2. Check PDF compatibility of PDF presets that are not default
3. Make a note of presets that use PDF compatibility version 1.3
4. Quit Illustrator
5. Navigate to user presets folder
Win: appdata\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe PDF/Settings
6. Move the presets identified in step 3 out of this folder
7. Launch Illustrator and check if you can save the document

Need More Info ·

AdminAnkit Goyal(Illustrator Team) (Admin, Adobe Illustrator) responded · Nov 6, 2019

Hi,
Apologies for the inconvenience caused to you due to this issue.
We are unable to reproduce this issue in house.
Can you help the Illustrator team to isolate this issue further so that we can nail this down?
If yes, then please let me know the following:
1)Kindly provide some video , Test file(Via File→Package) & some steps with which you are facing issue and share with us at ShareWithAI@adobe.com in a Zip file.
Please mention the title of this issue as the subject of the mail.

Thanks and Regards
Ankit Goyal
Illustrator Team

An error occurred while saving the comment

Anonymous commented · May 21, 2020 8:03 AM · Report

Why can't I save my files

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Anonymous commented · May 21, 2020 8:02 AM · Report

This does not work at all spent all day trying

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Mary Machare commented · May 8, 2020 10:27 PM · Report

I just updated and started having the same problem. Lynn G's suggested worked.

" I went to the Preferences within an open Illustrator file,-- File Handling and Clipboard and unchecked the "Save in Background" and the " Optimize File Open and Save Time" and iT WORKED!! "

Thank you, Lynn G.

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Paulina Cano commented · April 28, 2020 6:29 AM · Report

Hello,
Im having the same issue except that my illustrator just completely freezes. After I try to save, it goes through selecting folders process, etc-goes back to the file and freezes.
HELP!!! Ive tries a couple of the hacks here and nothing has helped

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Anonymous commented · April 14, 2020 6:09 AM · Report

If I close and relaunch Illustrator 2020 without saving the new document, I will lose all of my work. How do I make any of these changes without restarting and losing my work?

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Lynn G commented · April 14, 2020 1:00 AM · Report

April 13, 2020
Hello Out There,
Thank you Kevin! Your suggestion worked!
The suggestions above involving the PDF Settings and Presets did NOT work.
Copying and Pasting into a new document did NOT work.
Quitting and restarting did NOT work.
Finally, I went to the Preferences within an open Illustrator file,-- File Handling and Clipboard and unchecked the "Save in Background" and the " Optimize File Open and Save Time" and iT WORKED!!
I am attaching a sample file that I was trying to SAVE AS.

NOTES: I updated to Illustrator 2020 v24.01 about two weeks ago (March 2020) and files were saving fine. Today I started getting the message "Unable to save... unexpected errors" Weird!
I work on a Mac Mini OS 10.13.6. I was working on an external LaCie removable drive.

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Shawn commented · April 2, 2020 10:03 PM · Report

The issue is caused by macOS flagging the file as open when the file is selected while Finder is in Preview mode. Make sure the Finder is NOT in Preview mode and try again. Or, if you insist upon using Preview mode, after opening the file select a different file so that the Finder's focus is not on the file you are trying to work on. This applies to working with local files as well as files saved to network shares.

Let me know how it goes! :-)

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Anonymous commented · April 2, 2020 9:56 PM · Report

Make a new Document and copy paste the info then try to save. Its dumb to have to do work arounds but its working for me.

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Matt commented · March 30, 2020 10:22 PM · Report

Kevin's solution worked for me, too.

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Selver Dervisic commented · March 28, 2020 3:37 AM · Report

Losing a ridiculous amount of time to this.
Adobe PDF > settings folder is empty? There's nothing to remove or edit here.

This inability to save just suddenly happened and I don't want to do workarounds as I'm scared that this'll pop up again and ruin work.

(Edit: Changing a gradient on a stroke on a layer with maybe 60k points to a flat color makes saving work again. Reverting back to the gradient returns the saving issue.)

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Liza Benson commented · March 25, 2020 12:41 AM · Report

I have tried ALL these fixes and nothing has worked. Still getting the "This file has been modified outside of Illustrator" error message every time I save. Can we please have an update on the status of this fix from Adobe support? I am now out of "fix ideas" and am extremely frustrated! :? :/

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Anonymous commented · March 19, 2020 6:08 PM · Report

Illustrator 24.1. Same Error message as others. Work-around. Save as PDF. Open PDF in Illustrator to edit. Resave as PDF.

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Mark R commented · February 15, 2020 5:41 AM · Report

Same issue here, weirdly it only happened after opening certain files, some of those files happen to be necessary for work. Mac OS Catalina 10.15.4, going back to 2019 is the only solution that works for me.

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bob commented · February 12, 2020 2:35 AM · Report

I found the perfect solution. Uninstall Ai 2020 ! I just went back to 2019 version , I don't have time to mess with this stuff. Why do you put **** out before its vetted?

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Shawn commented · January 30, 2020 9:08 PM · Report

The issue is caused by macOS flagging the file as open when the file is selected while Finder is in Preview mode. Make sure the Finder is NOT in Preview mode and try again. Or, if you insist upon using Preview mode, after opening the file select a different file so that the Finder's focus is not on the file you are trying to work on. This applies to working with local files as well as files saved to network shares.

Let me know how it goes! :-)

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Heidi commented · January 30, 2020 9:00 PM · Report

This is STILL happening!!! Wasting work time and VERY frustrated!

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J commented · January 21, 2020 4:00 PM · Report

Despite today's update 24.0.3 - this bug still exists!

Had a file open, been tweaking it back and forth, went to save and... 'can't save due to unexpected errors'. Had to save it to my desktop instead.

I can't use Adobe's "fix" of deleting all my PDF presets, I need those presets for my day to day job, they're my client's custom print specifications.

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Jay commented · January 20, 2020 7:16 AM · Report

Tried what Kevin said and it worked. I didnt even update my illustrator it just randomly started saving and then stopped and said cant complete, and id be left with a temp file. Id save it again and itd work. Gets annoying to have to save twice every time and wait for it to fail once. So I did the file handling and clipboard and unchecked all 3 boxes (optimize file open and save time on slow networks, save in background, and export in background). It worked so i put back on the save and export boxes and it broke again. So i took off save box and had only export left. Now it works just fine. Didnt know if having save or export in background turned off would do anything relevant to me, but I havent noticed anything yet. Thanks Kevin!

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Rachel commented · January 16, 2020 9:25 PM · Report

Wow, finally something that worked.

Ive had the same issue as everyone else. Illustrator 2020, cant save. blah blah blah. Finally it worked.

Thanks Kevin

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Kevin commented · January 15, 2020 7:42 PM · Report

There is a fix that helps
• go to preferences
• select "File Handling & Clipboard"
• uncheck "Optimize File Open and Save Time on Slow Networks"
• uncheck "Save in Background
• uncheck "Export in Background"

These settings will result in unwanted .tmp files appearing on your server, and legacy save dialog warnings, but these are minor annoyances. The major bugs discussed in this thread seem to be alleviated with these settings.

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