Older versions of Illustrator

[SoCalN8V]

We're thinking of buying an older version of Adobe Illustrator from ebay just so we can open Illustrator files. We get so many files from graphic designers (non-sign makers) and they all use Illustrator and it's a pain having to tell them to downgrade the file to version 7 or earlier. We use Corel 11.

However, I was wondering if Illustrator version 9/10 can open files created by later versions of Illustrator such as CS/CS2? It would be a waste of money if we bought it and then couldn't open our customer's files.

 

[Bigdawg]

You can't open later versions with an old version, but if you have Acrobat distiller, you can distill the eps you received and then open it in Illustrator. That's what we do - it's easier than taking the file over to the mac, opening it, changing it and then bringing it back into the PC environment.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

No. You must save down your files in cs1 and cs2 to lower versions to open with an older version of Illustrator. You won't gain any advantage with this. You will be asking them to do the same thing as you already are.

CS1 introduced an annoying "feature". Instead of saving as an older version, you had to export to save down. In CS2, they changed it back to saving down rather than exporting - probably due to the request of service providers everywhere.

 

[Drip Dry]

Does anyone know the going rate for cs2 ?
And do you know who might have the best price ?

 

[Bobby H]

I said this in another post. The "best price" is to invest in the Adobe Creative Suite (Premium version if you can afford the initial outlay of $1200).

IllustratorCS2 by itself costs $499. Photoshop is $600. InDesign is $650 or $700 by itself. It just seems better to only pay a couple hundred for each app and get Acrobat Pro and GoLive thrown in for good measure.

You can't open later versions with an old version, but if you have Acrobat distiller, you can distill the eps you received and then open it in Illustrator.

That's not going to work every time.

First, you need to be sure you're working with the latest version of Adobe Acrobat. Otherwise if someone sends you an item requiring PDF version 1.6 compatibility you'll be out of luck.

Also odd things can happen in the distilling process. Experienced Illustrator users will get around it with little trouble. But some users may be thrown for a loop when encountering 20 clipping path boxes wrapped around a single text object.

I think it's better to have the latest version of Illustrator so you can open native Illustrator files of any version, along with just about any kind of EPS file.

 

[SoCalN8V]

Thanks Everyone!