Error while saving "converting text objects with variable fonts and color" in Illustrator on macOS

[Rebekah5E3E]

Illustrator (22 v. 26.5) has been running terribly lately on my 64GB M1 Max (Monterey). I'm getting a "converting text objects with variable fonts and color.... save will continue in the background" message when saving, despite not using fonts in the file. I've also been getting a "generating preview" message constantly when moving groups, but it doesn't last nearly as long as the save message. Is anyone else having issues like this? Any ideas how to fix this? It's really slowing me down.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi there,

We are sorry to hear about the trouble you are facing. Would you mind confirming if this is happening in some specific files or all?
Also, are there PNG files embedded in the document? Would it be possible for you to share the file with us? We'll check at our end.

We are here to help. We need more information. Looking forward to your response.

Thanks & Regards,

Anshul Saini

[paulc4500070]

I have this too on 2 files so far: the error message even seems to have a typo in it, or is incomplete; it says "Converting text objects with variable fonts and colored" 

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @paulc4500070,

We are sorry for the trouble. Would you mind confirming if this is happening while saving the file as an Illustrator Cloud document or on the Creative Cloud files folder? Also, does this happen while resaving the same file as "Save As"? If yes, then the issue should be replicable with the same file on our end as well. In that case, it would be really helpful for us if any one of you could package the file and then share a download link to the package folder here or via DM with me for investigation. 

Also, would you mind confirming your system specifications and the exact version of the OS?

I will be looking forward to your response.

Thanks & Regards,

Anshul Saini

[paulc4500070]

Hi There, I sent you 2 DM's

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @paulc4500070,

Thanks for DM'ing me. I have replied back to the DM. Please kindly check and revert.

Regards,

Anshul Saini

[PlanetF]

Is there a fix for this issue yet as having ssame problem?

[WKD Medienagentur]

Same issue here 😞 I have more 52 page how can i wait this...

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @WKD Medienagentur,

We are sorry for the delay & inconvenience. The product team is still investigating the issue. This issue is not easily reproducible on our end. We are able to replicate with a couple of files shared earlier by some users. We need more files to check & system specifications.

Would you mind sharing the files here or via DM with me? It would be really helpful for us.

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks,

Anshul Saini

[Jeremy274095379bpd]

Same probuem here. On a Mac. Illustrator has worked fine as a rule. Just started using the 2023 version and getting this weird notice and progress bar every time I try to save my file. Nothing fancy or unusual going on in the file. 
Has this problem been addressed and resolved  yet?
Thanks! 
I have to send this confidential layout file to my client today, and I'm worried it's going to do something weird when they try to open and print it. 

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @Jeremy274095379bpd,

Thanks for reaching out and sharing the details. This will only appear when resaving the file. If the client just opens and checks the design and doesn't make/ save any changes, this dialog will not appear.

Also, would you mind sharing the file here or via DM with me? It would be really helpful for us to investigate the issue.

Thanks,

Anshul Saini

[PlanetF]

I'm working with several layers in one file. Nothing fancy and the same issue is happening. There ARE 2 JPG images in the file, one on each layer, they are standard jpgs that do have some text (scribbles in photoshop) in the images (flat raster images saved as flat jpgs). When I remove these two image layers it saves without any issues. I have checked the images and they are standard jpgs 8 bit RGB of a standard size. The other layers in my file contain vector artwork. Is there a setting we are missing or has adobe added a preference somewhere or is it a program error? Be grateful if we could get an Adobe answer please. Thanks

[Yeah No]

I'm having the same issue.  Have you found a fix?

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @Yeah No,

Thanks for reaching out. I am afraid there is no workaround to this issue as of now. The team is investigating the issue and has requested sample files. Would you mind sharing the file here or via DM with me? It would be really helpful for us. Also, would you mind confirming your system specs, OS details & exact version of Ai?

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks,

Anshul Saini

[danab77472991]

Has a fix been found for this yet as I cannot work in illustrator as it is painfully slow?

Thanks

[danab77472991]

I noticed the issue arise when I created an icon with the blob brush and a custom brush I had created. Moving the icon is slow. This is a new imac so there is plenty of storage. I have updated illustrator and updated to the latest OS Ventura.

Thanks

[Monika Gause]

I noticed the issue arise when I created an icon with the blob brush and a custom brush I had created. Moving the icon is slow. This is a new imac so there is plenty of storage. I have updated illustrator and updated to the latest OS Ventura.

Thanks

By @danab77472991

And when you create this icon you get the status message with the variable fonts and color? Or is the file just slow?

[paulc4500070]

There is no solution communicated from adobe yet; latest was "they were finding it hard to reproduce the error" which is a contradiction to what they told me initially; furthermore, I can produce the problem at will, easily. In terms of a work-around - I have kept the new release of illustrator on my mac, but also re-downloaded the 2020 illustrator - which is much more stable.

[PlanetF]

I don't know if it helps but I recreated my file in Affinity Designer with no hassles.
Adobe has too much ai going on, I'm sure its that which has slowed everything up. Guess they are maybe aiming at a different market now. Thanks Paul, I may try backdating to an older version for now.

[Monika Gause]

I don't know if it helps but I recreated my file in Affinity Designer with no hassles.
Adobe has too much ai going on, I'm sure its that which has slowed everything up.

By @PlanetF

Since Affinity Designer just has a very basic feature set, I'm sure there is more going on in Illustrator. But artificial intelligence does not kick in unless you use the functions in which it works (which are very few and you didn't mention using any of them).

Still I have not yet seen the message this thread is about in my own workflow, so this message is related to some system configurations or specific kinds of files. Which is why the engineers are asking for documents. Not enough people giving them documents means they won't be able to figure out what causes it.

[Anshul_Saini · Accepted solution]

Hello everyone,

I am writing to provide an update on the issue that you all have been experiencing with the "converting text objects with variable fonts and color" message error when saving files in Illustrator.

We highly recommend updating to the latest version of Illustrator (v27.3.1), as we have released this update in an effort to resolve the issue. If you continue to experience this error message after updating, please reach out to me directly so that we can help you find a solution.

Thanks,

Anshul Saini

[Yeah No]

So far the v27.3.1 update fixed the "converting text objects with variable fonts and color" message error when saving files in Illustrator.

Unfortunately, It caused another issue that's happened in past versions.  When working on a file, no matter the size, the "view" dropdown loses it's ability to view using the GPU and defaults to using the CPU.  This slows my workflow down considerably!  I can't change it back to GPU once this occurs as the option is greyed out.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @Yeah No,

Thank you for sharing your experience with the latest version of Illustrator. I'm glad to hear that the previous issue with the variable fonts and colors error has been resolved. However, I'm sorry to hear that you are now experiencing another issue with the "view" dropdown losing its ability to use the GPU and defaulting to the CPU.

This issue has been reported by some other users as well, and our team is already working on a fix for this. However, in order to identify the root cause of this issue, we may need more information from you, such as the specific file in which the issue is happening or scenarios where this problem occurs, or any reproduction steps that you can provide. This is important as there could be multiple reasons why this issue is happening, and we want to address all the GPU-related problems. Also, please confirm your system details, including CPU & GPU make & model.

We appreciate your patience and cooperation in this matter, and we look forward to hearing back from you with more details.

Thanks,

Anshul Saini