Adobe Illustrator bug - uncontrollable scaling and rotating, file corruption
- March 11, 2024
- 3 replies
- 786 views
I'm having a problem with AI, started a few weeks ago and I am struggling to figure out how to deal with it.
The bug has occurred on AI v28.2 (2024) as well as 27.9.1(2023).
I am using MacOSX Ventura (for about 6 months already).
1. I open a file, select an element (symbol / text block / shape) and try to scale or rotate it, or I try to create a basic shape like a rectangle.
2. The scale / rotate goes out of control in the direction I am scaling / rotating (element becomes extremely small very quickly if I am trying to scale it down, rotates wildly fast when rotating.
If I am trying to draw a rectangle, many rectangles will appear as I try to draw the rectangle.
3. The history panel does not recognise that this scale / rotate / shape creation has occurred.
4. Other weird selection issues occur, like bounding box not appearing on selected symbol, symbols not appearing isolated when they should be.
Importantly, the first time this issue occurred, it was in a relatively complex AI file, with quite a few layers, and multiple symbols within symbols. I have been working with this level of complexity for almost a year now though without issue, and I also have an AI image bank file with many complex symbols, in which the issue has NOT occurred.
The issue is only happening in certain files, once they seem to reach a certain level of complexity. I tried to isolate the issue by copying elements one by one into a new file, starting with simplest elements. I thought I had isolated a problematic symbol, but when I tried to then isolate the issue within that complex symbol, all the elements within it copied over individually without error. That symbol also has given me no issues in other files.
The issue has also subsequently occurred in a file that did not have this symbol it. (Tho it did have a few other complex symbols)
In all my checking, the issue also occurs in otherwise 'uncorrupt' files, when a 'corrupt' file is open. When I close the 'corrupt' file, the other file goes back to working normally. I have also created a new file while the 'corrupt' file is open, and the new file is immediately 'corrupt', (tho with some slightly different anomolies, in every case history is not registering what I am doing.) If I close the 'corrupt' file, the new file stays corrupt and if I persist with experimenting with the anomalies, the app crashes within a short time.
A 'corrupt' file stays corrupt. I can restart the machine and the issue will occur again. If I save the corrupt file as a new file and delete suspicious symbols, the issue persists none-the-less.
If I delete all the symbols from a 'corrupt' file and try to save it, quit and reopen the file, AI crashes immediately.
The issue occurred about 3 weeks ago, and I managed to copy all elements from the 'corrupt' and recreate a new file. The new file eventually (not immediately) corrupted as well, but I again salvaged most elements and recreated what I thought could be the problem symbols). That file has since been fine. I am writing this after the issue occurred on another unconnected job last week, and I am reluctant to integrate this issue into my workflow.
I have experimented with opening the AI as a smart object in PS and editing it, thereby creating a new temp file and saving that new file. Although it worked once, it has not been a reliable solution - new files have also been 'corrupt'.
Attached a screenshot and a vid to give a sense of what happens when I try to create a rectangle in a 'corrupt' file.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
