Flexi and illustrator new issue?

[The Vector Doctor]

I have had multiple instances of my customers saying that Flexi is shutting down or giving error messages from my Illustrator ai files. I usually save vectors down to an older ai version 8 and have never had issues in many years but suddenly it is happening frequently

I use Adobe CC. i have no way of testing anything since i don't use or own Flexi. The current solution seems to be to save as a pdf.

Is anyone else noticing this issue?

 

[Stacey K]

The file you most recently sent me worked fine in my Flexi. If you want to send me a file you know didn't work for someone else, I'm happy to open it as an experiment. graphixcv@yahoo.com

 

[Bobby H]

What version of Flexi are your customers using? Our shop has three Flexi licenses as well as another computer running Vinyl Express LXi (which is sort of a cousin to Flexi). I haven't seen any instances of Illustrator-saved .AI files causing Flexi to crash.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Same here. I'm on new flexi though... Old ones crash a lot with new files

 

[The Vector Doctor]

i don't know what version they are using. I just sent a couple files for Stacey to try

 

[ddarlak]

I use flexi 10 and MOST files won't open anymore.

You have to be creative to get them working. PDF used to be failsafe, but even they can still crash flexi.

 

[Bobby H]

What about EPS files saved in Adobe Illustrator? Any problems with those?

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I use flexi 10 and MOST files won't open anymore.

You have to be creative to get them working. PDF used to be failsafe, but even they can still crash flexi.

I had 10 as well and you had to pull some tricks to get it to work. Upgrade to the latest, it's a huge time saver

 

[The Vector Doctor]

What about EPS files saved in Adobe Illustrator? Any problems with those?

i am not sure. Stacy tried 2 ai files and one did crash her program. The file had no effects on it. Just simple vector shapes. Something has changed either in Illustrator or Flexi to cause this issue as it rarely came up before. Stacy was using Flexi SP2 Build number 3726 - HP Flexi Print & Cut 21 . i use the latest Illustrator CC

 

[netsol]

i am not sure. Stacy tried 2 ai files and one did crash her program. The file had no effects on it. Just simple vector shapes. Something has changed either in Illustrator or Flexi to cause this issue as it rarely came up before. Stacy was using Flexi SP2 Build number 3726 - HP Flexi Print & Cut 21 . i use the latest Illustrator CC

is there some reason you can't work with an older illustrator?
since you can't control what version of flexi EVERYONE uses, i would think an experiment with an older illustrator version would be worth a shot

 

[Boudica]

is there some reason you can't work with an older illustrator?
since you can't control what version of flexi EVERYONE uses, i would think an experiment with an older illustrator version would be worth a shot

The file could always be saved down as an earlier version before sending it off. I don't think he needs to work in an earlier version.

 

[ddarlak]

Saving down doesn't work all the time anymore, seems like they put in a poison pill so old software can't import newer files.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

what i used to do is save the file as a pdf (or print to pdf), open the pdf and save down to like adobe 4.0, then my old flexi would read it.

 

[Bobby H]

i am not sure. Stacy tried 2 ai files and one did crash her program. The file had no effects on it. Just simple vector shapes. Something has changed either in Illustrator or Flexi to cause this issue as it rarely came up before. Stacy was using Flexi SP2 Build number 3726 - HP Flexi Print & Cut 21 . i use the latest Illustrator CC

Are there any live text objects in the document? Saving down to Illustrator 8 format should automatically convert any text objects to curves if they're styled using OpenType fonts or Variable fonts.

Have you tried saving the AI files down to Illustrator 3 format? I'm pretty sure that option is still available in the legacy formats list. That's one area where I have to give Adobe kudos over CorelDRAW. Recent versions of CorelDRAW will down-save only back as far as version X5.

is there some reason you can't work with an older illustrator?
since you can't control what version of flexi EVERYONE uses, i would think an experiment with an older illustrator version would be worth a shot

The Creative Cloud desktop app will only let users go back as far as one full version. For instance, the latest version of Illustrator is v30.2.1. In the CC app's "older versions" list the builds go back only as far as version 29.0.

I have Illustrator 30.2.1 installed, but I'm also protecting an older v28.7.10 install that's no longer available to download. I have two versions of Illustrator installed due to a fatal flaw with AI files exported out of CorelDRAW. If the Corel-saved AI files have any live text objects in them the files will not open in v29 and v30 builds of Illustrator. The AI format is the least bad alternative for moving CorelDRAW over to Illustrator. Exporting from Corel in PDF or EPS format causes all sorts of issues. Anyway, I have to open the Corel-saved AI files in Illustrator 28 and then re-save those file there. After that they'll open in later versions of Illustrator.

Still, I don't understand why an AI file saved clear down to version 8 format would cause crashes in Flexi. The Illustrator 8 format is pretty primitive compared to the current version, and it's based on Postscript code, not PDF.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

There are no live fonts. Everything in the file is a simple vector shape. Solid fills, no effects whatsoever. I usually save down to v8 unless i know my customer is using something other than Flexi. This issue is only with Flexi. None of my corel, Gerber, Illustrator customers are having issues. it is hit and miss.

Reverting back to the previous version of illustrator is only a temporary solution. If the problem persists i won't ever be able to upgrade. Yes i can also save down to version 3 files but that has serious limitations on color space and gradients are not supported

So far the best solution has been to save to a pdf instead. Hopefully this issue gets fixed in a future update

 

[Boudica]

Wouldn't cs6 be old enough for most users?

 

[scrip]

Are you using compression while saving the file in CC ?
It does sometime mess with files.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Are you using compression while saving the file in CC ?
It does sometime mess with files.

no. As mentioned in the previous postings the files are VERY basic. There is no compression. Saving down to v8 and v3 in Illustrator has NO options. They don't support many effects anyway. The files in question are VERY simple vectors. I cannot stress this enough

 

[Bobby H]

Reverting back to the previous version of illustrator is only a temporary solution. If the problem persists i won't ever be able to upgrade. Yes i can also save down to version 3 files but that has serious limitations on color space and gradients are not supported

I'm trying to lobby people at Adobe on making at least a few prior versions of Illustrator available in the CC Desktop app, rather than the v30 and v29 arrangement that exists now. Apparently users can get installers for older builds, but it takes going thru Adobe's support staff. It sucks having to keep an older version of Illustrator installed just to get around technical issues, but at least it's possible to have both an older version of Illustrator and the current version of Illustrator installed alongside each other.

I tried creating a couple sample Illustrator 8 files in both version 30 and version 28. I opened both files in Notepad to examine the header info. The text is mostly identical, but with some minor differences. It doesn't look like anything there would cause Flexi to lose its mind. Maybe they changed something in how vector shapes are being encoded.

This problem with Flexi looks like another thing to add to the list of reasons why people need access to older builds of Illustrator. I mentioned the problem with CorelDRAW earlier. People trying to use the Cutting Master 5 plugin are hitting brick walls; the current version won't work with a lot of older Graphtec plotter cutters. So they have to use older versions of that plugin, but they won't work with the current version of Illustrator.

Wouldn't cs6 be old enough for most users?

It all depends on the target app that would be importing the .AI file (if the app can even import .AI files). The CS6 version of Illustrator dates back to 2012, but even it has features that may not be supported by a certain target application.

In the case of Flexi, it is a fairly primitive app in terms of its capabilities with vector-based artwork. The only uses we have for it at our shop is controlling vinyl cutters and opening old art files in Flexi or CASmate format. Most of our design work is being done in either CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

it has to be a nightmare if a shop only has Flexi and they accept outside files from users of CorelDraw and illustrator. If you create all the artwork yourself in house it is not an issue.