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Fonts changing in files when opened in Illustrator 29.5.1

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
May 10, 2025
70 replies
47959 views

I've experienced this twice now, both times in the last month. I design beer labels and I'll often open an older label and use it as the template for a new one. When I open the older file (an .AI file), it will load, and most of the live text will have switched to a different font arbitrarily. Some fonts switch to OTHER typefaces that exist in the same document, others switch to different weights of the same font, and still others switch to defaults like times and myriad. Some of the switched fonts are stored locally, and others are served via Adobe Fonts. The file does this consistently even after I've restarted illustrator and restarted my computer.

I've attached a screenshot of one of the files with its original fonts (from an outlined version for print), as well as a shot with the changed fonts.

Has anyone else experienced this?

System:

2022 Mac Studio M1 Max

MacOS Sonoma 14.6.1

Illustrator v 29.5.1

Correct answer Anubhav M

Hello everyone,

Our team has attempted to resolve this issue in the latest Illustrator 30.x and 29.x releases. Kindly update to the latest version of Illustrator and try opening your files to see if the problem persists.

Anubhav

Show previous replies

G

G. C.34684083a2u4

Participant

I have the exact same problem. I tried opening it with Adobe 2024, but the same thing happened.

I hope you fix this soon, as it affects tons of projects and the workload.

K

k9tag

Participating Frequently

G. C.34684083a2u4 - Files started in or duplicated from any version beyond Illustrator 29.4 are potentially HOSED,. Any files created or saved with any version after 29.4 should be avoided. Files originally created in 29.4 or any previous version of Illustrator will be fine, and will not experience the deadly random font substitution bug that Adobe has been unable to fix thus far.

Alexander Rott

Known Participant

This is still an issue??! I rolled back to 29.4 and haven't checked this thread for a while.

kiml66753721

Participating Frequently

Unfortunately, yes. Adobe responded on 8/18 that they're still working on it 😞

fluke-d

Participating Frequently

Still happens in 29.8.0 - just did a screen capture opening a file – save as to desktop and then reopening the newly saved version. Fonts are changed and tracking displayed incorrectly.

AI_font_problem.zip

R

raviraj_8074

Participant

I created a mailer in Illustrator with around 10–12 artboards and exported everything perfectly with the correct fonts. When I reopened the same file after two days to make changes, all the fonts had changed automatically, some text had disappeared, and the layout no longer matched my earlier exported JPGs. The fonts were installed and displaying correctly at the time of the first export, so the issue only appeared after reopening the saved file. I’ve attached the before/after GIF to show the difference.

J

JodyRadzik37240164

Inspiring

Welcome to the nightmare that is using Adobe Illustrator now. This issue has plagued hundreds of designers worldwide for the past few months without any satisfactory resolution.

kiml66753721

Participating Frequently

I am having the same issue in version 29.7.1

K

k9tag

Participating Frequently

Downgrade to 29.4 and your Illustrator life will be back to flowers and unicorns. Any version beyond that is hosed until they fix the devastating random font substitution bug, which they have thus far been unable to fix for at least two months and counting.

J

JodyRadzik37240164

Inspiring

Don't worry, I suspect they have their artificial intelligence working really hard on it. 🙄

J

JodyRadzik37240164

Inspiring

Downgrade to version 29.4.

kiml66753721

Participating Frequently

It's still happening in 29.4 for me

M

Miriam Mabel3677316339wf

Participant

I´ve had the same issue for a month now, and I´ve changed manually the fonts but it keeps changing enverytime i open my file. How can i solve this problem?

R

Randy_111

Known Participant

Try going back to 29.4, it seems to be last bug free version before this mess started.

K

k9tag

Participating Frequently

Anubhav M ==> Users are still reporting the random font substitution bug in Illustrator on the Mac and on the PC, in versons 29.5.x, 29.6.x, and 29.7.x, from all over the world, with translations even required to read the posts from users in Spain and Japan for example.... and the Adobe team can not replicate the issue in San Jose after a couple of months worth of worldwide input? I think that I can speak for the world when I say that's quite unfathomable. How about this: fly three or four of us out to San Jose and put us up at the Westin for a few days, and we can bring the Illustrator random font substitution bug to you at Adobe headquarters with our multiple windows laptops and Macbook Pros. You will then be able to replicate the issue in spades on your end, and just maybe find a solution.

L

Leyva

Participant

Well said my friend!

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello everyone,

We are sorry for the trouble. We are having debug sessions for this issue with the product team, as we are unable to replicate the issue on our end. Would it be possible for you to have a debug session with us? If yes, please share your Adobe email ID, Phone number with country code, preferred time & day for the meeting, your timezone, and country & state you live in over the DM only.

I will be looking forward to your response.

Anubhav

R

Randy_111

Known Participant

Your only now admitting you can even replicate problem? How many weeks has this been.

W

William.Keffer

Participant

A última atualização fez com que as fontes dos meus projetos fossem alteradas, não preciso nem dizer as centenas de horas que precisaria para corrigir todos eles. Queria saber se há algum movimento para corrigir este absurdo.

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @William.Keffer,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Our team is aware of this problem and is currently investigating it. Could you share a link to a sample AI file you're having trouble with, so we can check it on our end?

In the meantime, please try installing an earlier version of Illustrator (https://adobe.ly/4ly9pf3) and let us know if it helps.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

fluke-d

Participating Frequently

Lorenzo & Fluke,

Below, in the first attachment, Lorenzo states pretty definitively that the devastating random font substitution issue has been fixed ON THE MAC with Illustrator version 29.7. Fluke, another MAC user in the second attachment is saying that the devastating random font substitution bug is still there in Illustrator version 29.7 on the MAC. Any other MAC users out there? What is your reality?

On the WINDOWS side it still boggles the mind why Adobe doesn't just throw out any updates or feature additions to Illustrator since version 29.4, and JUST START OVER!!!! Changes that you made to the Adobe Illustrator software to create versions 29.5.x, 29.6.x, 29.7.x have introduced a devastating bug that is costing your loyal customers time, money, and reputation with their clients worldwide. You are well aware of the devastating bug that exists in Illustrator in the versions listed above, and you continue to encourage your customers worldwide to download and use these versions on their PCs. Is that not the exact definition of the basis for a class action lawsuit?

SCRAP ALL OF THE CODING WORK THAT YOU HAVE DONE ON ILLUSTRATOR SINCE VERSION 29.4 AND START OVER WITH ANY CHANGES TO THE PROGRAM. I CAN WORK BLISSFULLY ALONG IN ILLUSTRATOR 29.4 WITH NO FONT SUBSTITUTION BUG.

REMOVE THE OPTION TO DOWNLOAD 29.5.x, 29.6.x, 29.7.x, 29.anything.x, OR YOU WILL INTENTIONALLY BE INFLICTING A DEVASTATING, COSTLY BUG ON ALL OF YOUR CUSTOMERS, AND I CAN'T SEE HOW THAT CAN END WELL FOR YOU.

I opened a backed up file I first had issues with and resaved it in 29.7.1 (save as – no changes made to the file) and had the same issue when closed and reopened – the fonts were changed and the tracking did not display correctly. It doesn't always do it – sometimes I would have to repeat the process many times before it changed the fonts. It was exactly the same with the previous versions – it would happen randomly, but it would eventually happen. Obviously, it should NEVER happen. Maybe the most recent update causes it to happen less often for others, but I'm not taking the risk.

I won't be able to share the files – this professional client work.

T

Timur342771060g07

Participant

Same problem here, I need to spend another day just to fix all the fonts on 14 labels that have a lot of text information 😞
Adobe Illustrator has had lots of bugs lately; maybe it is time to start learning CorelDRAW (Go back to the Stone Age) 🙂

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @Timur342771060g07,

Our team has requested additional info. Could you kindly share a link to a sample file with this problem after uploading it to a file-sharing service, so that we can check it on our end?

Note: While sharing the link, kindly ensure it is set to Public and the option for Save a Copy/Download is enabled.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

J

JodyRadzik37240164

Inspiring

You guys (Adobe personnel) don't appear to understand that this is commercial work on proprietary files that cannot be shared publicly. Real, live businesses and individual consultants are being deeply affected by the complete lack of quality control that Illustrator suffers from now. Trust in the product is evaporating with every new update because they now bring horrific consequences with their use. It's not up to us to lose more time providing examples of how poorly your product works now.

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