Document setup simulate color background no longer working properly on my laptop

[Caroline24427961wrhk]

Help!

Just recently if I go to document setup and try to pick a different color to simulate a colored background it no longer works. I use a Microsoft Surface laptop. My coworker has a Mac and it still functions properly for her. We are on the same version 28.5.

For me I go to:

• Document Setup
• I click on the top color box and switch it to black and then check "Simulate Colored Page"
• When I hit ok the whole canvas turns black and I can no longer see my objects.
• They are still there, I just can't see them at all. If I blindly click around to select objects I can see the selection outline and I if I look in the shape properties panel I can see their fill and outline colors are still correct.

IF I pick a color (ex blue, purple, red...), the background changes to that color, I can see my objects but its like the background is a filter over them because the color looks like its sitting under a semi transparent red/blue/purple object.

This is a real pain as I use this feature frequently.

[Monika Gause]

Does it work in CPU preview?

[Kurt Gold]

On Windows "Simulate Coloured Paper" only works as expected when using CPU preview, as far as I remember.

When using GPU preview, the display is just as if a coloured rectangle is at the background (no coloured paper simulation).

The screenshots above indicate that CPU preview is turned on in all documents. So it may be that switching to GPU is what she wants (though it is then the wrong behaviour, strictly speaking).

[Caroline24427961wrhk]

Hi all, so I looked and next to the file name it says "CPU Preview". This is relatively new... in my files it only use to just say "Preview". I tried to go to "View" menu to see my options and I see GPU but its greyed out so I can't select it.

On my co-workers it is not greyed out and she is in default GPU, so the dark background works for her but if she switched to CPU she gets what I am experiencing. So I'm guessing the issue is I need to be in GPU only Illustrator won't let me.

So I though maybe it was a weird setting in the files I had, so I had her send me the document she was testing on, when I open it on my laptop it instantly goes in CPU Preview and GPU is disabled.

[Caroline24427961wrhk]

Adding on. I found this setting in Performance and GPU was unchecked, so I checked it. That defaulted me back to GPU Preview and enabled the toggle to CPU Preview but when I change the background in GPU nothing happens. When I switch to CPU I get the issue I had before. So confused!

[Kurt Gold]

It has been reported quite often that GPU preview sometimes is not available for some (sometimes unexplained) reasons.

Can you turn on GPU preview in a new document? Or can't you use it at all?

If you can use GPU in a blank document, then you may want to share the file that does not allow you to use it. So someone can have a look at it.

[Anubhav Majumder · Accepted solution]

Hello @Caroline24427961wrhk,

We understand that encountering technical issues can be frustrating. Would you mind performing a clean reinstallation of the GPU drivers (Intel / NVIDIA / AMD) and setting the Graphics Preference to High-Performance for Illustrator (https://adobe.ly/4cCY61l) and checking if it helps?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[Caroline24427961wrhk]

I will try. I have to submit a helpdesk ticket internally to do it as I don't have permission.

[Caroline24427961wrhk]

Hi Anubhav,

I was able to get our IT to update my drivers today and now it works again! thanks for the recommendation 🙂

[Caroline24427961wrhk]

I could do it only after I changed that setting in Preferences but in GPU preview the background color doesn't change at all now so I still can't use that feature.

[Kurt Gold]

What happens if you do a screen refresh in GPU preview (just zoom in or out once or a couple of times)?

[Caroline24427961wrhk]

I tried that too, nothing 😞