diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/place.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/place.rs
index 70bd807c3..e14d987ab 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/place.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/place.rs
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ fn open_dialog(app: &mut VectorcraftApp, files: Vec<Value>) {
     let units = app.session.active().map(|d| d.doc.units).unwrap_or_default();
     let info: Vec<String> = files.iter().map(|f| summary(app, f, units)).collect();
     let one_object = app.session.active().is_some_and(|d| d.selection.objects.len() == 1);
+    let linked: Vec<bool> = files.iter().map(|f| is_vectorcraft_file(app, f)).collect();
     app.ui.dialog = Some(crate::state::Dialog::new(
         crate::dialogs::place::KIND,
         json!({
@@ -163,18 +164,24 @@ fn open_dialog(app: &mut VectorcraftApp, files: Vec<Value>) {
             "template": false,
             "replace": false,
             "__replace": files.len() == 1 && one_object,
-            "__documents": files.iter().any(is_vectorcraft_file),
-            "__others": !files.iter().all(is_vectorcraft_file),
+            "__documents": linked.contains(&true),
+            "__others": linked.contains(&false),
             "__info": info,
         }),
     ));
 }
 
 /// Is dialog file entry `file` a VectorCraft document on disk (what Link places as one locked
-/// object), or a PDF or `.ai` file on disk?
-fn is_vectorcraft_file(file: &Value) -> bool {
-    let linked = ["vectorcraft", vectorcraft_format::LEGACY_EXTENSION, "vctemplate", "pdf", "ai", "ait"];
-    file.get("path").and_then(Value::as_str).is_some_and(|p| linked.contains(&fileio::extension(p).as_str()))
+/// object), or a PDF or `.ai` file on disk? A `.ai` saved without PDF compatibility is PostScript,
+/// which `file.place` embeds whether Link is on or not.
+fn is_vectorcraft_file(app: &VectorcraftApp, file: &Value) -> bool {
+    let Some(path) = file.get("path").and_then(Value::as_str) else { return false };
+    let native = ["vectorcraft", vectorcraft_format::LEGACY_EXTENSION, "vctemplate"];
+    match fileio::extension(path).as_str() {
+        e if native.contains(&e) => true,
+        "pdf" | "ai" | "ait" => app.services.read.as_ref().and_then(|r| r(path).ok()).is_none_or(|b| !vectorcraft_pdf::is_postscript(&b)),
+        _ => false,
+    }
 }
 
 /// The engine params naming `file` (a dialog file entry).
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/tests_place.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/tests_place.rs
index ff11ba58e..2ecb1c812 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/tests_place.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/tests_place.rs
@@ -659,6 +659,23 @@ fn the_place_dialog_links_a_pdf_page_and_embeds_it_with_link_off() {
     assert_eq!(st.doc.node(st.selection.objects[0]).unwrap().kind_label(), "Clip Group");
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn the_place_dialog_does_not_offer_a_postscript_ai_as_a_locked_object() {
+    let mut app = app();
+    let ps = b"%!PS-Adobe-3.0\n%%BoundingBox: 0 0 100 100\n%%EndComments\n1 0 0 setrgbcolor 10 10 50 50 rectfill\nshowpage\n%%EOF\n";
+    let path = temp_file("legacy.ai", ps);
+    // file.place embeds a .ai saved without PDF compatibility, even with Link on.
+    let r = app.session.execute("file.place", &json!({"path": path, "link": true})).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(r["linked"], json!(false), "{r}");
+    let st = app.session.active().unwrap();
+    assert!(!matches!(st.doc.node(st.selection.objects[0]).unwrap().kind, NodeKind::PlacedDocument(_)));
+    // So Link's tooltip does not promise one locked object for it.
+    place_picked(&mut app, &path);
+    let d = app.ui.dialog.as_ref().expect("the Place dialog");
+    assert!(!d.bool("__documents") && d.bool("__others"), "{:?}", d.fields);
+    assert!(!crate::dialogs::place::link_tip(d).contains("locked object"));
+}
+
 /// Tool key `key` as the Control bar's Apply (Enter) and Cancel (Escape) send it.
 fn tool_key(app: &mut VectorcraftApp, key: vectorcraft_tools::ToolKey) {
     let view = app.view_info();