Difficulty to grab line and anchor points with the cursor

[Chouettecacahuete]

Hi all,

Since the last upgrade of Illustrator I have found it incresingly harder to grab line and anchor points on bezier curves with the cursor, it take a lot of attempts to achieve this, as well as deliberalely Selecting I have also tried swiping the cursor across the line but I still can't grab it. I have to increase the magnification to home in on my target and then the cursor makes contact. Anyone else have this problem and what could be the cause?

Thanks

Peter

[Chouettecacahuete]

I guess no one else has this problem. I have gone to preferences and set the anchor points, handle etc to Max but that still doesn't work. Anyone got any suggestions at all?

[JointyJr]

You're not alone - I have trouble with this too.

[DELAN37301946nnc4]

Most definitely a problem, I want to punch my screen. Not to mention the pointer morphing every second looks like its having convulsions. They are so focused on taking art out of aobe with AI that everything else has gone to crap. Artists and designers built them up and now they ignore us. Sorry just alittle bitter lol.

[Monika Gause]

 Not to mention the pointer morphing every second looks like its having convulsions. 

By @DELAN37301946nnc4

Which system, which input device?

[Jacob Bugge · Accepted solution]

Peter, Jointyjr,

Maybe too silly, but how about Smart Guides who have sharp eyes and sure grip?

And/or ClickDragging across with the Direct Selection Tool to have Handles pointing back into the Anchor Points?

[JointyJr]

Click dragging is all very good but then you pick up other handles/anchors

It think it has to do with zooming, I have trouble clicking into text boxes when zoomed out (at a distance), but fine when zoomed in.

[Chouettecacahuete]

Hi Jacob, I have turned smart guides on (usually I have them turned off) and so far this seems to have done the trick! I never had this problem on previous versions, with smart guides turned off, until the last update, but so far so good.

Many thanks

[woodyboy]

Thanks! I'll put up with the pink alignment goobers to be able to easily grab the line... just like the good ol' days before Adobe started messing with Illustrator.

[Jacob Bugge]

You are welcome, woodyboy.

[Jacob Bugge]

You are welcome, Peter.

[Ashutosh_Mishra]

Hi there,

Glad to hear your issue is resolved. In addition to what Jacob suggested, I'd recommend checking out help article https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/using/rulers-grids-guides-crop-marks.html for more information about guides and rulers. Hope it helps.

Regards,

Ashutosh

[Mikkel26175721u7dg]

Very adobe just to conclude that a silly work around that makes the problem a little more bareble is considered "problem resolved". Everydbody has this problem. It seems that its worse on high resolution monitors. The obvious solution is to make the hit box for the anchor points bigger or even adjustable in prefs. 

[Jacob Bugge]

Mikkel,

As far as I remember, there is a(t least one) feature request/bug report hidden somewhere here,

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/

[JointyJr]

Hi Chouettecacahuete

Thanks for that, but it is just a work around, doesn't really solve the problem.

Click dragging is all very good but if I'm trying to select a single node within a complex illustration then it won't help.

[Tatiana Sometimes]

Hi JointyJr,
I finally managed to get hold of Adobe Customer Care via email in the past few days, and received this response from them overnight:
"It is requested that you install a previous version of Illustrator. Please try to install Illustrator  28.5 or Illustrator  28.2 and check if the same issue comes with the previous version as well."

I knew 28.5 would not solve the problem as I had only recently updated from it to 28.6, but 28.2 has fixed the issue! I am weeping with relief at the ease at which I can pick up an anchor point or handle. 

Cheers.

[chappz180]

Super late to the party here - the EDIT>PREFERENCES > SELECTION TOLERANCE only goes up to 8, which is not big enough. 

I found out this morning that you can actually scale the entire UI of Illustrator! It has made selecting points, lines, shapes, just about anything so much easier.

It has made the program so much more responsive and easy to use. Also the tiny little icons all up and down the sides and top are easy to see now! I dont need to lean forward to see what stroke width i'm typing anymore 🙂

(EDIT>PREFERENCES >USER INTERFACE>UI SCALING

[GiDesign&Marketing]

i have the same issue and its the most frustrating thing ive expereinced in software. it seems like over the last couple of years it is getting harder to select nodes and lines and even mouse accuracy in general. i have been through like 10 mice trying to fix this . ive spent anywhere from $20 to $150 on mice and they seem to be getting less and less accruate. i remember when i could click on anything super accurately the first time everytime , i used to be super fast in illustrator and now constantly in frustration and feeling like my rist is goignto explode. 
yes illustrator is super frustrating when it comes to clicking on small objects but its really just the mouse tech that is getting worse. i would pay big money for an old school rubber ball mouce that is also usb 
of course illustrator could fix this by actually improving something meaningful like, and no it dosnt help to size up the nodes lol. i feel like most people dont really use illustrator for detailed illustration so they dont have the issue and im sure im going to get a lot of back lash for talking agains adobe but seriously
and turning giudes on should not be the fix. this needs some serious attention 

[chappz180]

Have you tried these two things? Have helped me immensely:

///////////Reposting from mine a few above://////////////////

Super late to the party here - the EDIT>PREFERENCES > SELECTION TOLERANCE only goes up to 8, which is not big enough. 

I found out this morning that you can actually scale the entire UI of Illustrator! It has made selecting points, lines, shapes, just about anything so much easier.

It has made the program so much more responsive and easy to use. Also the tiny little icons all up and down the sides and top are easy to see now! I dont need to lean forward to see what stroke width i'm typing anymore 

(EDIT>PREFERENCES >USER INTERFACE>UI SCALING

[GiDesign&Marketing]

yes did both and it does help a bit 
but still needs a real fix

[chappz180]

Totally agree. I never really see Adobe staff comments in here which is a shame. I hope they fix it for you though.

Also you said your wrist feels like its going to explode... I actually had a really similar issue using After Effects every day, adjusting little nit-picky keyframes etc. and I ended up getting a vertical mouse.

It has totally fixed my RSI in my right wrist - I would strongly recommend looking into getting one. Life changer!

https://www.logitech.com/en-au/products/mice/mx-vertical-ergonomic-mouse.910-005449.html

[Tatiana Sometimes]

Hi, I have this problem as well! I didn't scroll down far enough to see these suggestions (silly me), but I'm trying them now. I have been wondering if it had something to do with using a Wacom pen. 

[Tatiana Sometimes]

Hi,
I finally managed to get hold of Adobe Customer Care via email in the past few days, and received this response from them overnight:
"It is requested that you install a previous version of Illustrator. Please try to install Illustrator  28.5 or Illustrator  28.2 and check if the same issue comes with the previous version as well."

I knew 28.5 would not solve the problem as I had only recently updated from it to 28.6, but 28.2 has fixed the issue! I am weeping with relief at the ease at which I can pick up an anchor point or handle. 

Cheers.

[Anubhav M]

Hello everyone,

We've received feedback from several customers about this issue and are currently investigating it with the product team. To assist us in resolving it, could you please provide the following information:

• A screen recording of the issue (Instructions here)
• A System Report for Windows or macOS
• Details of any specific workflow we can use to replicate the problem
• The exact version of Illustrator installed on your computer

We appreciate your help and look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Anubhav

[Tatiana Sometimes]

Hi Peter, YES!!! I have this problem as well with picking up paths and handles etc, and it is INFURIATING! I have been wondering if it has something to do with using a Wacom pen; do you use one by any chance?  I see it's four years since you posted this – did you find a solution please? Thanks.