PDF exported from Adobe Illustrator incorrectly identified

Started by crobbers, March 14, 2016, 04:16:22 PM

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crobbers

PDF files exported from Adobe Illustrator are incorrectly identified as "application/vnd.adobe.illustrator" when the file lacks a .pdf extension. When the file has  a .pdf extension it is correctly identified as "application/pdf".

I have confirmed this on Windows and SmartOS/Solaris using version 10.00.


exiftool.exe test.pdf

ExifTool Version Number         : 10.00
File Name                       : test.pdf
Directory                       :
File Size                       : 11 MB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2016:03:02 14:41:37-08:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2016:03:02 14:41:32-08:00
File Creation Date/Time         : 2016:03:02 14:41:32-08:00
File Permissions                : rw-rw-rw-
File Type                       : PDF
File Type Extension             : pdf
MIME Type                       : application/pdf
PDF Version                     : 1.4
Linearized                      : Yes
XMP Toolkit                     : Adobe XMP Core 5.6-c111 79.158366, 2015/09/25-01:12:00
...

exiftool.exe test
ExifTool Version Number         : 10.00
File Name                       : test
Directory                       :
File Size                       : 11 MB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2016:03:02 14:41:37-08:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2016:03:02 14:41:32-08:00
File Creation Date/Time         : 2016:03:02 14:41:32-08:00
File Permissions                : rw-rw-rw-
File Type                       : AI
File Type Extension             : ai
MIME Type                       : application/vnd.adobe.illustrator
PDF Version                     : 1.4
Linearized                      : Yes
XMP Toolkit                     : Adobe XMP Core 5.6-c111 79.158366, 2015/09/25-01:12:00
...


I wouldn't think that the file extension should affect the MIME type. I can provide the pdf upon request but will withhold posting it here publicly.

Phil Harvey

This is by design.  Illustrator writes .AI files that are indistinguishable from .PDF files as far as I can tell.  ExifTool will think they are AI files if they contain Illustrator metadata unless they have a .PDF extension.

Please tell me if you know of another way to distinguish between PDF-format Illustrator AI files and PDF files.

- Phil
...where DIR is the name of a directory/folder containing the images.  On Mac/Linux/PowerShell, use single quotes (') instead of double quotes (") around arguments containing a dollar sign ($).

crobbers

Yeah, it sounds like .AI files are basically .PDF with some extra (optional) metadata. I will rework things on my end to provide the .pdf extension. Thanks for looking into it.