Docs: the .ai editing copy keeps live effects on simple objects only

The fallback for objects that can't use an art style keeps their vector
art with geometry effects applied and leaves out their other effects,
such as Drop Shadow, the glows and Feather. README, ROADMAP, gaps,
roadmap and target-app-parity no longer say every live effect is left
out, and target-app-parity lists the round-trip tests.

README.md

@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ The scores are self-assessed from our code against public documentation;
 [target-app-parity.md](docs/target-app-parity.md#how-this-was-measured-2026-10-10) explains how far to trust them.
 
 **What's missing:**
-- reliable exchange of .ai files (layer structure in real files; the editing copy a save writes leaves out live effects and writes live objects as their art);
+- reliable exchange of .ai files (layer structure in real files; the editing copy a save writes keeps live effects only on paths, compound paths and groups with at most a fill and a stroke, leaves out other objects' effects other than geometry effects, and writes live objects as their art);
 - an interaction-fidelity pass covering every tool's modifiers and small behaviours;
 - 3D and Materials beyond the initial live Revolve (Extrude & Bevel, Inflate, Rotate, materials);
 - filter thumbnails and a preview area inside the Effect Gallery (the gallery itself and all 57 Photoshop-style raster filters, approximated, are in);

ROADMAP.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ and the work list in [`docs/gaps.md`](docs/gaps.md).
 **Why alpha:** the core workflows exist end to end (drawing and path editing, Pathfinder, paint and appearance,
 type, SVG/PDF/EPS, print, export) and feature depth is ~75%, but a professional can't yet switch: Illustrator's
 own `.ai` files open with a wrong layer structure in real cases and are saved back with an editing copy that
-leaves out live effects and writes live objects as their art, the interaction details have never been checked side by side, and some machines fail to start the
+keeps live effects only on paths, compound paths and groups with at most a fill and a stroke and writes live objects as their art, the interaction details have never been checked side by side, and some machines fail to start the
 app. Beta needs those closed (the beta list in [gaps.md](docs/gaps.md)). It passes the core-workflow
 gate: all six core workflows (path drawing and editing, paint and style, type, layers/artboards/export, print
 production, file exchange) work end to end on macOS with save and reopen, and only the last is partial, without

docs/file-format-parity.md

@@ -91,8 +91,9 @@ private editing data. VectorCraft:
   Round Corners, Scribble, Convert to Shape, Offset Path, Outline Object or Outline Stroke, and groups with Pathfinder ›
   Add. Groups keep them when their members are paths, compound paths or such groups, without effects of their own; when the
   group's effects change its members' outlines, a member's strokes are plain lines, and its fills are not pattern
-  fills written as tiles or gradients that fit their object. The look holds the object's vector art, without the shadow, glow or feather. Other objects are
-  written as their drawn look with a warning. Graphic styles and links to them are left out with a warning. No art style is written on a large
+  fills written as tiles or gradients that fit their object. The look holds the object's vector art, without the shadow, glow or feather. Other objects with
+  live effects are written as their vector art with their geometry effects applied, and their other effects, such as
+  Drop Shadow, the glows and Feather, are left out with a warning. Graphic styles and links to them are left out with a warning. No art style is written on a large
   canvas.
   Point type, area type (with its rows, columns,
   gutters and first baseline, threaded frames included) and type on a path are written as text: a text object for

docs/gaps.md

@@ -203,7 +203,8 @@ from G14 and the budget run of G15: **~170–270 h** one agent, ~50–80 h wall
   of 14), open speed on large files (#758), live effects, Scatter, Art, Pattern and Bristle brushes on paths, a
   path's own Calligraphic brush settings, and symbols as live objects (#637; plain art styles read Drop Shadow, Outer Glow and Feather as live effects; pattern fills and global colours are read since #1025, placed (linked) files since #1264). A PDF-compatible `.ai` carries an editing copy of the art in the form
   VectorCraft's reader reads (layers, groups, paths, colors, gradients, patterns, images, transparency, opacity masks,
-  clipping, type as text and symbols), with live effects left out and live objects written as their art
+  clipping, type as text and symbols), with live effects kept only on paths, compound paths and groups with at most a
+  fill and a stroke, other objects' effects other than geometry effects left out, and live objects written as their art
   ([file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md)). Save As
   `.ai` › Version: Legacy (version 7) writes the PostScript form from the published version 7 specification,
   keeping layers (names, order, visibility, lock), groups, compound paths, clipping groups, gradients and

docs/roadmap.md

@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ Checked 2026-10-10 from the code, tests and open issues; no workflow fails, so V
 | Set type: point and area type, Character and Paragraph styles, threading, outlines | yes | type core 80%; styles, threading, Create Outlines and font matching tested ([type-parity.md](type-parity.md)); justification options missing (not blocking) | 0 |
 | Organise layers and artboards and export assets (Export for Screens, SVG, PNG, PDF per artboard) | yes | Layers panel rework, Artboards panel and tool, Export for Screens and Asset Export done; Art Optimized supersample closes ghost borders (#983 / #1037) | 0 |
 | Print production: CMYK and spot colour, bleed and marks, PDF/X out, separations preview | yes | PDF/X-1a/3/4, presets, marks and bleed, ICC output intent, Separations Preview, Print with PostScript output | 0 |
-| Exchange files with Illustrator users: open their `.ai`/EPS/PDF, hand back a file they can open | partial (doesn't block alpha) | `.ai`, EPS and PDF open as editable art, but real files can get the wrong layer structure (#951); Save As `.ai` is PDF-compatible with an editing copy of the art (layers, groups, paths, colors, gradients, patterns, images, transparency, opacity masks, clipping, type as text and symbols, with live effects left out and live objects written as their art; #868), or legacy version 7, which keeps layers, groups and type as text, one artboard per file, and waits for users' testing. EPS legacy mesh corners, vector opacity masks and raster print-page comparison now preserve editable art under synthetic regressions. This is the beta main-format gap ([gaps.md](gaps.md) G9) | 10–20 (for beta) |
+| Exchange files with Illustrator users: open their `.ai`/EPS/PDF, hand back a file they can open | partial (doesn't block alpha) | `.ai`, EPS and PDF open as editable art, but real files can get the wrong layer structure (#951); Save As `.ai` is PDF-compatible with an editing copy of the art (layers, groups, paths, colors, gradients, patterns, images, transparency, opacity masks, clipping, type as text and symbols, with live effects kept only on paths, compound paths and groups with at most a fill and a stroke, other objects' effects other than geometry effects left out, and live objects written as their art; #868), or legacy version 7, which keeps layers, groups and type as text, one artboard per file, and waits for users' testing. EPS legacy mesh corners, vector opacity masks and raster print-page comparison now preserve editable art under synthetic regressions. This is the beta main-format gap ([gaps.md](gaps.md) G9) | 10–20 (for beta) |
 
 Hindi interface follow-up (2026-11-06): the catalog and zero/one plural rule are implemented;
 native wording review, layout checks and a web Devanagari font remain. [Notes](localization-hi.md).

docs/target-app-parity.md

@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ dominate; 3D, graphs and automation are specialist). They sum to 105. Feature de
 | Image Trace, graphs, image tools | 3 | 75% | graph Column designs, Image Trace Create Strokes depth (Create Object Mosaic is done; junction-returning piece survival has source-generated regressions in `image-trace-quality.md`; large images trace with a warning; Auto Color keeps rare distinct colours) | 5–8 | estimated (raised from 72%); quick presets reveal adjustment controls, Properties reopens them |
 | Layers, artboards, document setup | 5 | 78% | Selected-artboard deletion is consistent across panel actions (all-selected retains artboard 1); history prunes removed indices while preserving valid multiselection; remaining:  30.0's artboard locking and colours and managing artboards from the canvas, Layers panel row context menus and Collect for Export (click-to-fit objects is done, #1227) | 5–8 | estimated (lowered from 82%: target moved); Artboard deletion keys keep artwork and the first of an all-selected set; Artboard Options' Show Center Mark and Show Cross Hairs draw on the canvas only (exports and print leave them out), regression-tested; Artboard Options' Show Video Safe Areas and Video Ruler Pixel Aspect Ratio (per artboard, native format) are done ([video display options](#evidence-what-ships-today-by-area)), score unchanged |
 | View & navigation | 3 | 70% | multiple windows and the rest of Arrange (Cascade, Float in Window, Float All in Windows) | 9–14 | estimated; Window › Arrange › Tile and Consolidate All Windows done (score/hours unchanged); document-tab artwork hover/copy and lossless transfer tested (2026-10-22; score/hours unchanged); cached canvas reprojection preserves scale during resize, rotation and DPI changes (regression and contributor original-file evidence below; scores/hours unchanged); cached canvas dimensions match the renderer limit before cache-key creation, view construction and worker submission (regression evidence below) |
-| File formats | 6 | 75% | `.ai` files open with a flattened or wrong layer structure in real cases (#951), a saved `.ai`'s editing copy without live effects and with live objects as their art (#868), FreeHand/CorelDRAW/DWG/HEIC import, 3D export; see [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md); EPS legacy mesh/opacity-mask and raster comparison follow-up verified | 10–20 | estimated (lowered from 85%: open issues); DXF control-point SPLINE import closure regression-tested (#1299 follow-up after #1320); PDF writer metadata, reader streaming and immutable backend checks in `crates/pdf/src/tests.rs`, `crates/pdf/src/tests/reader_streaming.rs` and `xtask/src/pdf_deps.rs`; PDF Place and clipboard paste retain live text (synthetic regressions); EPS ordinary Save retains the page frame and editable document (2026-10-26); `.ai`/EPS editing data checked against a user's files (2026-10-30): case setting (`ate::tests`, `tests_native::type_from_the_text_document_keeps_its_case_setting`), placed-file placements (`tests_native::a_small_placed_file_goes_where_it_draws_closer_to_the_page`), pages cropped to the art (`tests_native::type_on_the_copies_of_a_page_cropped_to_the_art_is_read_once`), mesh corner weights and state (`ai::mesh::tests::corners_with_handle_weights_of_zero_are_read`, `ai::tests::a_gradient_mesh_takes_the_transparency_written_after_it`), type on a path spacing (`tests_native::type_round_a_circle_is_spaced_as_the_file_lays_it_out`), blend state (`ai::tests::a_blends_transparency_follows_its_record`); scores and estimates unchanged. |
+| File formats | 6 | 75% | `.ai` files open with a flattened or wrong layer structure in real cases (#951), a saved `.ai`'s editing copy without live effects on objects other than paths, compound paths and groups with at most a fill and a stroke, and with live objects as their art (#868), FreeHand/CorelDRAW/DWG/HEIC import, 3D export; see [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md); EPS legacy mesh/opacity-mask and raster comparison follow-up verified | 10–20 | estimated (lowered from 85%: open issues); DXF control-point SPLINE import closure regression-tested (#1299 follow-up after #1320); PDF writer metadata, reader streaming and immutable backend checks in `crates/pdf/src/tests.rs`, `crates/pdf/src/tests/reader_streaming.rs` and `xtask/src/pdf_deps.rs`; PDF Place and clipboard paste retain live text (synthetic regressions); EPS ordinary Save retains the page frame and editable document (2026-10-26); `.ai`/EPS editing data checked against a user's files (2026-10-30): case setting (`ate::tests`, `tests_native::type_from_the_text_document_keeps_its_case_setting`), placed-file placements (`tests_native::a_small_placed_file_goes_where_it_draws_closer_to_the_page`), pages cropped to the art (`tests_native::type_on_the_copies_of_a_page_cropped_to_the_art_is_read_once`), mesh corner weights and state (`ai::mesh::tests::corners_with_handle_weights_of_zero_are_read`, `ai::tests::a_gradient_mesh_takes_the_transparency_written_after_it`), type on a path spacing (`tests_native::type_round_a_circle_is_spaced_as_the_file_lays_it_out`), blend state (`ai::tests::a_blends_transparency_follows_its_record`); scores and estimates unchanged. |
 | View & navigation | 3 | 70% | multiple windows and the rest of Arrange (Cascade, Float in Window, Float All in Windows) | 9–14 | estimated; Window › Arrange › Tile and Consolidate All Windows done (score/hours unchanged); document-tab artwork hover/copy and lossless transfer tested (2026-10-22; score/hours unchanged); cached canvas reprojection preserves scale during resize, rotation and DPI changes (regression and contributor original-file evidence below; scores/hours unchanged) |
 | View & navigation | 3 | 70% | multiple windows and the rest of Arrange (Cascade, Float in Window, Float All in Windows) | 9–14 | estimated; Window › Arrange › Tile and Consolidate All Windows done (score/hours unchanged) |
 | Guides, grids, smart guides, snapping, rulers | 3 | 80% | "intersect" smart guides for a moved selection's anchors (drawn points and dragged anchors snap to intersections, #1658), distance readouts while drawing | 4–7 | estimated (lowered from 85%: target moved); new ruler-guide Alt orientation implemented; video rulers (View › Rulers › Show Video Rulers, #2849) done, score unchanged |
@@ -282,8 +282,9 @@ The discounts, with the evidence:
   ones are about structure, not missing art: layers flattened or multiplied (#951: 109 layers instead of 14;
   #868), guides lost (#779), slower opening (#758), live effects, brushes and symbols as their drawn look
   (#637). VectorCraft's PDF-compatible `.ai` carries an editing copy of the art (layers, groups, paths, colors,
-  gradients, patterns, images, transparency, opacity masks, clipping, type as text and symbols), with live effects left out
-  and live objects written as their art; the legacy `.ai` of version 7 it also writes keeps layers, groups and type as text (one
+  gradients, patterns, images, transparency, opacity masks, clipping, type as text and symbols), with live effects kept only
+  on paths, compound paths and groups with at most a fill and a stroke, other objects' effects other than geometry
+  effects left out, and live objects written as their art; the legacy `.ai` of version 7 it also writes keeps layers, groups and type as text (one
   artboard per file, no transparency) but hasn't been tested by users yet (#868). That blocks beta (the main-format rule) for people who hand files back to Illustrator users,
   but it doesn't stop someone opening and reworking their own archive.
 - **Interaction fidelity (×0.9).** Pen, Direct Selection, smart guides and snapping are deep
@@ -1219,6 +1220,7 @@ Moved from the ROADMAP's "Shipped so far" on 2026-10-10. Update it when a featur
     SVG import reads each `<circle>` and `<ellipse>` as the ellipse VectorCraft draws: four smooth anchors on the axes, starting at the right, with handles of the standard length, so an ellipse exported as `<ellipse>` comes back with the anchors it was written from and draws the same (`circles_and_ellipses_import_as_the_ellipse_drawn` in `crates/svg/tests/it/basic_shapes.rs`, `filled_ellipse_on_the_artboard_edge_survives_visually` in `prop_svg.rs`).
     SVG import keeps attributes in other applications' XML namespaces (`plotter:pen="2"`) on the objects and layers they belong to, as it keeps their `data-*` attributes: copies, duplicates and `.vectorcraft` files keep them, and SVG export writes them back with each namespace declared once on the root (the rest of #522; `crates/svg/tests/it/foreign_attributes.rs`, `tests/attributes.rs`).
     A PDF-compatible `.ai` saved with Include Editing Data for Other Apps defines every symbol in its editing copy with its art, registration point and place in the Symbols panel's order, and writes its instances as symbol instances, which VectorCraft's `.ai` reader opens as symbols and instances again (`symbols_and_their_instances_are_read_back` in `crates/eps/src/ai_editing/tests.rs`; [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) lists the instances written as their art).
+    A PDF-compatible `.ai` saved with Include Editing Data for Other Apps writes paths, compound paths and groups with live effects with an art style, which VectorCraft's `.ai` reader opens as the same appearance with its effects live (`objects_with_live_effects_are_read_back` and `every_effect_setting_written_on_an_object_is_read_back` in `crates/eps/src/ai_editing/tests.rs`; [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) lists the objects written without one and the effects they lose).
     A PDF-compatible `.ai` saved with Include Editing Data for Other Apps writes point type, area type and type on a path as type in its editing copy, and objects next to it keep their own transparency (`crates/eps/src/ai_editing/tests.rs`, `cmd::fileio::tests_pdfedit::type_comes_back_from_the_editing_copy`; [file-format-parity.md](file-format-parity.md) lists what is written as outlines).
     In a `.ai` or EPS opened from its editing data, type has its text object's opacity, blend mode and knockout shape flag, whether it is made from the file's text document or taken from the page, and type made from the text document takes its text object's lock. Where such type has transparency and comes in with other art (the rest of its look, or page type and strokes that go with it), a group of them has it. Where the page draws its type, or the strokes around it, with transparency that is neither its text object's nor its text object's combined with that of the objects around it, the page's type and strokes keep their own instead (`crates/eps/src/import/tests_native.rs`). Where the page draws type of no text object over text objects made from the text document, with their words in any case, that type is theirs as the page draws it and is left out; the page's other type of no text object goes only to text objects whose type the text document can't make, or else is left out with a warning.
     `.ai` editing-data import restores the document's listed graphic styles in panel order and links objects that use a listed style; unsupported appearances keep their drawn look (`crates/eps/src/import/ai/tests.rs`).