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bigsplashstudio
Inspiring
February 18, 2025
Answered

Images disappear after dragging and dropping to Illustrator

  • February 18, 2025
  • 21 replies
  • 10854 views

I had trouble dragging and dropping from Photoshop 25 to Illustrator 25, but the last upgrade fixed this.  Now after I drag and drop the image disappears a few minutes later and isn't there after saving.

    Correct answer Ton Frederiks

    Resetting Preferences solves the problem. If not, leave a comment on Uservoice:

    https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/49703918-images-disappearing-after-drag-and-drop-on-mac

    21 replies

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    K
    kathja_4120
    Participant
    April 4, 2025

    When I open the file  it only shows what's on  the artboard? 

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 4, 2025

    If this is about disappearing screendumps, see:

    https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/49703918-images-disappearing-after-drag-and-drop-on-mac

    D
    Daniel33437466s359
    Participant
    April 3, 2025

    I have never had this issue before. I dragged in some images into AI and closed the document. When I open the document up again ALl the linked images are still showing they are linked but they are invisible. If I embedd the images they skew and/or get really small. Any idea how to fix this?

      

    A
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    April 3, 2025

    Hello everyone,

    I have escalated this problem with the product team, and they are investigating it. Kindly upvote this UserVoice and add your comments (https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/49703918-images-disappearing-after-drag-and-drop-on-mac) to track updates.

    For now, try saving your image locally and then using File>Place, as Ton suggested. Then, share your observations.

    Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.

     

    Anubhav

      G
      Geny1973
      Participating Frequently
      April 25, 2025

      just updated to 29.5 and the problem is still active

        Ton Frederiks
        Community Expert
        Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        April 3, 2025

        You can add your vote here:

        https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/49703918-images-disappearing-after-drag-and-drop-on-mac

          D
          defaultc32duoqme02z
          Participant
          April 3, 2025

          PLEEEEEASE for the love of god sort out the missing screenshot issue!!! Losing my mind here!!!!!!!!!

            A
            Community Manager
            Anubhav MCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            April 3, 2025

            Hello @defaultc32duoqme02z,

            Would you mind sharing more details, like the version of the OS/Illustrator, if this happens with all files, and a small screen recording of the problem, so I can better assist you?

            Looking forward to hearing from you.

             

            Anubhav

            Ton Frederiks
            Community Expert
            Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            April 2, 2025

            There have been reports about disappearing images after drag and drop into Illustrator, saving the .ai file and opening it again.

            I have been able to reproduce that with screen dumps and dragging from a Browser.

            This is another variation, dragging a layer with transparency from Photoshop to an Illustrator artboard, saving and opening the file makes it disappear or gives some distorted lines.

              A
              Community Manager
              Anubhav MCommunity Manager
              Community Manager
              April 2, 2025

              Hello @bigsplashstudio,

              Would you mind sharing more details, like the current version of the OS/Illustrator/Photoshop installed on your computer, if this happens with new files as well, and a small screen recording of your workflow and the problem, so I can better assist you?

              Looking forward to hearing from you.

               

              Anubhav

              B
              bigsplashstudioAuthor
              Inspiring
              April 2, 2025

              Illustrator 29.4 & Photoshop 26.5.  If I drag & drop an image from PS to AI, it will go blank in a few minutes or after saving and reopening.  The bounding box is there, but no image.

                T
                Timur342771060g07
                Participant
                April 2, 2025

                Hi everyone, has anyone experienced a problem with images disappearing after saving in the latest AI 29.4?  It only happens to images that were dragged from the browser.  This first happened to me in version 29.3, but after the update, I still have this problem.

                  Ton Frederiks
                  Community Expert
                  Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
                  Community Expert
                  April 2, 2025

                  It also happens with screendumps. No workaround exept saving the image and placing it.

                  https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/screenshot-disappears-in-illustrator-29-3-and-up/m-p/15237401#M439060

                  G
                  Geny1973
                  Participating Frequently
                  March 28, 2025

                  Hello!

                  My co-workers and I have the same problem since we installed illustrator 29.1 and I just updated to 29.4 and I still have the same problem.

                  If I do a screenshot of an image and slide (drag and drop) it on a document, it is not linked, it is embeded, it shows up for a while then disappears. If I place it it's fine it will stay, it's only when we drag and drop. The frame of the image is still there but there is no preview anymore. If I close that document and go back to it... the screenshot disappears also. We had to go back an older version 29.2.1 for it not to do that anymore. What else could we do? We've been waiting for the update and now that it's here that bug is still there

                    A
                    Community Manager
                    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
                    Community Manager
                    March 28, 2025

                    Hello @Genevieve98A2,

                    Could you share some more details, like the system report (macOS/ Windows) and a small screen recording of the problem, so I can check this with the team?

                    Looking forward to hearing from you.
                    Anubhav

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                    Anita_Trejo2008
                    Participant
                    March 27, 2025

                    Hola, desde el 24 de marzo he tenido el problema que importo capturas de pantalla a la mesa de trabajo de Illustrator, están visibles y luego desaparecen, está el archivo de la imagen pero no se puede visualizar, se mueve un poco o se hace zoom en la mesa de trabajo y se activan nuevamente, además cuando se exporta se pierden unas de estas imágenes.

                    ¡Agradezco mucho por la ayuda!

                    A
                    Community Manager
                    Anubhav MCommunity Manager
                    Community Manager
                    March 28, 2025

                    Hello @Anita_Trejo2008,

                    Would you mind sharing more details, like the version of the OS/Illustrator installed and the folder location where you AI and linked files are placed/saved, so I can better assist you?

                    Also, if you are dragging your images into Illustrator, try using File>Place and share your observations.

                    Looking forward to hearing from you.
                    Anubhav

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