Part of #637: .ai files saved without PDF compatibility open from their editing data

Such a file's PDF part is a placeholder page, which was refused. When
the file carries editing data, it now opens from that alone: its
structure as a PDF-compatible file's, its point type made from the text
document, and type it can't make (area type, type on a path) left out
with a note that marks the import as lossy. Without editing data, or
with pages picked or layers off, the placeholder is refused as before;
damaged editing data says so.

The page-order note is no longer given when the page has no type.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>

ROADMAP.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ VectorCraft is a clean-room, open-source, pure-Rust reimplementation of the Adob
 
 This file tracks **how far we are and what's left**. Time estimates are wall-clock hours of continuous Claude Opus 5.5 agent work (including builds and the CI gate), given both for **one agent** and for **4–6 parallel agents** on disjoint crates. They are counted from the remaining work (see [Parity estimate](#parity-estimate)), calibrated against measured throughput, and updated as work lands.
 
-_Last updated: 2026-10-09 (after placed documents (File › Place of a `.vectorcraft` file, linked), M4.14–M4.98, M8.1–M8.20, M14.4–M14.7, the MCP prompts, resource templates, completions and logging, the 2026-10-07 issue fixes, the Layers panel rework and the 2026-10-08 community contributions: Pen and shape-tool modifiers, path editing, Layers, Artboards, Swatches/Brushes and dialogs, Japanese composition and PDF text, Hebrew/Arabic type, interface languages (Spanish among them), the font menu, saved selections, MCP and EPS, the missing-font export warning (#319), open paths in the Shape Builder (#374), PDF/`.ai` import keeping strokes live and hidden and nested layers (#372), per-corner Live Corners (#381), SVG type opening at the size it draws at (#396), the Wayland clipboard with copied-file paste (#398), ruler guides that can be selected, moved and deleted (#414), two batches of Preferences options that were stored but unused (#394), skeleton reads with `document.find` for large documents over MCP (#416) and anchors dragged with Direct Selection snapping to points, segments and smart guides, clipped SVG layers opening as clipping layers (#420), PDF/`.ai` layers read on pages of tens of millions of operators (#419), Document Color Mode putting RGB greys on the black plate on request and converting pattern tiles (#421) and movable dialogs with Offset Path's Joins dropdown (#423) and numeric fields scrubbed by dragging their label (#400), stroke weight presets in the stroke unit (#426), the Appearance panel's Opacity popup (#430), type on a path brackets, flip and Type on a Path Options that keep the type in place (#429), Layers rows dragged with a ghost and dropped on the trash or New Layer (#435), tool flyouts opening on a right or corner press (#436), tool flyouts torn off into floating toolbars (#437), the Shape Builder's erase mode deleting edges too (#439), installed fonts registered outside the font folders and fonts installed while the app runs listed in the font menus (#443), alike circular corners on rectangles that aren't square (#442), tool cursors as OS cursors so the pointer no longer trails over the canvas (#444), artboards copied and pasted with their art (#446), guides dragged out of the rulers snapping to the art's side midpoints and the artboards, artboard guides (#451), the toolbar's double arrow and Window › Toolbars › Double Column switching between one and two columns in any window height (#455), the Smart Guides display options and Snapping Tolerance (#394), Font Size and Leading combo boxes with preset lists in the Character and Properties panels and the Control bar (#458), screenshots pasted from the clipboard on macOS, Windows and the web (#457), the Properties panel's Fill and Stroke matching the Control bar's, Illustrator's Window menu panel keys (Shift+F7 for Align…) and Alt-wheel zoom whatever the wheel preference (Discord feedback), the point/area type widget (Discord feedback), groups in legacy Illustrator .ai files (Discord feedback), a rotating desktop log file (#465), image controls in the Control bar and Properties panel: Image Trace with its presets, Mask, Crop Image, Embed/Unembed, and an Image Trace object's preset, Expand and Release (Discord feedback), the Pen working as the Anchor Point tool with Alt held over a selected path's handles and anchors, and anchor buttons that convert, connect and cut paths at the selected anchors (Discord feedback), Japanese hanging punctuation (burasagari, #463), Escape leaving Presentation Mode with no screen mode saved across restarts, documents dropped on the desktop app opening as tabs of their own and a note that an `.ai` file's art off its artboards isn't in the part read (#472), Add/Delete Anchor Point tool icons drawn from the Pen tool's (#479), EPS import running more of PostScript Level 3 (patterns, Type 3 fonts, mesh shadings, masked images, VM and resource probes), and a preview that stands in saying why (Discord feedback, #466, #469, #474), chords with modifiers recorded in Edit › Keyboard Shortcuts (#487), Type Object Selection by Path Only (#394), Anti-aliased Artwork (#394), Show Pixel Grid (#394), pen and touch taps pressed and lifted within one frame clicking where they tapped and the Linux/Wayland pen-tablet workaround (#491), bounding-box resizes landing on the other objects' anchors and centres with labels, and the Rotate, Scale, Shear and Reflect tools snapping their drags (#482), Shift-drag marquees that toggle the objects or anchors they reach and a Lasso whose Alt subtraction keeps the rest of the selection (#483), the mouse wheel stepping the focused numeric field, the dialogs' and preferences' drag values made such fields (#485), Show The Home Screen When No Documents Are Open (#394), Numbers Without Units Are Points (#394), Auto-Collapse Iconic Panels (#394), the Contextual Task Bar moved by its handle and its More Options menu pinning and resetting its position, a designed macOS DMG windoLine truncated
+_Last updated: 2026-10-09 (after placed documents (File › Place of a `.vectorcraft` file, linked), M4.14–M4.98, M8.1–M8.20, M14.4–M14.7, the MCP prompts, resource templates, completions and logging, the 2026-10-07 issue fixes, the Layers panel rework and the 2026-10-08 community contributions: Pen and shape-tool modifiers, path editing, Layers, Artboards, Swatches/Brushes and dialogs, Japanese composition and PDF text, Hebrew/Arabic type, interface languages (Spanish among them), the font menu, saved selections, MCP and EPS, the missing-font export warning (#319), open paths in the Shape Builder (#374), PDF/`.ai` import keeping strokes live and hidden and nested layers (#372), per-corner Live Corners (#381), SVG type opening at the size it draws at (#396), the Wayland clipboard with copied-file paste (#398), ruler guides that can be selected, moved and deleted (#414), two batches of Preferences options that were stored but unused (#394), skeleton reads with `document.find` for large documents over MCP (#416) and anchors dragged with Direct Selection snapping to points, segments and smart guides, clipped SVG layers opening as clipping layers (#420), PDF/`.ai` layers read on pages of tens of millions of operators (#419), Document Color Mode putting RGB greys on the black plate on request and converting pattern tiles (#421) and movable dialogs with Offset Path's Joins dropdown (#423) and numeric fields scrubbed by dragging their label (#400), stroke weight presets in the stroke unit (#426), the Appearance panel's Opacity popup (#430), type on a path brackets, flip and Type on a Path Options that keep the type in place (#429), Layers rows dragged with a ghost and dropped on the trash or New Layer (#435), tool flyouts opening on a right or corner press (#436), tool flyouts torn off into floating toolbars (#437), the Shape Builder's erase mode deleting edges too (#439), installed fonts registered outside the font folders and fonts installed while the app runs listed in the font menus (#443), alike circular corners on rectangles that aren't square (#442), tool cursors as OS cursors so the pointer no longer trails over the canvas (#444), artboards copied and pasted with their art (#446), guides dragged out of the rulers snapping to the art's side midpoints and the artboards, artboard guides (#451), the toolbar's double arrow and Window › Toolbars › Double Column switching between one and two columns in any window height (#455), the Smart Guides display options and Snapping Tolerance (#394), Font Size and Leading combo boxes with preset lists in the Character and Properties panels and the Control bar (#458), screenshots pasted from the clipboard on macOS, Windows and the web (#457), the Properties panel's Fill and Stroke matching the Control bar's, Illustrator's Window menu panel keys (Shift+F7 for Align…) and Alt-wheel zoom whatever the wheel preference (Discord feedback), the point/area type widget (Discord feedback), groups in legacy Illustrator .ai files (Discord feedback), a rotating desktop log file (#465), image controls in the Control bar and Properties panel: Image Trace with its presets, Mask, Crop Image, Embed/Unembed, and an Image Trace object's preset, Expand and Release (Discord feedback), the Pen working as the Anchor Point tool with Alt held over a selected path's handles and anchors, and anchor buttons that convert, connect and cut paths at the selected anchors (Discord feedback), Japanese hanging punctuation (burasagari, #463), Escape leaving Presentation Mode with no screen mode saved across restarts, documents dropped on the desktop app opening as tabs of their own and a note that an `.ai` file's art off its artboards isn't in the part read (#472), Add/Delete Anchor Point tool icons drawn from the Pen tool's (#479), EPS import running more of PostScript Level 3 (patterns, Type 3 fonts, mesh shadings, masked images, VM and resource probes), and a preview that stands in saying why (Discord feedback, #466, #469, #474), chords with modifiers recorded in Edit › Keyboard Shortcuts (#487), Type Object Selection by Path Only (#394), Anti-aliased Artwork (#394), Show Pixel Grid (#394), pen and touch taps pressed and lifted within one frame clicking where they tapped and the Linux/Wayland pen-tablet workaround (#491), bounding-box resizes landing on the other objects' anchors and centres with labels, and the Rotate, Scale, Shear and Reflect tools snapping their drags (#482), Shift-drag marquees that toggle the objects or anchors they reach and a Lasso whose Alt subtraction keeps the rest of the selection (#483), the mouse wheel stepping the focused numeric field, the dialogs' and preferences' drag values made such fields (#485), Show The Home Screen When No Documents Are Open (#394), Numbers Without Units Are Points (#394), Auto-Collapse Iconic Panels (#394), the Contextual Task Bar moved by its handle and its More Options menu pinning and resetting its position, a designed macOS DMG windoLine truncated
 
 ## Where we are
 
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ lossless SVG/PDF export of live effects with SVG filters, a documented JSON form
 command, gesture and dialog drivable by agents (MCP, CLI, control channel).
 
 ## Out of scope (by design or by law)
-- **Native `.ai` private data, beyond its structure:** the app's own editing copy of a file (an EPS after its `%%EOF`, a `.ai`'s `AIPrivateData` streams, Zstandard or zlib, the EPS's in ASCII85) is not documented as a whole. VectorCraft reads its structure: layers and sublayers (names, order, visibility, lock, printing, preview, dimming, colour), groups as they were nested, compound paths, clipping groups and layer clipping, object names, hidden and locked objects, fills and strokes (grey, CMYK, RGB, named and spot colours), linear and radial gradients, opacity, blend modes, isolation and knockout, embedded images with their alpha channel, guides, and every artboard where it is. An object with several fills or strokes, effects or a brush comes in as its drawn look (a group named after it). Type that shows comes from the page, which draws it, into its text object's place (no group around it); type that doesn't (hidden layers and objects, art off the page) is made from the file's text document (characters, font, size, colour, alignment and where it is, for point type), and area type and type on a path in it are left out with a note. Symbols, pattern fills, placed files and anything else it doesn't read make the file come in as its page (on a layer that doesn't show, they are left out of that layer), with a warning saying what. The layers' art is also compared with the page (by lightness, so colours written as their CMYK equivalents compare alike); the page is used when they differ by more than 5%. A file whose import left something out (hidden text, art or layers) is never written over by an export or Save As to its own path unless `acknowledgeLoss: true` (`convert --replace-lossy`), so the original keeps what the document lacks. Where a `.ai` can't be read that way (or its layers are turned off in the import options), we read its PDF-compatible part, so Illustrator-only live objects arrive as appearance, and plain groups arrive ungrouped: that part draws each object on its own and marks only layers, clipping groups and groups with opacity, blending or a mask (those come back). Art outside the artboards isn't in that part at all (Illustrator's PDF part leaves it out), so it doesn't open; the import says so in a note (#472). That part also has no paragraphs: area type is written line by line, and comes back as area type only where its font is installed and lays the lines out with the same breaks, else as a point type object per line (#508). Art off the page that a PDF does draw opens on the pasteboard.
+- **Native `.ai` private data, beyond its structure:** the app's own editing copy of a file (an EPS after its `%%EOF`, a `.ai`'s `AIPrivateData` streams, Zstandard or zlib, the EPS's in ASCII85) is not documented as a whole. VectorCraft reads its structure: layers and sublayers (names, order, visibility, lock, printing, preview, dimming, colour), groups as they were nested, compound paths, clipping groups and layer clipping, object names, hidden and locked objects, fills and strokes (grey, CMYK, RGB, named and spot colours), linear and radial gradients, opacity, blend modes, isolation and knockout, embedded images with their alpha channel, guides, and every artboard where it is. An object with several fills or strokes, effects or a brush comes in as its drawn look (a group named after it). Type that shows comes from the page, which draws it, into its text object's place (no group around it); type that doesn't (hidden layers and objects, art off the page) is made from the file's text document (characters, font, size, colour, alignment and where it is, for point type), and area type and type on a path in it are left out with a note. A `.ai` saved without PDF compatibility (a placeholder page) opens from its editing data alone, its point type made from the text document and other type left out with a note. Symbols, pattern fills, placed files and anything else it doesn't read make the file come in as its page (on a layer that doesn't show, they are left out of that layer), with a warning saying what. The layers' art is also compared with the page (by lightness, so colours written as their CMYK equivalents compare alike); the page is used when they differ by more than 5%. A file whose import left something out (hidden text, art or layers) is never written over by an export or Save As to its own path unless `acknowledgeLoss: true` (`convert --replace-lossy`), so the original keeps what the document lacks. Where a `.ai` can't be read that way (or its layers are turned off in the import options), we read its PDF-compatible part, so Illustrator-only live objects arrive as appearance, and plain groups arrive ungrouped: that part draws each object on its own and marks only layers, clipping groups and groups with opacity, blending or a mask (those come back). Art outside the artboards isn't in that part at all (Illustrator's PDF part leaves it out), so it doesn't open; the import says so in a note (#472). That part also has no paragraphs: area type is written line by line, and comes back as area type only where its font is installed and lays the lines out with the same breaks, else as a point type object per line (#508). Art off the page that a PDF does draw opens on the pasteboard.
 - **Adobe cloud services** (Libraries sync, Adobe Fonts, Firefly/generative): these are pluggable provider APIs, not built in.
 - **Adobe's bundled assets** (swatch/brush/symbol libraries, presets, icons): ours are original.
 

crates/engine/src/cmd/fileio/load.rs

@@ -150,6 +150,20 @@ fn through_editing_data(bytes: &[u8], opts: &LoadOptions, doc: Document, warning
     (doc, warnings)
 }
 
+/// A `.ai` saved without PDF compatibility (its PDF part is a placeholder page) from the editor's
+/// own copy of its art alone: `None` when the file has none (or pages are picked, or layers are
+/// off), an error when it can't be read.
+fn from_editing_data_alone(bytes: &[u8], opts: &LoadOptions) -> Option<Result<(Document, Vec<String>)>> {
+    if opts.pages.is_some() || !opts.layers {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let private = vectorcraft_pdf::illustrator_data(bytes, opts.password.as_deref())?;
+    Some(
+        vectorcraft_eps::ai_alone(&private)
+            .map_err(|why| err(format!("this file was saved without PDF compatibility, and its editing data can't be read ({why})"))),
+    )
+}
+
 /// [`load`] with `document.open` options (the PDF pages, box and password; the DXF options).
 pub fn load_with(name: &str, bytes: &[u8], opts: &LoadOptions) -> Result<Loaded> {
     let format = detect(name, bytes).ok_or_else(|| match super::unsupported(&super::extension(name)) {
@@ -188,9 +202,13 @@ pub fn load_with(name: &str, bytes: &[u8], opts: &LoadOptions) -> Result<Loaded>
                 .then(|| vectorcraft_pdf::editing_with(bytes, opts.password.as_deref()))
                 .flatten()
                 .map(|e| (e.intact, move || Some(e.data)));
-            restore_or_import(editing, || {
-                let (doc, warnings) = super::pdfimport::import(bytes, opts)?;
-                Ok(through_editing_data(bytes, opts, doc, warnings))
+            restore_or_import(editing, || match super::pdfimport::import(bytes, opts) {
+                Ok((doc, warnings)) => Ok(through_editing_data(bytes, opts, doc, warnings)),
+                // Saved without its PDF part: the editing copy is all the file has.
+                Err(e) if e.to_string() == vectorcraft_pdf::PdfError::PlaceholderOnly.to_string() => {
+                    from_editing_data_alone(bytes, opts).unwrap_or(Err(e))
+                }
+                Err(e) => Err(e),
             })?
         }
         "dxf" => {

crates/engine/src/cmd/fileio/tests_aiimport.rs

@@ -91,3 +91,20 @@ fn what_the_reader_doesnt_read_opens_as_before_with_a_warning() {
     let r = open(&mut s, "symbols.ai", &ai::ai(&compressed(symbols.as_bytes()), ai::page_pdf()), json!({})).unwrap();
     assert!(r["warnings"].to_string().contains("symbols") && r["warnings"].to_string().contains("PDF part"), "{r}");
 }
+
+/// A page showing only a placeholder line, as a `.ai` saved without PDF compatibility has.
+const PLACEHOLDER: &str = "BT /F1 12 Tf 10 50 Td (Saved without its PDF part) Tj ET";
+
+#[test]
+fn an_ai_file_saved_without_its_pdf_part_opens_from_its_editing_data() {
+    let mut s = Session::new();
+    let r = open(&mut s, "art.ai", &ai::ai(&compressed(&ai::sample_data()), PLACEHOLDER), json!({})).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(r["format"], json!("ai"), "{r}");
+    check_sample(&s);
+    // Its editing data damaged: it says so (the placeholder isn't the art).
+    let e = open(&mut s, "damaged.ai", &ai::ai(b"%AI12_CompressedData not zlib", PLACEHOLDER), json!({})).unwrap_err().to_string();
+    assert!(e.contains("without PDF compatibility") && e.contains("zlib"), "{e}");
+    // Without editing data, the placeholder still isn't opened as the art.
+    let e = open(&mut s, "plain.ai", &ai::ai(b"", PLACEHOLDER), json!({})).unwrap_err().to_string();
+    assert!(e.contains("placeholder"), "{e}");
+}

crates/eps/src/import/mod.rs

@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ use graphics::{GState, Out};
 use interp::{Fault, Interp};
 use obj::PsError;
 
-pub use native::{is_loss, layered_ai};
+pub use native::{ai_alone, is_loss, layered_ai};
 pub use text::family_style;
 
 /// The page of a PostScript file without a bounding box (US Letter).

crates/eps/src/import/native.rs

@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ use super::ate::{Story, Texts};
 
 /// The notes that say the import left out something the file has (see [`is_loss`]).
 const TEXT_LEFT_OUT: &str = "text objects on hidden layers or hidden objects couldn't be read, so they are left out";
+/// The same for a file without a page to take shown type from.
+const TYPE_LEFT_OUT: &str = "text objects of kinds VectorCraft doesn't read from the file's text document yet are left out";
 const ART_LEFT_OUT: &str = "hidden layers have art this can't read";
 const LAYERS_UNREAD: &str = "the file's layers weren't read";
 
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@ const LAYERS_UNREAD: &str = "the file's layers weren't read";
 /// layers that could not be read)? Writing the document over the file would lose it for good.
 pub fn is_loss(note: &str) -> bool {
     note.ends_with(TEXT_LEFT_OUT)
+        || note.ends_with(TYPE_LEFT_OUT)
         || [ART_LEFT_OUT, LAYERS_UNREAD, super::graphics::TOO_MUCH, super::graphics::FAR_AWAY].iter().any(|n| note.starts_with(n))
 }
 
@@ -512,7 +515,7 @@ fn plan(
                 };
             }
         }
-        if spare.len() != loose.len() {
+        if !spare.is_empty() && spare.len() != loose.len() {
             warn.push("the text is on the layers in the order the page paints it, so a text object may be in another group than it was".into());
         }
     }
@@ -600,31 +603,36 @@ struct Frame<'a> {
 }
 
 /// The document of the editing copy `data`, with the text (and strokes round it) of `visible`, the
-/// file read as its page, put in its text objects → the document, its notes and where the page is
-/// in it.
-fn build(data: &[u8], visible: &Document, page: Page) -> Result<(Document, Vec<String>, Rect), String> {
+/// file read as its page, put in its text objects → the document and its notes. Without a page
+/// (a `.ai` saved without its PDF part), its type is made from the file's text document alone and
+/// nothing is compared.
+fn build(data: &[u8], visible: Option<&Document>, page: Page) -> Result<(Document, Vec<String>), String> {
     let Structure { mut doc, to_doc, bbox, artboard, template, hidden_unread, slot_names, warnings } = ai::read(data)?;
-    let art_box = match page {
-        Page::Art => bbox.map(|[a, b, c, d]| Rect::new(a, b, c, d)).ok_or("its editing data doesn't say where its art is")?,
-        Page::Artboard => artboard.ok_or("its editing data doesn't say where its artboard is")?,
-    };
-    let page_rect = visible.artboards.first().map(|a| a.rect).ok_or("it has no page")?;
-    if (art_box.width() - page_rect.width()).abs() > 0.5 || (art_box.height() - page_rect.height()).abs() > 0.5 {
-        return Err("its editing data is for a different page".into());
-    }
-    // The page's area in the layers' document, and the page's type moved there.
-    let rect = to_doc.transform_rect_bbox(art_box);
-    let shift = Affine::translate(Vec2::new(rect.x0 - page_rect.x0, rect.y0 - page_rect.y0));
     let (mut shown, mut hidden) = (vec![], vec![]);
-    for l in &visible.layers {
-        if let Some(c) = l.children() {
-            text_objects(c, l.visible, &mut shown, &mut hidden);
+    let mut frame = None;
+    if let Some(visible) = visible {
+        let art_box = match page {
+            Page::Art => bbox.map(|[a, b, c, d]| Rect::new(a, b, c, d)).ok_or("its editing data doesn't say where its art is")?,
+            Page::Artboard => artboard.ok_or("its editing data doesn't say where its artboard is")?,
+        };
+        let page_rect = visible.artboards.first().map(|a| a.rect).ok_or("it has no page")?;
+        if (art_box.width() - page_rect.width()).abs() > 0.5 || (art_box.height() - page_rect.height()).abs() > 0.5 {
+            return Err("its editing data is for a different page".into());
         }
-    }
-    for object in shown.iter_mut().chain(hidden.iter_mut()) {
-        for n in object.iter_mut() {
-            Arc::make_mut(n).transform(shift, false);
+        // The page's area in the layers' document, and the page's type moved there.
+        let rect = to_doc.transform_rect_bbox(art_box);
+        let shift = Affine::translate(Vec2::new(rect.x0 - page_rect.x0, rect.y0 - page_rect.y0));
+        for l in &visible.layers {
+            if let Some(c) = l.children() {
+                text_objects(c, l.visible, &mut shown, &mut hidden);
+            }
         }
+        for object in shown.iter_mut().chain(hidden.iter_mut()) {
+            for n in object.iter_mut() {
+                Arc::make_mut(n).transform(shift, false);
+            }
+        }
+        frame = Some(Frame { page: visible, page_rect, rect });
     }
     let mut infos = vec![];
     collect_slots(&doc.layers, true, &mut infos);
@@ -656,18 +664,22 @@ fn build(data: &[u8], visible: &Document, page: Page) -> Result<(Document, Vec<S
     fill_slots(&mut doc, &mut layers, &mut content.into_iter(), &slot_names, &mut empty);
     doc.layers = layers;
     if empty > 0 {
-        notes.push(format!("{empty} {TEXT_LEFT_OUT}"));
+        notes.push(format!("{empty} {}", if frame.is_some() { TEXT_LEFT_OUT } else { TYPE_LEFT_OUT }));
     }
     if !hidden_unread.is_empty() {
         notes.push(format!("{ART_LEFT_OUT} ({}), left out of them", few(hidden_unread)));
     }
-    let frame = Frame { page: visible, page_rect, rect };
-    let unseen = prune_unseen(&frame, &mut doc);
-    if unseen > 0 {
-        notes.push(format!("{unseen} {UNSEEN_TEXT}"));
+    match frame {
+        Some(frame) => {
+            let unseen = prune_unseen(&frame, &mut doc);
+            if unseen > 0 {
+                notes.push(format!("{unseen} {UNSEEN_TEXT}"));
+            }
+            notes.extend(compare(&frame, &doc)?);
+        }
+        None => unmark(&mut doc.layers, true, &mut vec![]),
     }
-    notes.extend(compare(&frame, &doc)?);
-    Ok((doc, notes, rect))
+    Ok((doc, notes))
 }
 
 /// Marks (in a node's name, until [`prune_unseen`] has looked) the text objects made from the file's
@@ -765,9 +777,9 @@ fn compare(frame: &Frame<'_>, layered: &Document) -> Result<Option<String>, Stri
 /// has one that can't be used, `visible` with a warning that says why.
 pub(super) fn layered(ps: &[u8], visible: Imported) -> Imported {
     let Some(data) = ai::eps_data(ps) else { return visible };
-    let result = data.and_then(|data| build(&data, &visible.document, Page::Art));
+    let result = data.and_then(|data| build(&data, Some(&visible.document), Page::Art));
     match result {
-        Ok((document, mut warnings, _)) => {
+        Ok((document, mut warnings)) => {
             for w in &visible.warnings {
                 if !warnings.contains(w) {
                     warnings.push(w.clone());
@@ -792,8 +804,8 @@ pub fn layered_ai(private: &[u8], visible: Document, warnings: Vec<String>) -> (
     if !data.windows(15).any(|w| w == b"%AI5_BeginLayer") {
         return (visible, warnings);
     }
-    match build(&data, &visible, Page::Artboard) {
-        Ok((done, notes, _)) => {
+    match build(&data, Some(&visible), Page::Artboard) {
+        Ok((done, notes)) => {
             let mut all = warnings;
             all.extend(notes.into_iter().filter(|n| !all.contains(n)).collect::<Vec<_>>());
             (done, all)
@@ -806,6 +818,13 @@ pub fn layered_ai(private: &[u8], visible: Document, warnings: Vec<String>) -> (
     }
 }
 
+/// A `.ai` saved without its PDF part (its pages show only a placeholder) from its editing copy
+/// alone (`private`, the joined `AIPrivateData` streams) → the document and the import's notes.
+pub fn ai_alone(private: &[u8]) -> Result<(Document, Vec<String>), String> {
+    let data = ai::decode_private(private)?;
+    build(&data, None, Page::Artboard)
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;

crates/eps/src/import/tests_native.rs

@@ -521,3 +521,24 @@ fn a_dictionary_left_open_at_the_end_of_a_layer_is_a_damaged_file() {
     assert_eq!(names(&r.document), ["Layer 1"], "{:?}", r.warnings);
     assert!(r.warnings.iter().any(|w| crate::is_loss(w)), "{:?}", r.warnings);
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn an_ai_file_without_its_pdf_part_reads_its_layers_and_makes_its_type() {
+    // Point type from the text document, shown or not; a story it can't read is left out, with a
+    // note that is a loss.
+    let mut doc = text_document(&[("Hi there\r", 0, (8200.0, 8180.0), (0.0, 0.0), 0.0), ("Area\r", 0, (8200.0, 8160.0), (0.0, 0.0), 0.0)]);
+    // Story 1 in frame 1, a frame that says more than a matrix.
+    let at = doc.rfind("/1 << /0 [ << /0 0 >> ]").unwrap();
+    doc.replace_range(at..at + 23, "/1 << /0 [ << /0 1 >> ]");
+    let at = doc.rfind("/2 << /2 [ 1 0 0 1 0 0 ] >>").unwrap();
+    doc.replace_range(at..at + 27, "/2 << /2 [ 1 0 0 1 0 0 ] /7 1 >>");
+    let art = native_with_text(&(layer("Back", true, &square(10, 10)) + &layer("Words", true, &(text_object(0) + &text_object(1)))), &doc);
+    let (d, notes) = crate::ai_alone(&private(&art)).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(names(&d), ["Back", "Words"], "{notes:?}");
+    let texts: Vec<String> = text_of(&d.layers[1]).iter().map(|t| t.plain_text()).collect();
+    assert_eq!(texts, ["Hi there"], "{notes:?}");
+    let left = notes.iter().find(|n| n.contains("left out")).unwrap();
+    assert!(left.starts_with("1 ") && crate::is_loss(left), "{notes:?}");
+    assert!(!notes.iter().any(|n| n.contains("order the page paints")), "{notes:?}");
+    assert!(crate::ai_alone(b"%AI24_ZStandard_Data nothing").is_err());
+}

crates/eps/src/lib.rs

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ mod ps;
 mod scene;
 mod tiff;
 
-pub use import::{Imported, family_style, import, is_loss, layered_ai};
+pub use import::{Imported, ai_alone, family_style, import, is_loss, layered_ai};
 pub use print::{PrintJob, PrintPage, print};
 
 use vectorcraft_doc::Document;

crates/ui-egui/src/i18n/es.tsv

@@ -3676,6 +3676,7 @@ axis	Both	Ambos
 @msg	an image VectorCraft can't read was left out	se omitió una imagen que VectorCraft no puede leer
 @msg	an image whose data is cut short was left out	se omitió una imagen con datos incompletos
 @msg	its editing data doesn't say where its art is	sus datos de edición no dicen dónde está su ilustración
+@msg	this file was saved without PDF compatibility, and its editing data can't be read ({why})	este archivo se guardó sin compatibilidad con PDF y sus datos de edición no se pueden leer ({why})
 
 # The macOS menu bar (native_menu): the app and Window menus' system items, Settings pages.
 	Services	Servicios

crates/ui-egui/src/i18n/fr.tsv

@@ -3673,6 +3673,7 @@ axis	Both	Les deux
 @msg	an image VectorCraft can't read was left out	une image que VectorCraft ne peut pas lire a été ignorée
 @msg	an image whose data is cut short was left out	une image aux données tronquées a été ignorée
 @msg	its editing data doesn't say where its art is	ses données d’édition ne disent pas où se trouve son illustration
+@msg	this file was saved without PDF compatibility, and its editing data can't be read ({why})	ce fichier a été enregistré sans compatibilité PDF et ses données d’édition sont illisibles ({why})
 
 # The macOS menu bar (native_menu): the app and Window menus' system items, Settings pages.
 	Services	Services

crates/ui-egui/src/i18n/it.tsv

@@ -3676,6 +3676,7 @@ axis	Both	Entrambi
 @msg	an image VectorCraft can't read was left out	un'immagine che VectorCraft non può leggere è stata omessa
 @msg	an image whose data is cut short was left out	un'immagine con dati incompleti è stata omessa
 @msg	its editing data doesn't say where its art is	i suoi dati di modifica non dicono dove si trova la grafica
+@msg	this file was saved without PDF compatibility, and its editing data can't be read ({why})	questo file è stato salvato senza compatibilità PDF e i suoi dati di modifica non si possono leggere ({why})
 
 # The macOS menu bar (native_menu): the app and Window menus' system items, Settings pages.
 	Services	Servizi

crates/ui-egui/src/i18n/ru.tsv

@@ -3672,6 +3672,7 @@ axis	Both	Оба
 @msg	an image VectorCraft can't read was left out	изображение, которое VectorCraft не может прочитать, пропущено
 @msg	an image whose data is cut short was left out	изображение с обрезанными данными пропущено
 @msg	its editing data doesn't say where its art is	в его данных редактирования не указано, где находится графика
+@msg	this file was saved without PDF compatibility, and its editing data can't be read ({why})	этот файл сохранён без совместимости с PDF, и его данные редактирования не удаётся прочитать ({why})
 
 # The macOS menu bar (native_menu): the app and Window menus' system items, Settings pages.
 	Services	Службы

docs/mcp.md

@@ -436,7 +436,9 @@ CMYK too.
 ```
 
 PostScript files (`.eps`, and `.ai` files saved in older formats or without PDF compatibility) open through the EPS
-reader (see EPS and PostScript import); an `.ai` whose PDF part is only a placeholder page says it can't be opened.
+reader (see EPS and PostScript import). An `.ai` saved without PDF compatibility (its PDF part is only a placeholder
+page) opens from its editing data alone: its type is made from the file's text document where it can be (point type), and
+what can't be is left out with a warning; without editing data it says it can't be opened.
 
 What a PDF holds comes in as editable art: soft masks become opacity masks (an alpha mask as a white copy of its art;
 the backdrop colour gives Clip, an inverting transfer function Invert), transparency groups keep isolation and knockout,