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cmcmorrow
Participating Frequently
February 5, 2013
Answered

Illustrator randomly selects unrelated objects

  • February 5, 2013
  • 55 replies
  • 78184 views

About once  a day, when I click on an object with the direct selection tool, the bounding box will be way larger than it should, implying another object on another artboard is included in the selection.

This happens when the object I am selecting is NOT grouped with anything else. Moreover, is seems buggy because the mystery object doesnt have its "edges" visible the way it would if it were legitimately selected.

I can deselect all, but then anything I click on, the selection's bounding box is expanded to include the mystery object. The only way I have found to deal with it is to drag a corner of the bounding box, then undo, and then click off again. Then Voila! I am able to select my object (or any other) without the mystery selection happening.

I use clipping masks a lot, as well as many artboards, and have wondered if it's related to this, as the mystery objects are sometimes masked images, and often on another artboard. However, the mystery objects are not always masked.

Anyone else having this weird problem??

I had it with CS5, and hoped it would go away with CS6, but it has not.

    Correct answer BigMacca

    I have also just had this issue in what appears now to be an 8-year-old issue.

    (I'm no Illustrator expert btw).

    I solved it... through luck.

    In my case, the box was linked (somehow) to a 2-letter text box which I had moved to another layer and then hidden. Somehow this 'shadow' from the text box was left behind. I didn't see a clipping mask in the layers box. When I selected it (or more normally I selected 'off' a different object) this item was left behind.

    My suggestion is therefore: 

    Select EVERYTHING - make everything visible and unlocked.

    You may, like me, see that this phantom box is linked to a 'known' object. 

    Which I simply deleted.

    It has worked (for now!?).

    55 replies

    Show previous replies
    sbairagee
    sbairagee
    Participant
    December 21, 2017

    Although SwetaKrause's"solution" works (thanks for figuring that out btw) it's not a solution it's a work around. As of yesterday CC 2018 still has this issue.

    P
    Pixelord
    Participant
    August 14, 2020

    its something related to the clipping mask, when erase the clips, the glitched selection edges disappear

    A
    Amdival
    Inspiring
    November 30, 2017

    I've also been experiencing this for years, on several different versions of Illustrator (CS3, CS5, CC) and on OSX and Windows.

    The latest occurrence involved a locked object in a locked layer. That locked object was perpetually selected. I was able to pin down where it was by the color of the bounding box. I then unlocked that layer and unlocked all in that layer.

    S
    SwetaKrause
    Participant
    August 4, 2017

    Select All (Command+A) ---> click on random object ---> then click on random area outside the artboard

    Did it work for you?

      N
      Nivii
      Participant
      August 4, 2017

      Hey! Thanks for the tip. I will try it when it happens. Cz actually I can't control it. It just suddenly happens!
      Will leave you feedback about it.

        N
        Nivii
        Participant
        August 4, 2017

        Claim submitted on Feb 5, 2013. Now it's Aug 4, 2017 and the problem is still not solved?!?
        I am also having this problem since multiple artboards were introduced, C4 < ...
        Too many screenshots were posted showing the problem and it is obvious that there is a miserable bug somewhere

        AdobeSupport​ please help us!

        E
        Editor_Two_VekLabs
        Participant
        June 29, 2017

        THINK I FOUND THE SOLUTION!! (if you use guides)

        So I had the same issue and also noticed alignments where getting messed up when I tried to align multiple objects. Objects would go all over the place and to the edge of bounding box sometimes (not artboard).

        I decided to copy grouped objects over to a new file to test. I then noticed that the guides had also copied over even though they were hidden. I realized they were being selected because I had them unlocked!

        I always assumed guides hidden weren't selectable, but they are! And even worse... selecting them accidentally with objects--when you drag around an object(s)-- doesn't even show them being selected!! This seems ridiculous but it's true.

        Once I locked my guides again everything worked as it should. Selecting objects was back to normal. So...

        1) Check if you have any guides in the doc (View - Guides - Show/Hide)

        2) Make sure guides are LOCKED before moving around/selecting objects

        Cheers,

        C
        cmscss
        Inspiring
        June 29, 2017

        Glad it was a guides issue for you but this is definitely not a guides issue for me.

        It has something to do with image masks although not every time.

        P
        Pat481
        Known Participant
        February 10, 2017

        In this screenshot, the object is selected and is not able to be unselected. It's selection does not show up in the layers panel. So sick of this frequently occurring bug. Makes the shift to figma/ sketch so much easier.

        P
        PamShoulder
        Participating Frequently
        March 6, 2017

        I think this is it.. I manually hid objects - Object>Hide selection. Somehow those objects were getting included in my marquee. I moved everything to a new layer and "found" the bounding box oddity. It's the first time i've had it and don't generally hide individual objects like this - guess this may the answer?

        J
        jadeh72976555
        Participant
        February 8, 2017

        Man this is so annoying. How can they not pick this up. Surely by now they can fix this. Quickest fix though is double clicking the object and clicking out, but how annoying.

        O
        OriginalCoder
        Participant
        November 23, 2016

        I've had this same issue, over and over.

        Everyone presuming there's another cause, there isn't. It's just a weird glitch.

        I just fixed mine however, using a modified tip from another poster.

        I clicked the empty space to the right of the selection indicator a couple of times and voila - the issue fixed itself.

        I was one of those who kept restarting or fought to not throw the laptop. Now I'll just click to the right of the selection indicato

        Adobe asked me to rate their forums just now. I let them know to come check out this thread and get us an answer/fix. But, we'll see what happens...

          I
          ioio_d
          Participating Frequently
          December 22, 2016

          Great workaround, thank you very much!

          christopherp41379097
          christopherp41379097
          Participant
          July 13, 2016

          Hey Everyone,

          This issue has been has been plaguing me for years and apparently everyone else, considering this thread has been open for 3 years now. So, I think I have found a solution!!! I am not sure if this solves everyones use case but I hope it does.

          Here is my fix. It looks like the issue has to do with Illustrator thinking guides are vector objects. And if you delete a guide and do not click delete twice when illustrator will leave the anchor points of the guides at the end of your files canvas (not artboard.) For some reason illustrator decides to attache these anchor point randomly to you vector objects, hence the ghost anchor point issue.

          So the solution is turn on your guides (View>Guides>Show Guides), zoom all the way out and select all! If you find a few pesky random anchor points laying around, chances are they are culprits causing the issue. Delete them along along with your guides and I think your problem will be solved, it sure does for me!

          Give it a try and let me know what you think.

          Cheers!

          -Chris

          ufomurphy
          ufomurphy
          Participating Frequently
          November 23, 2016

          you are absolutely right about this issue with guides. I do feel it is a separate issue. I have ad both issues. They may be related but I do not think so. because the large box does not entirely go to the edge of the pasteboard. Also after investigation, it does not have guides that were previously deleted and left anchor points.

          2 Separate issues and I have had both. I am on a Mac running CC 2017, Just released Fall 2016. I have had the large box issue for years and the guides issue for say a year, I'm guessing.

          M
          mecdos
          Inspiring
          June 12, 2016

          Im on mac. The most consistent case where the bug appears for me is when i select multiple obects with at least 1 clipped image. Then i deselect that image by cross selecting. It doesnt happen if i desekect by clicking directly on it. ive trained myself to not deselect clipped images by cross selection.

          Also. Do other people happen to have cadtools? I think it might have something to do with it.

          Show more replies
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