What is a .AI file?
AI is Adobe Illustrator’s native vector artwork format. Created and opened by Adobe Illustrator.
- Did you know
- Illustrator launched in 1987 and was one of the first apps designed for Apple’s Macintosh.
- Early AI files were essentially PostScript with a special header, reflecting Illustrator’s roots in Adobe’s page-description language.
- Illustrator 9 in 2000 rebuilt the format around PDF, so modern AI files can double as readable PDF documents.
- What Analyser reads
- Identify Adobe project files and read their metadata: Photoshop (PSD, PSB), Illustrator (AI), InDesign (INDD), After Effects (AEP, AEPX, AET) with composition / layer / effect and asset extraction, Premiere Pro and Elements (PRPROJ, PREL) with sequence and media counts, XD, Animate (FLA), and Lightroom.
- Depth of analysis
- .AI is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .AI file
- Drag a .AI file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.