Participant

Question

Units keep defaulting to Points

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
November 6, 2024
11 replies
1158 views

I'm not sure why, but my units in Illustrator keep defaulting to "Points", when I've never once used points for any form of measurement except type size. I've changed the preferences both in document and restarting Illustrator without opening a file but it keeps setting them to Points. I just want my document print sizes to stay in mm.

Y

yee_ming_8388

Participant

Issue: Automatic Unit Switching in Illustrator 30.8.1

Illustrator 30.8.1 intermittently changes the document measurement unit from millimetres (mm) to points (pt) without notice.

This creates a serious dimensional accuracy risk when working on packaging structures and keylines. For example, a required 2 mm movement can be unintentionally applied in points, resulting in incorrect positioning and dimensions.

This issue can easily be overlooked during production artwork preparation and may lead to structural inaccuracies, incorrect keylines, and potential production or assembly problems.

The measurement unit should remain locked to the selected unit throughout the document unless manually changed by the user.

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @yee_ming_8388

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I tried replicating this behavior on my end but could not. Would you mind checking if this problem occurs when working with specific documents or if it persists when run Illustrator under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) so we can assist you further?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

Y

yee_ming_8388

Participant

Thank you for checking
I am using macOS Tahoe 26.6.2 with Illustrator 30.8.1. The issue is difficult to reproduce because it does not happen consistently, and I cannot determine what triggers the unit change.

My colleague has experienced the same issue. We noticed that when opening a file saved in points (pt), Illustrator may switch the working unit from mm to pt. The same can also happen when creating a new document, where the measurement unit may default to points.

This is a concern for packaging structural design, as an unnoticed unit change can lead to incorrect dimensions, positioning, keylines, and potential production errors.

Is there a way to lock the working unit to mm so it only changes when we manually select a different unit?

Thanks

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

There was a problem with the 29.7 version that changed the units to pt in Preferences when (by accident or on purpose) something was entered in the search field. That has been solved in the 29.8 update which is currently becoming available.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Usually, the document units from the document you open will set the units and override the preferences setting.

If you create a new document with mm as units or open an old document that certainly has mm units and the units still change, you may try to restart and reset your Preferences:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/setting-preferences.html

K

Kai NTP

Participating Frequently

Opening a document with mm set as units, never suddenly altets my unit settings to points. But if I am silly enough to open a template that uses points, or receive a file that has the document set as units, for some brainless reason illustrator sets my units to points.
As and added bonus, the newst version of illustator has introduced a nonsicle search function, and if I enter something in it, it alters my units to points.
Not to mention I can no longer use Ctrl+K enter a value and exit to change my keyboard increment. And I cannot disable the search bar... why.. why Adobe.

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Kai NTP,

I understand how frustrating this must be. Illustrator takes the units from the document or template you open, which is why they may keep switching back to points if the file was set up that way. To make sure your preferred units stick, try creating and saving a new document preset with millimeters as the default, and use that preset when starting fresh. If units still flip back unexpectedly, resetting Illustrator preferences after backing them up usually clears any conflicts. Reference: https://adobe.ly/3UFNbN8

Regarding the keyboard increment issue, please check out this thread: https://adobe.ly/45Jljgk. It contains the latest updates you can refer to.

Let me know how it goes with the unit assignment.

Abhishek

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