Setting file save defaults

[SaigonJeff]

Hello everyone... I have been scouring through this forum and the internet, and I can't find a way to set illustrator CS6 to save files with the "Create PDF Compatible File" option by default. I have to select this option manually every time I save a new file... And when I am working on many things I sometimes forget to do this. I want to be able to save files and have this option selected by default.

The reason is because without this setting selected, Adobe Bridge or Mystic Thumbs in explorer will not show a preview thumbnail of the file content.

Can this option be set to a selected state by default?

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

It has been my experience throughout all the versions of Illustrator in at least the last ten years that "Create PDF Compatible File" is always turned on by default when saving a file as an .ai file. As a matter of fact before writing this I tried to turn it off for one file I saved and when I created a new file and saved it that option was right back on. PDF is part of the native file format of Illustrator which is why when you open an .ai file through Acrobat it opens right up.

Are you saving your files as .ai? That is always the best format to use when saving Illustrator.

Have you reset your preferences? If you haven't then delete them (with Illustrator closed) opening a Finder window in column view, click on your Home icon and with your option (on a Mac) key pressed select Library under the Finder Go menu. Then follow the screen shot below and delete the highlighted preference files:

Then relaunch Illustrator and hopefully the default "Create PDF Compatible File" will be restored.

[SaigonJeff]

Deleting the prefs file did the trick... Been using Illustrator for so long with problems, I completely forgot about the prefs files... Thanks for the helpful heads up!

Cheers!

[Mike_Gondek]

Someone like myself could have edited youIllustrator  prefs files and flipped this setting for smaller and faster with PDF compatible off.

If noone else users your computer, then am not sure how the default could have changed.