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SiBWebDesign
Participant
Feb 20, 2019 4:23 PM UTC
Answered

Illustrator image crop tool: they changed it...how do I create the settings again..

When using the Illustrator image crop tool for background images, when I would initially hit the "Crop Image" button, the crop area would be exactly the the artboard size and area. Now, it chooses a random shape, which I then have to drag out to the size and area of the artboard.

Why this change, and how can I adjust the settings to be able to crop to artboard size by default?

    Ton Frederiks
    Ton FrederiksCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    Feb 20, 2019 4:36 PM UTC

    The Crop tool tries to suggest how to crop your image, based on Artificial Intelligence.

    You can turn of these suggestions in the Preferences > Enable Content Aware Defaults

    14 replies

    Participating Frequently
    Jan 24, 2025 9:13 PM UTC

    I'm having this issue using version 29.2.1. Unchecked Enable Content Aware Defaults. Tried re-starting. Still doing the same thing. If I try to resize the cropped image it is some weird shape not what I tried to crop at all. Any suggestions?

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    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Jan 24, 2025 9:37 PM UTC

    Can you please describe in more detail and post a screenshot?

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    Participating Frequently
    Jan 24, 2025 10:10 PM UTC

    Hi Monika, 

    I am trying to follow a set of instructions in order to create a seamless, repeat pattern. I have created a swatch with this pattern that seems to work fine but is not cropped so the elements overlap the edge as seen in the first image on the left. The instructor suggests making a cropped version to remove all the visible parts of the elements that overlap the edges of the bounding box. As instructed, I re-order my layers to bring the invisible layer (which apparently tells Illustrator to create a repeating pattern 🙂 above the grouped layer in this first image. Then I go to Pathfinder and Crop. I have followed it through half a dozen times. The first time it worked perfectly. So I know I must be doing something wrong but I can't figure out what. Thanks for taking the time to try and assist me. Much appreciated.

     

     

    When I crop this happens...

     

     

    When I scale that selection up it looks nothing like my original design.

     

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    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    Feb 20, 2019 4:36 PM UTC

    The Crop tool tries to suggest how to crop your image, based on Artificial Intelligence.

    You can turn of these suggestions in the Preferences > Enable Content Aware Defaults

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    Oct 14, 2019 7:19 PM UTC
    And i thought it's a serious bug... no, it's a feature. Probably the stupidest feature I have seen in Illustrator since I started using it... Someone who came up with this should be flogged. AI does not work on this at all and is a complete nuisance and work slowing.
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