Skip to main content
Inspiring
September 16, 2026
Answered

Repeat tabs spacing

Hello,

“Repeat Tab” does not seem to do what it is supposed to. Text indent is 0. I set the first tab stop at 0.25in, then instead of getting tab stops every 0.25in (0.5, 0.75, 1, etc.), I get something else, including a tab before 0.25in. Is there something I am doing wrong or a workaround?

This is for CS4.

Thanks.

    Monika Gause
    Monika GauseCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    September 16, 2026

    Thank you. I can reproduce that in the latest version. It sets the first automatic tabstop *somewhere* and then the following ones in the expected distance. Looks like a bug to me. But even if it gets fixed, it will not be in version CS4.

    I could get a somewhat better result when I set 2 tabstops in the way I wanted, then selected the first one and repeated that. But then Illustrator moved my second tabstop by 0.3 mm before setting the following ones in the desired distance.

    11 replies

    Harshika Verma
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    September 24, 2026

    Hi ​@sPretzel & ​@Monika Gause, 

    Thank you for reaching out and reporting the issue. Would you mind sharing a screen recording of the issue to help with the investigation? Please also confirm the version of Illustrator installed on your machine and your operating system details.

    We will check with the product team and log a bug for it to investigate further.

     

    Thanks,

    Harshika

    Translate
    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 24, 2026

    Mine is version 30.8.1

    This is what’s happening: 

     

    Translate
    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    September 24, 2026

    Thanks for sharing the screen recording ​@Monika Gause 

     

    Please allow me some time to check this with the team.
    Anubhav

    Translate
    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    September 16, 2026

    Thank you. I can reproduce that in the latest version. It sets the first automatic tabstop *somewhere* and then the following ones in the expected distance. Looks like a bug to me. But even if it gets fixed, it will not be in version CS4.

    I could get a somewhat better result when I set 2 tabstops in the way I wanted, then selected the first one and repeated that. But then Illustrator moved my second tabstop by 0.3 mm before setting the following ones in the desired distance.

    Translate
    sPretzelAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 16, 2026

    Hi Monika,

    I expected this bug to still be in the latest version of Illustrator, decades later! Adobe is more focused on the bottom line than improving their product.

    I also tried using another tab stop as the starting point, instead of the left indent, but it was still a mess. Repeat Tab works as expected in InDesign however.

    Thanks for always staying on top of this forum and providing useful answers.

    Translate
    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    September 16, 2026

    Can you please show screenshots?

    Translate
    sPretzelAuthor
    Inspiring
    September 16, 2026

    Hello Monika,

    I’ve attached two files. The first, I have some text with a tab between each word and set the first tab at 0.5in. The second, with the first tab stop selected, I click on Repeat Tab in the menu of the TABS panel. And this is what I get! I expect tabs at every 0.5in, not this.

     

    Translate