12 replies to this topic

[dezza]

Hi

I am trying to use Illustrator CS2 for post ArcGIS 9.2 production cartographic work, however i'm encountering a major problem.

I export to .ai from ArcGIS > Open in Illustrator > Receive a warning box 'Update legacy text' > click ok > Opens in Illustrator.

This part seems to work ok, yet when i try to save the project I receive 'An unknown error has occurred' message. I have a feeling it is the text labels thats causing the error as it seems to save if i delete all the typography. As you can appreciate, this isnt the best of solutions!

Has anyone encountered this problem before? Any help would be welcome.

Cheers.

Derrick

[François Goulet]

I had this problem with .ai files that I already have modified.

The initial update is, I think, because ArcMap export in an old Illustrator format (like AI 5 or something).

I had the "Unknown error" several time, and couldn't save my work. Instead of losing everything, I copied entire layers (modified ones I didn't want to lose) on a new document, save it (it worked with this one), close the one with the errors and Illy too. Once I reopen both documents, I re-paste my layers into my original documents (be sure to do a "Paste in Front" so you won't have to manually replace them). It laborious, but it's better than restart from scratch a map.

Nobody else here never had this problem, but they're all on Mac. They were able to open and save documents I couldn't.

I make me believe it was an Illustrator problem and not ArcMap's, but who knows?

Good luck and sorry I couldn't give you a more satisfying answer...

[dezza]

Thanks for the reply..

I tried a similar method but it always failed on the text layers (which lead me to believe this was the problem). All we need is for ESRI to catch up!

Damn those Mac'ers

Cheers.

Derrick.

[mike]

The "Update legacy text" is normal. Just press Update. You may notice some of your text as gray boxes. Just select all the text and nudge it with the arrow key. It should look normal after that.

As for the "An unknown error has occurred" message during saving, I have not heard of a situation like this during.

Can you give us some details on the specs of your hardware and software and also the number of labels, layers, in your map?

[dezza]

My system should be fine, here are my specs:

Name: Precision WorkStation 390
Memory: 3582MB RAM
Processor: Intel® Core™2 CPU - 6700 @ 2.66GHz (2 CPUs)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA Quadro NVS 285
Graphics Memory: 128.0 MB
Hard Drives: WDC WD2500JS-75NCB3 x2

I am using ArcGIS 9.2 with Illustrator CS2.

I have roughly 12 GIS layers (raster DEM/hillshading & vector transport network). I also have four types of text/labels which have all been converted to annotation. See attached Image.

Within Illustrator the data has been split into 16 slayers containg loads of sub groups/layers.

Attached Files

•  screenS.jpg   387.99K   51 downloads
•  screenS2.jpg   87.15K   41 downloads

[François Goulet]

I tried a similar method but it always failed on the text layers (which lead me to believe this was the problem). All we need is for ESRI to catch up!

Have you tried a Create Outline, just to know if the text is really the problem? I have this problem about once a month, but all my maps have text from annotations, some hillshading, ... Most of the time (99%), it works great, so that's why I don't think Arc could be a problem.

[mike]

Have you tried using simpler labels? Perhaps labels without the callout boxes? And if simpler labels work, then slowly increase the complexity and detail in the labeling.

I just tried labeling a simple layer of U.S cities (isolated 200 cities, so there are 200 labels) with call out boxes, and i was able to export and successfully open in Illustrator CS2 (both on Mac and PC).

[Matthew Hampton]

Is "Convert Marker symbols to Polygons" checked on export to Ai? It's under the "Format" tab and I am thinking it might help to have this box checked.

[Unit Seven]

Another idea to try is exporting it to PDF—while I prefer using the Illy export this might help and still keeps layers.

Or export just the text layer to eps and combine.

I thought technology was meant to make life easier!

[dezza]

Thanks for all your suggestions guys, i am on leave for a week so i will try them out when i return to work.

Cheers

Derrick.

[jerseysbest]

Try exporting in separate files (text in one, poly's in another, and raster in another). Sometimes one layer will give you a problem, and you can simply copy and "paste in front" to compile the layers in a new document (and sometimes opening a new document in Illy solves a problem too).

[frax]

Updating the text export for .ai from ArcGIS would be quite high on my wishlist for the next version of that GIS software - so that it is using the newer text engine that was introduced in... was it CS?

[François Goulet]

Try exporting in separate files (text in one, poly's in another, and raster in another). Sometimes one layer will give you a problem, and you can simply copy and "paste in front" to compile the layers in a new document (and sometimes opening a new document in Illy solves a problem too).

Export the raster in a separate file is IMO, almost mandatory. I had 300Mb files at first when I was exporting all my maps in once (I had to export at 600 dpi). Now, I export all my vectors and text in a single .ai file, which gives me files no more than 15 Mb and my rasters in pdf. I only to do a copy/paste in place and the placement is perfect. I was able to reduce my file sizes more than 90% with that.