TechNote

Smart quotes incorrect for non-English languages (Illustrator CS3)

Issue

When you type text in Adobe Illustrator CS3 for non-English languages, the quotation marks are incorrect; for example, you get straight quotes instead of typographer's quotes ("curly quotes"), guillemets (<< and >> symbols), baseline commas, or other expected quotation symbols.

Reason

Under File > Document Setup under the "Type" option, you have selected a langage other than "English: USA" or "English: UK," and you have selected to use typographer's quotes. The characters being displayed for either double quotes or single quotes are incorrect for the language you have selected.

Under Preferences > Hypyhenation you have selected a language other than "English: USA" or "English: UK."

Solution

Delete startup template files and create Illustrator files without a default template.

For Windows:

Quit out of Illustrator CS3 if it is running.
Delete or move the following six template files from C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS3|Support Files\Required\New Document Profiles:
- Basic CMYK.ai
- Basic RGB.ai
- Mobile and Devices.ai
- Print.ai
- Video and Film.ai
- Web.ai
Delete or move the following six template files from C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS3 Settings\New Document Profiiles:
- Basic CMYK.ai
- Basic RGB.ai
- Mobile and Devices.ai
- Print.ai
- Video and Film.ai
- Web.ai
Delete the Illustrator preferences file, AIPrefs, from C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Illusrator CS3 Settings.
Start Illustrator.

Note: Default templates will no longer list in the Illustrator startup screen. When you create a new document you will see the message "Can't locate the Startup Profiles. Please try after installing Illustrator again. Illustrator will now attempt to create a default document." New files that you create will have none of the standard swatches, patterns, or brushes that are available in default Illustrator startup documents.
Click "OK" to open a new document.
Set the File>Document Setup>Type options, and the Edit>Preferences>Hyphenation options to the desired language.

Note: You may wish to create new templates for use in creating future documents. For information about creating custom templates see "Create a new template" in the Illustrator online help.

For Mac OS:

Quit out of Illustrator CS3 if it is running.
Delete or move the following six template files from Home/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CS3/New Document Profiles:
- Basic CMYK.ai
- Basic RGB.ai
- Mobile and Devices.ai
- Print.ai
- Video and Film.ai
- Web.ai
Navigate to the Adobe Illustrator CS3 application icon found in the Applications/Adobe Illustrator CS3 folder.
Control-click on the Adobe Illustrator CS3 application and select Show Package Contents.
Delete or move the following six template files from the Required/New Document Profiles folder:
- Basic CMYK.ai
- Basic RGB.ai
- Mobile and Devices.ai
- Print.ai
- Video and Film.ai
- Web.ai
Delete the Adobe Illustrator Prefs file from Home/Library/Preferences/Adobe Illustrator CS3 Settings.
Start Illustrator.

Note: Default templates will no longer list in the Illustrator startup screen. When you create a new document you will see the message "Can't locate the Startup Profiles. Please try after installing Illustrator again. Illustrator will now attempt to create a default document." New files that you create will have none of the standard swatches, patterns, or brushes that are available in default Illustrator startup documents.
Click "OK" to open a new document.
Set the File > Document Setup > Type options, and the Illustrator > Preferences > Hyphenation options to the desired language.

Note: You may wish to create new templates for use in creating future documents. For information about creating custom templates see "Create a new template" in Illustrator's online help.

Additional Information

The default startup templates lack correct information about the smart quotes to use for a number of non-English languages, causing incorrect smart quotes to be used for those languages by default. Languages affected include Croation, Dutch 2005 Reform, Estonian, German: 2006 Reform, German: Swiss 2006 Reform, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak and Slovenien. In all of these languages, the default smart quote is incorrectly set as straight quotes.