Recovering a Corrupt AI File

Have you ever worked on a design in Adobe Illustrator only to try opening it later and discover it's corrupt? Hours of work go down the drain, yet there is a ray of hope to crack open that file once again.

This will work in Adobe Illustrator 10 and up (but try it in older versions - it may also work.)

Requires Acrobat (not just the Reader).

Works on (and was tested in) Illustrator version 10 and all CS versions.

>Open the corrupt file in Acrobat.
>Take the arrow tool.
>Click on any element or text in the document.
>Just move the object by hitting one of the directional arrows on your keyboard.
>File, Save.

>Open the file in Illustrator.
>It will say 'this file has been modified outside of Illustrator' or something to that effect. it will ask if you want to keep changes.
>Say 'Yes' (or OK)

Your file will open virtually intact!

(Postscript: this tip was originally posted on Behance.net in the Tip Exchange section. Go ahead and give it a thumbs up if you found it useful! And, don't forget to spread the word - it can save hours of work and frustration for any designer.)