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bapuji_4469
Inspiring
September 22, 2025
Answered

Plugin not loading on MacOS with Qt

  • September 22, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 164 views

Hello everyone,

I am trying to build Adobe Illustrator plugins using the C++ SDK on macOS. I have downloaded the latest SDK (v1-Aug2025) for Mac and installed Qt 6.9.2 using the online installer. I built the EmptyPanel plugin without any changes, and it loads fine in Adobe Illustrator 2025.

However, after adding a single line

_myQtApp = new QApplication(argc, nullptr);

to the EmptyPanelPlugin::StartupPlugin function and linking the required Qt frameworks to resolve errors, the plugin fails to load.

I have tried the following steps, but with no luck:

  1.  Running the macdeployqt command
  2.  Running install_name_tool -add_rpath "@loader_path/../Frameworks" "/Users/Desktop/SDK/samplecode/output/mac/debug/EmptyPanel.aip/Contents/MacOS/EmptyPanel"

 

If I launch Xcode from my plugin and run Illustrator, the plugin loads, but Adobe Illustrator does not show any menu items. I added log messages at the start and end of EmptyPanelPlugin::StartupPlugin, and I can see the log output. My guess is that after loading EmptyPanel, Illustrator fails to load the remaining plugins, which is why no Illustrator menu items appear. 

 

Currently, I am loading the plugin from the SDK/SampleCode/Output directory by setting the "Additional Plug-ins Folder" in Illustrator Preferences.

 

My development environment is as follows:

  • MacBook Pro (Apple M2)

  • macOS Tahoe 26.0

  • Xcode 26.0

  • Qt 6.9.2

  • Adobe Illustrator 2025, Version 29.8.1

  • Adobe SDK v1-Aug2025

Are there any specific steps I need to follow for Qt integration? Do I need to build Qt in debug mode, or should I copy anything directly into the Adobe Illustrator folder? Thanks in advance!

 

Correct answer bapuji_4469

Finally, I figured out the solution. To fix this, we need to add the following line before instantiating QApplication:

QApplication::setAttribute(Qt::AA_PluginApplication);

The root cause is that after creating a Qt application in the plugin, Qt takes over the event loop and does not return it to Illustrator.

Hopefully, this information will be useful for someone later. Thank you!

1 reply

B
bapuji_4469AuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
September 23, 2025

Finally, I figured out the solution. To fix this, we need to add the following line before instantiating QApplication:

QApplication::setAttribute(Qt::AA_PluginApplication);

The root cause is that after creating a Qt application in the plugin, Qt takes over the event loop and does not return it to Illustrator.

Hopefully, this information will be useful for someone later. Thank you!

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