How do you open or read Adobe Illustrator S5 Document

[danielt7814728]

These files were created in older illustrator programs (1997).  I cannot open them now. Any suggestions

[Kurt Gold]

I don't know what you mean by "S5 document". 1997, that could be documents in Illustrator 7 or 8 format.

Which version are you now using? Also, can you provide a sample .ai file that you cannot open?

[danielt7814728]

Hey Kurt:

Currently using Illustrator CS5.  These some of the saved documents ( saved on a Jazz Drive from 1997- 2000 are showing up as Adobe Document S5.  I have attached an .ai extension on some of the files showing up as simpletext and can now read them.

I have placed .ai, .pdf, .eps on the names listed as S5 with no luck.  The Icon next to the file name is a black box with "exec" upper right corner.

Any help would be appreciated.  Dan

[danielt7814728]

I can send one of these files to you but not sure how with this program. Dan

[Larry G. Schneider]

You will need to use a file sharing site like WeTransfer or Dropbox and post a link here. Was any type of compression scheme used on the Jazz drive or on the files in question?

[danielt7814728]

No just saved off as uncompressed files. They are all Illustrator files with imbedded photos from Photoshop but not saved as Eps.

My guess is they are now all corrupt as every program I try to open with says unrecognized file format.

[Monika Gause]

Are you really sure you didn't use an extension such as Disk Doubler that automatically added compression to your files?

[danielt7814728]

No... some of the files on other disks open fine... also created in Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop.  I am wondering if it has something to do with Font files I no longer have. Thanks for your help.  Dan

[Larry G. Schneider]

Can you try opening one of the files with a text editor and post a screenshot of the first 20 or so lines of the file? It may give a clue as to what is happening.

[danielt7814728]

[danielt7814728]

Files are showing as S5.  I am currently running Creative Suite 5 Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.  These files were created in an earlier version of Adobe.  I am wondering if the fonts are messing these up.

[danielt7814728]

So bottom line is trying to open up Adobe Illustrator 8 with Illustrator 11.  I still have the old program I could reload... but not sure it would run on this current platform.

[Monika Gause]

Can you please show a screenshot of this mysterious "Adobe Document S5"? Is that in the Finder? Where is it?

This sourcecode you're showing doesn't look like an Illustrator document at all. What makes you think that it's an AI file?

[Test Screen Name]

Ah, it’s simple. MMXPR3 at the start.  This file was made with QuarkXPress, and that’s what you need to read it.

[Bill Silbert]

There is a plug-in for InDesign available from Markzware called Q2ID that can be used to open QuarkXpress documents with InDesign. The conversions are usually good enough to use with a minimum of cleaning up.

[danielt7814728]

Thanks.  This is a great help.

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

You should be able to still open an older Illustrator file with the current version. My guess is though that your older file which was most likely saved as an eps does not have a suffix after its name which the newer versions of the program require for opening. Try adding .eps to the file name and then try and open it from within the program (use File>Open). If .eps does not work then try using .ai instead. If neither of those suffixes work try .pdf.

[danielt7814728]

Thank you Bill.  The .ai was the trick.  Dan

[Bill Silbert]

Happy to help.

[danielt7814728]

Hi Bill:

Currently using Illustrator CS5.  These documents ( saved on a Jazz Drive from 1997- 2000 are showing up as Adobe Document S5.  I have attached an .ai extension on some of the files showing up as simpletext and can now read them.

I have placed .ai, .pdf, .eps on the names listed as S5 with no luck.  The Icon next to the file name is a black box with "exec" upper right corner.

As stated earlier I am able to read the simpletext when the .ai is added.  S5 document is another issue.   Dan

[Bill Silbert]

Try adding .txt as a suffix and see if it will open in a text program like simple text if it won’t open through Illustrator.