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Fonts changing in files when opened in Illustrator 29.5.1

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I've experienced this twice now, both times in the last month. I design beer labels and I'll often open an older label and use it as the template for a new one. When I open the older file (an .AI file), it will load, and most of the live text will have switched to a different font arbitrarily. Some fonts switch to OTHER typefaces that exist in the same document, others switch to different weights of the same font, and still others switch to defaults like times and myriad. Some of the switched fonts are stored locally, and others are served via Adobe Fonts. The file does this consistently even after I've restarted illustrator and restarted my computer.

I've attached a screenshot of one of the files with its original fonts (from an outlined version for print), as well as a shot with the changed fonts.

Has anyone else experienced this?

System:

2022 Mac Studio M1 Max

MacOS Sonoma 14.6.1

Illustrator v 29.5.1

Anubhav MCorrect answer

Community Manager

Hello everyone,

Our team has attempted to resolve this issue in the latest Illustrator 30.x and 29.x releases. Kindly update to the latest version of Illustrator and try opening your files to see if the problem persists.

Anubhav

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active_appreciator89724

Participant

Yes, I'm having the same issue. All fonts in my file revert to Wingdings 2 without any warning. And if I try closing the file without saving, the fonts are saved with Wingdings 2 font, so it has saved the file with the unwanted font!

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walterd8318663

Participant

Have same problem here. Worked on a file, opened the same file the next day and some texts have a completely different font 😞 Need to rework the complete document, thx you

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Randy_111

Known Participant

I've went back to 29.4 a week and half ago and don't seem to have the problem. I think this might be the last stable version.

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thebronxdaddy

Participating Frequently

One thing I noticed is even if the font is randomly changed (in this case from Helvetica condensed to extended), the bounding box is showing the original size. (see attached photo)

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Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @thebronxdaddy,

Thanks for confirming that this is happening in the 29.7 beta. The 29.7 GA (general availability) release is now live and available to install via the Creative Cloud Desktop app.

Could you please update to that version and check if the issue still persists there? Also, just to be sure, kindly check if the affected font is installed both on your system and synced via Adobe Fonts. If it's present in both places, it can sometimes lead to conflicts, so it's best to keep it in just one.

If the problem continues even after testing on 29.7 GA, please share an affected sample file and the specific font you're using, so we can investigate this further on our end.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes!

Abhishek

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fluke-d

Participating Frequently

It is still happening with 29.7 GA - see my post from the 29th. Fonts are Gotham / Gotham Condensed, and in another file Gilroy was affected. Neither are Adobe fonts.

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thebronxdaddy

Participating Frequently

It's still happening in Beta!

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thebronxdaddy

Participating Frequently

Are you kidding me Adobe??? It just happened to me on 29.6. This bug can bring down a whole company! Fix this right now.

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J

JodyRadzik37240164

Inspiring

For some as of yet unknown reason, the latest version of Illustrator is making arbitrary font decisions after saving files, costing me a lot of time and my company a lot of money.

Before:

After:

It is replacing fonts with other fonts from the document. It's essentially playing font roulette with my files, making my life hell. That's nothing new for Illustrator, but this is a new nadir in how awful it is now.

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @1671312 Radzik,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Our product team has tried fixing this issue in the latest Illustrator Beta release. Would you mind installing/updating to the latest Illustrator (beta) (https://adobe.ly/41lUltw) to check if it helps resolve the problem?

Looking forward to your feedback.
Anubhav

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JodyRadzik37240164

Inspiring

No thanks. You are not paying me to be your quality control. I have lost 5 hours of work today because of this bug. I have no more time to waste on it. I'm back to Illustrator 2024 and I'm not updating unless held at gun point. I have been using this product since 1990, and it's never been as much as a disaster it has become today.

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fluke-d

Participating Frequently

The bug is still present in 29.7 using M1 Max OS 15.5 with Connect Fonts managing fonts.

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fluke-d

Participating Frequently

Example font change and incorrect tracking (should be wide letter spacing but letters overlap with the incorrect font).

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @fluke-d,

I'm sorry to hear the problem is persisting even after the update. Could you kindly share a link to a sample AI file you're having trouble with, so they can check it on their end?

Note: While sharing the file, kindly make the link public and enable the option to Save a Copy/Download (if any).

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

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dunazee

Inspiring

Plus one. I cannot use a beta version of any software on the work machine. Went back to 29.4. We have too much going on to mess with this.

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Randy_111

Known Participant

The adobe update teams strikes again, thank you for releasing with a MAJOR bug. No one can stay in business and keeps raising prices like like adobe for a bad product.

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Lorenzo MENHIR PACKAGING

Participating Frequently

Update:
After testing the newly released Illustrator 2025 v29.7, it appears that the font substitution issue has been resolved. Files that were previously affected now open correctly, and the fonts remain as originally saved.

That said, I want to reiterate how unacceptable it is for a bug like this — one that affects something as fundamental as font integrity — to have made it into production. Illustrator is a tool used for professional desktop publishing, where precision and consistency are critical. Random font changes are not a minor glitch — they can compromise entire projects, especially in regulated industries.

We’re glad to see the fix, but I sincerely hope this serves as a wake-up call to treat font handling with the seriousness it deserves in future releases.

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k9tag

Participating Frequently

Lorenzo, there is no Illustrator 2025 v29.7. At least not on Windows 10 or Windows 11. The latest "production" release for Windows is 29.6.1, and it is still hosed with the random font substitution issue. The latest Beta relaase is 29.8 28, and it is still hosed with the random font substitution issue. I have tried opening hosed files on both of these releases, and they are still quite hosed.

WARNING: All Windows 10/11 users should install v29.4 if you wish to get back to work and avoid costly re-work time, loss of $$$$, and possible loss of customers. Don't even think about installing a version other than 29.4 until Adobe comes up with a fix for Windows.

Lorenzo, I assume that you are on a MAC, and Adobe must use different version numbers over there?

Adobe, whatever you did to fix version 29.7 (must be the MAC version), you need to immediately send those troops over to Windows 10/11 and fix the current "production" and beta Windows versions that are available to us.

The long international nightmare continues for Adobe Illustrator users on Windows 10/11.

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MattG80

Participating Frequently

I have ran into this same issue before upgrading to Illustrator 29.6.1 and today it has happened again. When I opened a file I worked on previously about a month ago, it has completely wrecked my file, changing all my text to random glyphs! I cannot even salvage the file by retyping the correct text as it continues to input the same random glyphs and not the appropriate letters! This is a HUGE problem! Thankfully in this instance it's a simpler design and I had the artwork saved in a separate proof file with the fonts converted to outlines otherwise I would have had to completely rebuild. If the client comes back at a later date wanting, changes to their file.....I'm screwed and will have to rebuild it so I can edit it. This is a catastrophic issue and if it begins to happen more frequently especially with bigger/complex design files, it will kill the software from a professional standpoint. This must be resolved ASAP.

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