Shift Key Won't Constrain Proportions

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
October 1, 2017
3 replies
10734 views

I have the most current version of Illustrator CC (2017.1.0). Holding down the shift key will no longer constrain proportions for me. It works up to a point in the scaling drag and then the object snaps back to the original size. What is the fix for this issue?

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Correct answer Bill Silbert

This is not normal behavior. Try trashing your preferences.

To do so:

For Macintosh Users: With Illustrator closed launch a Finder Window in column view and click on your home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the following two files and delete them: “Adobe Illustrator <Version #> Settings” (earlier versions of Illustrator might just say “Adobe Illustrator”) and “com.adobe.Illustrator.plist”. When Illustrator is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

After you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, it is a really good idea to create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.

For Windows Users: Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset.

C

chevonster

Participant

What is the 2022 answer to this?

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @chevonster,

Sorry to hear that you are also facing the same issue. If the Shift key is not working, this could be due to third-party apps interfering with Illustrator keyboard shortcuts or your Illustartror preferences being corrupted.

In that case, you may try running the app in Safe Mode (Windows/ Mac) and launch Illustrator only. Then, open/ create a new document, try the shift key to resize anything, and see if that works.

In Safe Mode, your system starts to perform certain checks and prevent third-party software/ services from automatically loading or opening. If it works fine in Safe Mode, then open other apps one by one, which you usually open, and see which app is conflicting with Illustrator. You can check and find the culprit app/ process/ plugin/ extension with the help of Activity Monitor/ Task Manager, and then you'll have to close/ disable/ uninstall them on your user account and then restart your machine in normal mode.

If running the app in Safe Mode doesn't help, you may try resetting Illustrator preferences.

Disclaimer: Please note that resetting preferences will remove all the custom settings, and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also take a backup of the folders in case you want to. Location is mentioned in the article.

I hope it helps!

Regards,

Anshul Saini

V

Van16B8

Participant

Go to the transform pallette (make sure you have a shape selected) and check on "Scale Corners" and "Scale Stroke and Effects."