Hello everyone, We've been experiencing the following two problems with Adobe Illustrator for some time now. After saving and reopening the document, some of the color values have changed in isolated areas. This isn't just 1-2% in black, but sometimes 10-15% in all colors (C, M, Y, K). Even after adjusting the colors in the document again, this problem keeps recurring after saving, closing and reopening the same document.When we create transparency masks for certain jobs and save and reopen the file, they are completely destroyed (i.e., text converted to paths, other vector graphics, or even linked graphics are deleted from the mask, and, for example, only a circle is inserted) or the mask is moved to a completely different position. Even after adjusting the mask again this problem keeps recurring after saving, closing and reopening the same document.See attached files "1_MaskBeforeSaving.png" and "2_MaskAfterSaving.png". This problem doesn't occur for all employees, even though the Adobe version (29.4) and operating system version are used consistently everywhere. Even an update to the latest Ai version (29.5.1) didn't resolve the issue. Does anyone have experience with this problem or have a solution so we can reliably use Ai for our work again? Thanks in advance and best regards,Marleen

M

Marleen5E38

Participant

Question

Illustrator changes colors and transparency masks when saving

Forum|Forum|9 months ago
May 22, 2025
5 replies
1599 views

Hello everyone,

We've been experiencing the following two problems with Adobe Illustrator for some time now.

After saving and reopening the document, some of the color values have changed in isolated areas. This isn't just 1-2% in black, but sometimes 10-15% in all colors (C, M, Y, K). Even after adjusting the colors in the document again, this problem keeps recurring after saving, closing and reopening the same document.

When we create transparency masks for certain jobs and save and reopen the file, they are completely destroyed (i.e., text converted to paths, other vector graphics, or even linked graphics are deleted from the mask, and, for example, only a circle is inserted) or the mask is moved to a completely different position. Even after adjusting the mask again this problem keeps recurring after saving, closing and reopening the same document.
See attached files "1_MaskBeforeSaving.png" and "2_MaskAfterSaving.png".

This problem doesn't occur for all employees, even though the Adobe version (29.4) and operating system version are used consistently everywhere. Even an update to the latest Ai version (29.5.1) didn't resolve the issue.

Does anyone have experience with this problem or have a solution so we can reliably use Ai for our work again?

Thanks in advance and best regards,
Marleen

Bug

A

aarontaylorwaldman

Participant

I am having this problem as well. AI 2024 (28.7.7) is able to render transparency masks using linked/embedded images correctly on my Mac running Ventura. But opening the same AI file in 2025 breaks the masks.

What is concerning in particular is that I can create an AI 2025 file with the masking, using the same method that has previously worked in 2024 versions—and while it initially looks correct, exports correctly, etc, as soon as I reopen the same AI 2025 file I've just created, the masks are broken again. Opening the same exact file in 2024 solves it—at least, for now.

Hope this helps and will see if Adobe can address this.

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @aarontaylorwaldman,

I'm sorry to hear about the issue you're facing. Could you please share a link to a sample file along with a brief screen recording of your workflow and the problem you're encountering? You can upload them to any file-sharing service of your choice. This will help us investigate the matter more effectively with the team.

Looking forward to your response,
Anubhav

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Marleen5E38 & @richard_6775,

Thank you so much for sharing all these details along with the before and after screenshots. I know how frustrating it must be to see color values changing on their own and transparency masks getting corrupted even after carefully adjusting them.

Could you please confirm if this happens with all files or only with specific documents? Also, could you let us know if these files were originally created in an older version of Illustrator or if they include any elements copied from other documents?

If possible, please share a sample file and point out exactly which elements are changing so we can try to reproduce this on our side and escalate to the team. A short screen recording showing how you save, close, and reopen the file would also help us understand the workflow and investigate further.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

R

richard_6775

Participating Frequently

Hi Abhishek,
Thanks for your comment. I have upgraded from v29.5.1 to 29.6.1 so I am using the latest version of Illustrator and I still have the same issue. This AI file was created in v29.5.1 and until I upgraded today I was using the same version.

I tried to attach the AI file for you but received the following message: The attachment's illustrator_opacity_issue.ai content type (application/postscript) does not match its file extension and has been removed.

I have saved a screen recording of what is happening though - I have gone through the process twice in the recording - open the file (some elements which should be 100% opacity have 35% opacity), change opacity to 100%, save the file, close the file, open the file, change opacity again from 35% to 100%, save file, close file, open file. It is a continual loop. I do not know why it is not preserving the 100% opacity.

Kind regards,
Rich

REC-20250703115630.zip

R

richard_6775

Participating Frequently

SImilar issue. I have an AI file created by myself in version 29.5.1. There are several elements within the file which have opacity 35%. When the filed is saved, closed and reopened, several elements with opacity set at 100% have also changed to 35%. I have saved and resaved many times. Deleted the bad elements and recreated them. Copied and pasted to a new document and resaved. Always the same problems

Have attached a couple of example images. Just a small portion as contains private customer information, but it affects many more elements on the page. On the first image everything is set to Opacity 100% except for one box which has 35% opacity. The file is saved and closed. When I reopen the file, everything else has been changed to Opacity 35%. This is affecting about 25% of the elements on the page and it does it EVERY time the file is saved, closed and reopened.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Can you try it in 29.6.1?

R

richard_6775

Participating Frequently

Thanks for the suggestion, Ton. Have upgraded to v29.6.1 and still the same issue. See my response to Abhishek Rao.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

The moving images in opacity masks look like this:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447/suggestions/49690523

M

Marleen5E38Author

Participant

Unfortunately, the problem with the opacity masks does not seem to have been solved in this post. 😕😕

Doug A Roberts

Community Expert

Can you share an example file, along with instructions for which colours change?

Doug A Roberts

Community Expert

Is this when saving and reopening an AI file, a PDF, or something else?

M

Marleen5E38Author

Participant

This happens when saving and reopening an AI file. When exporting a PDF, the incorrect color values or corrupted transparency masks are also displayed.

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