Recover Illustrator File — Recent & Validated

If the file starts with non-PostScript data, replace first 8–20 bytes with:

| Tool | Type | Strengths | Limitations | |---------------|-------------|------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------| | Adobe Illustrator (open & repair) | Native | Best for full native recovery | Fails on severe header damage | | qpdf | CLI/PDF | Rebuilds xref, linearizes, fixes streams | Loses Illustrator private data | | PDFRepairTool | Commercial | Good for preview extraction | Expensive | | Hex Fiend / HxD| Manual | Low-level control, recovers any part | Time-consuming, expert needed | | scalpel | Carving | Recovers from raw disk images | May extract fragments only | recover illustrator file