Editing Illustrator files with Astra and an Adobe MCP
The author argues that PDF and AI files are hard to edit because of how they are made, and says Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Astra with an Adobe MCP can now edit Illustrator files fairly well.
It's not meant for editing. It's meant for universal display and printing. That being said they're highly edible in Adobe illustrator. in fact, Adobe illustrator .AI format is essentially the same as .PDF, retaining layers, image masks, non destructive appearance stacks and effects, vector transparency and when made correctly, avoiding all of the superfluous object and group masking that happens from other PDF creators. The problem most people encounter with PDF files is when they are made by programs that don't handle it well or when they try to edit it in a way not intended. In short, you're making them wrong and you're trying to edit them wrong. However, I have also found using Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Astra with a Adobe MCP helping they can edit these illustrator files quite well in fact. So really, the problem is solved, you just don't know it yet.