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Lavish_coder1549
Known Participant
May 10, 2025
Answered

Fonts changing in files when opened in Illustrator 29.5.1

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 M
Anubhav MCorrect answer
Community Manager
November 11, 2025

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

303 replies

Participating Frequently
May 27, 2025

Hello Illustrator community: When opening a PDF (editable in Illustator), random text boxes have changed fonts. It's not all of a certain font (some remain accurate), but just some. Here's an example: "Your everyday bank" was in Trajan font, and changed to Iowan Old Style. "We were so blown away..." was in Bebas Neue Pro and changed to Trajan. And ideas? Right now, I'm forced to select the text, change the fonts, and re-save. 

(I'm using Illustrator 29.5.1)

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Community Expert
May 27, 2025

That application behavior does sound pretty strange. One text object is switched from Trajan to something else while another text object is switched to Trajan. Weird. This raises all sorts of questions.

 

Are all the fonts used in the document fonts that are synced via Adobe Fonts? Are the fonts installed locally in the operating system? Or is the document using a mix of both? Has the Illustrator document only been edited on one computer system? If it has been opened, edited and re-saved on more than one computer system that could create another avenue of font substitution issues -especially if the file is jumping computing platforms between OSX and Windows. Different computers may be using different builds of the same fonts or slightly different typefaces, such as regular Trajan Pro versus Trajan Pro 3.

 

When the PDF is opened in Illustrator does the application display a missing fonts dialog box? Or does it just simply change the fonts applied to text objects without warning?

 

Do you have a copy of the same file in Illustrator .AI format? If so, does that file also have the same font substitution problems?

 

Various technical problems can cause glitches to happen with fonts. Sometimes the issues can be fixed simply by rebooting the computer. If the issue involves synced Adobe Fonts try signing out of the Creative Cloud account, rebooting and then signing back in again. That can force a refresh of account sync.

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Participating Frequently
June 4, 2025

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Yes, I use two Macs. Both use Adobe fonts. Both sync via iCloud. It looks like another user is having the same issue with 29.5. Hopefully they'll correct it soon.

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Participant
May 15, 2025

I am have an issue with fonts randomly changing in style and format on recalled files done approx a month back doe anyone know what would be causing this see scren shot of image to left circled areas have changed...pdf done at the time the fikle was created is fine.

I saw a note aboit turning off enable missing Glymph protection but this has not helped.
Appreciate any feedback from anyone who has had this issue and found a solution

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Community Expert
May 15, 2025

Do you get any missing fonts warnings when opening the file? I can't tell for certain which condensed typeface was used in the original example. Maybe a style of KnockoutHTF? It's pretty strange the affected type objects are getting changed to what looks like Montserrat.

 

Does the document use any Postscript Type 1 fonts? Those are no longer compatible with Adobe applications. Some fonts can have technical problems, and even get updates to fix bugs. I've experienced technical problems with certain type families downloaded from Google Fonts; months later I'd download another copy and find the bugs fixed.

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Participant
May 15, 2025

thanks Bobby it is a bit wierd no missing font warning and no type one fonts used....so we do not actually get the opportunity to update or correct

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Participant
May 10, 2025

In Illustrator CC2025, when I try to edit text after changing the font, it automatically reverts to the previous font.
Is there a setting to prevent this behavior, or is this a known bug?

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Monika Gause
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 10, 2025

Are you already using the latest version?

29.5.1?

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