Cannot drag & drop PNG & JPG to Illustrator

[BrandonGriffin]

I recently lost the ability to drag & drop png or jpg files into Illustrator (v28.3) from Photoshop (25.5.1). I can Place those same files but not drag & drop.  Any suggestions?

[Ton Frederiks]

I see the same on my system with Mac OS Ventura. On my older Mac, it still works with 28.3 and Big Sur.

Although it should work, there are problems when dragging from Phootoshop into Illustrator.

When the document color profiles are different, the Illustrator Document Color  Profile  will change without warning.

Place is the better workflow.

[BrandonGriffin · Accepted solution]

I did some testing and it came down to I had to revert to Photoshop (v25.4) to play nice with Illustrator (v28.3). Photoshop (v25.5 and up) doesn't allow me to drag & drop png or jpg files into Illustrator.  FYI I'm on macOS Sonoma 14.3.1

Hopefully Adobe will resolve this issue.

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes, drag & drop from Photoshop 25.4 works for me too.

But if you do not want to change the colors in your Illustrator document without you knowing it, don't use this workflow.

Use Place or even Copy/Paste.

[Marija354252925plu]

Hi,

I've been having quite a few technical issues with my new laptop (M3 Max 2023).. It runs on Sonoma 14.3.1. One of the issues is that I can't drag and drop objects from Photoshop to Illustrator. Copy and Paste doesn't work either. I know I could just save each object as png and Place it, however, that eats a lot of time. Not sure why this is happening, never happened with my old laptop (2021 macbook pro). Is this a bug? 

Thanks in advance 

[Monika Gause]

Sonoma has inexplicable issues. And that's about all we know in the forums. Some of these issues might get better with the latest version of that shipwreck system.

Drag and drop has issues, because you will change the AI file's color profile when dragging and dropping.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Marija354252925plu,

We understand that encountering technical issues can be frustrating. Would you mind trying to update macOS to the latest version (https://adobe.ly/4cyuDGs) and checking if it helps? Also, try running Illustrator under Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[Marija354252925plu]

Hi, thanks for your help! I've updated my macOS and tried running Illustrator/Photoshop in Safe Mode but drag/drop is still not working 😞 

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @Marija354252925plu,

I'm sorry to hear that the issue persists despite your efforts. We've logged a bug, and our product team is currently investigating the drag/drop issue in Illustrator/Photoshop on macOS. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Regards,

Anshul Saini