Adobe Illustrator Artwork (AI)

Filename extension	.ai
Developed by	Adobe Systems

Adobe Illustrator Artwork (AI) is a proprietary file format developed by Adobe Systems for representing single-page vector-based drawings in either the EPS or PDF formats. The .ai filename extension is used by Adobe Illustrator.

Early versions of the AI file format are true EPS files with a restricted, compact syntax, with additional semantics represented by Illustrator-specific DSC comments that conform to DSC's Open Structuring Conventions. These files are identical to their corresponding Illustrator EPS counterparts, but with the EPS procsets (procedure sets) omitted from the file and instead externally referenced using %%Include directives.

Recent versions of the AI file format, including the PDF-based formats and recent EPS formats, are based on a native format called PGF that is unrelated to both EPS and PDF. PDF compatibility is achieved not by extending the PDF format, but by embedding a complete copy of the native PGF data within the PDF file. The same kind of “dual path” approach is also used when recent versions of Illustrator are saving EPS-compatible files.

[edit] Programs that support AI files

Adobe Illustrator is not the only program that can edit .ai files.

• CorelDRAW (another proprietary program) can natively edit this file format.
• Corel Paint Shop Pro (another proprietary program) can natively edit this file format.
• Inkscape (a GPL-licensed program) can import it.
• Xara Xtreme has support for the format that is described as "working".
• Skencil (another GPL-licensed program) also claims to have some AI support.
• XnView, a freeware graphics format converter, claims to be able to read AI file formats.
• Ghostscript (another GPL-licensed program) can convert AI into various formats, and also allows programs that use Ghostscript such as GIMP to import AI files.

[edit] References

• Adobe Illustrator File Format Specification—the official specification for the original EPS-based formats
• Ill2SVG.pl source
• Xara Xtreme
• Skencil
• XNView supported formats

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