Error Opening Adobe Illustrator files

Background

Having created a barcode in B-Coder (Pro or Lite versions 3.0c or earlier) and saved the image as an Adobe Illustrator (".ai") or as an Encapsulated Post Script (".eps") file, you then use the "Open" command in Illustrator 8.0 or later and receive the following error message (or similar):

Can't open the illustration. The illustration contains an illegal operand.
Offending operator: "%%Page Trailer"
Context
} def
%% End Resource
% A13 - Grid. 00000002

When you click "OK", the graphic is available; however it will not scan.

Solution

This error occurs because the illustrator format that B-Coder 3.0 uses is outdated. The following article (Reproduced below) from Adobe's website describes a similar problem and a solution to fix it. However, even if you are familiar with the PostScript language and are confident that you can remove the "offending operator", we recommend that you simply save your B-Coder image as a Windows MetaFile and place that in Illustrator instead, otherwise you would have to "fix" every barcode image you create.

Note: B-Coder 4.0 saves .eps files in the updated format which does not produce the error discussed above. In addition B-Coder version 4.0 does not support the .ai format. Eps files produced with B-Coder 3.0 or earlier can be "Placed" in the document (File > Place) without error.

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Error "Offending Operator: Ar" Opening File in Illustrator

Issue
When opening an Adobe Illustrator 8.x or earlier document, Illustrator returns the error, "Can't open the illustration. The illustration contains an illegal operator. Offending Operator: 'Ar' Context: [varies]." When you click OK, the file opens, but items are missing from it.

Solution

Edit the document's PostScript code to remove incorrect output resolution information:

Disclaimer: Adobe Systems Incorporated does not support modifying Illustrator documents with a text editor. Familiarity with opening files in a text editor and saving in text-only (e.g., ASCII) format is required. Experience with PostScript language is highly recommended. Always modify a copy of the original Illustrator file. If alterations are incorrectly performed or if the file is saved in the wrong format, the Illustrator file can be damaged. In the event of problems, revert to the original copy.

1. Write down the portion of the error message that follows the word "Context." For example:

(\r)TX
TO
1 A[
0R
-G
72 AR

2. Open a copy of the Illustrator document in a text editor that can save in text-only format (e.g., Notepad or Microsoft Word).
3. Locate the line:

72 Ar

4. Change the number in that line to reflect the desired output resolution. The number must be higher than 100, but lower than 9600. Illustrator's default output resolution is 800, which should be sufficient for most high-resolution devices. For example:

800 Ar

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each instance of the "72 Ar" line.
6. Save the file in text-only format, then close the text editor and open the file in Illustrator.

Additional Information

The PostScript operator Ar sets the output resolution in an Illustrator 8.x or earlier document. lllustrator uses output resolution settings to determine how finely to subdivide a path when generating the printable PostScript file (when a path is printed to a PostScript device, curves are printed as a series of straight line segments). Illustrator supports output resolutions between 100 and 9600 dpi. If an object in an Illustrator file has an output resolution higher or lower than those supported, Illustrator cannot open the file and will return an error.

When you open a text file in Illustrator 8.x or earlier, the default output resolution of the resulting Illustrator document is incorrectly set at 72 dpi. Although the Output Resolution field in the Document Setup dialog box cannot display a number below 100 dpi, the actual output resolution of the document will be 72 dpi. To prevent the error from occurring, after opening the text file in Illustrator 8.x or earlier, reset Illustrator's output resolution to 800 in the Document setup dialog box, then click OK and save the document.