Fonts changing in files when opened in Illustrator 29.5.1

[Lavish_coder1549]

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

[k9tag]

Hi Harshika, I can't upload the files in question, because they are hugely huge, over 300MB each.  I did downgrade to 39.4 to make sure that issue does not happen to me again, and I can get some work out.  The file that Illustrator massively corrupted by changing all of the fonts to different ones has the same incorrect fonts when opened in 39.4 as it did in 39.6.  All of the many different fonts were changed by Illustrator 39.6, and my original choices for the fonts don't appear to be recoverable.  Really horrendously bad.

Bad timing on this worst Illustrator bug ever, arriving at the same time as the largest monthly price increase for Creative Cloud ever.

If you have a way for me to get these 300GB .AI files to you I would be happy to provide them.  I now have my production system running 39.4 and a backup system running 39.6.  Auto-update for ALL Adobe products is turned OFF here after this debacle.   Let me know if there is anything that you want me to test on either of these systems to try and fix this very damaging bug.    There should be a drop-everything-all-hands-on-deck effort by Adobe to fix this.

[jeffc62979270]

Yes, the problem happened to me today! All of my fonts in a design have been switched around. 

[Lorenzo MENHIR PACKAGING]

Quick update after running several tests:

Files saved using Illustrator 2025 v29.5 and 29.6 are exhibiting the font substitution issue across different documents, with no clear pattern or consistent trigger. It doesn’t seem related to specific fonts or document structures — it’s completely random, which makes it extremely difficult to diagnose or predict.

Even worse, very similar files behave differently, some are affected, some are not, despite using the same fonts and structure.

Here’s another critical point: when saving the file with “Create PDF Compatible File” enabled and viewing it in Acrobat, the fonts appear correctly — no substitution, no issues.
The problem only occurs when reopening the original AI file in Illustrator itself.
Important clarification: this only works if the file hasn’t been re-saved after the font substitution occurred. If you save the file again after the bug manifests, the corruption is carried over — and even the PDF preview will reflect the incorrect fonts.

To add to the absurdity: the same problematic file, when reopened in version 29.4 or earlier, shows no issue at all. Fonts are intact, exactly as saved.
This can be a useful workaround for anyone who needs to open affected files without dealing with the random font substitutions — just roll back to 29.4 or earlier.

This is clearly a regression introduced in 29.5, and it’s a very serious one. It needs urgent attention.

[k9tag]

Lorenzo,

What you experienced is very similar to my case, except for one important difference.  When I reverted to 29.4 and opened the infected / sabotaged file, the fonts were all still the randomly substituded fonts from 29.6, so they ALL had to be changed back to get back to square one.  Quite painful.

Another finding.  When I open the infected / sabotaged file in Acrobat, the fonts, at least the ones on the Illustrator Artboard, are magically correct.  Unfortunately, I create work waaaaaaaaay outside of the artboard as part of my normal production process, and later move inside of the artboard to print.  My file has much work outside of the artboard in this case.    Soooo, I thought that maybe if I increase the size of the artboard to encompass all of the artwork in the file, save that under a new name in 29.4, and try to open that in Acrobat, surely, all of the fonts across the board would magically show correctly.  NOPE.  In fact the fonts that showed correctly for the "first page open" mentioned above before I expanded the artboard now show up with the incorrectly randomly substituted  fonts, along with ALL of the artwork in the file

It would be nice to hear some feedback from ADOBE on this, as I am currently in a situation where I have backslid to 29.4 and turned off auto-update on ALL Adobe products for fear of another catasrophic production setback.

[k9tag]

This is just me grasping at straws in the absence of any straws being provided, but it seems possible that randomizer code similar to that described in the link below may have somehow gotten loose inside of illustrator 29.6, except instead of letting you control when you wish to randomize type, 29.6 decides on its own to randomize all of the type in your illustrator file.  Has to be something like this, right?  If I wanted to change the font of thousands of text instances in my file, it would take me a very long time, but code like this could do it instantly I bet:

https://randomill.com/random-font-illustrator-script/

[Anubhav M]

Hello everyone,

Our product team is aware of the problem and is currently investigating it. I will update this thread as I have more info.
In the meantime, kindly upvote this UserVoice (https://adobe.ly/4eASzue) and add your comments there. Doing this will help prioritize the problem, and you will be notified of any updates.

Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.

Anubhav

[bernadetteh30812887]

This is a similar recurring issue as above after updating to v 29.6.1. Opening a file I worked on yesterday after most recent update this morning, and the usual Avenir fonts in file have adjusted in different weights and some changed to Barlow, as well as when I go to update live text the font will change to Barlow. Please fix!

[Anubhav M]

Hello @bernadetteh30812887,

Our product team is aware of the problem and is currently investigating it. I will update this thread as I have more info.
In the meantime, kindly upvote this UserVoice (https://adobe.ly/4eASzue) and add your comments there. Doing this will help prioritize the problem, and you will be notified of any updates.

Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.

Anubhav

[k9tag]

Anubhav, the link above goes to some strange Xpost thing, and I can't comment there.  Please send the fixers here to look for comments and proritize based on what they read here.

Illustrator 29.6.1 changes all of the fonts in my artwork. Randomly. On its own.  An absolutely horrifying bug in a program that I have been using without issues since the 1990s.   This current bug ruins days worth of work, requiring a total redo of the work.  I reverted to 29.4 and that DID NOT fix the issue with the file that was ruined by 29.6.1.  All of the fonts were still randomly substituted, and the file is unusable.  I can get work done now in 29.4, but why am I paying for any further upgrades?

Illustrator 29.6.1 is unusable worldwide until this problem is fixed.   That should be a little concerning to the development team there.  An immediate worldwide stop should be issued, and 29.5.whatever and 29.6.whatever should be removed as options for download.  My advice to everyone: Don't even think about upgrading to 29.6.1.  You will regret it.  I have currently dropped back to 29.4 and stopped auto update on ALL of my Adobe products until this is resolved. I advise everyone to do the same.  Adobe please let us know here when this terrible bug is fixed, and don't refer us elsewhere to get priority to fix what you broke.

[johnb68533364]

Hello Illustrator community: When opening a PDF (editable in Illustator), random text boxes have changed fonts. It's not all of a certain font (some remain accurate), but just some. Here's an example: "Your everyday bank" was in Trajan font, and changed to Iowan Old Style. "We were so blown away..." was in Bebas Neue Pro and changed to Trajan. And ideas? Right now, I'm forced to select the text, change the fonts, and re-save. 

(I'm using Illustrator 29.5.1)

[Bobby Henderson]

That application behavior does sound pretty strange. One text object is switched from Trajan to something else while another text object is switched to Trajan. Weird. This raises all sorts of questions.

Are all the fonts used in the document fonts that are synced via Adobe Fonts? Are the fonts installed locally in the operating system? Or is the document using a mix of both? Has the Illustrator document only been edited on one computer system? If it has been opened, edited and re-saved on more than one computer system that could create another avenue of font substitution issues -especially if the file is jumping computing platforms between OSX and Windows. Different computers may be using different builds of the same fonts or slightly different typefaces, such as regular Trajan Pro versus Trajan Pro 3.

When the PDF is opened in Illustrator does the application display a missing fonts dialog box? Or does it just simply change the fonts applied to text objects without warning?

Do you have a copy of the same file in Illustrator .AI format? If so, does that file also have the same font substitution problems?

Various technical problems can cause glitches to happen with fonts. Sometimes the issues can be fixed simply by rebooting the computer. If the issue involves synced Adobe Fonts try signing out of the Creative Cloud account, rebooting and then signing back in again. That can force a refresh of account sync.

[johnb68533364]

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Yes, I use two Macs. Both use Adobe fonts. Both sync via iCloud. It looks like another user is having the same issue with 29.5. Hopefully they'll correct it soon.

[15m20]

Hi -  I'm having this issue in versions 29.5 and 29.5.1

Rolling back to a previous Illustrator version seems to fix it, so it looks like a bug within v29 onwards

Which version are you using?

[johnb68533364]

Same -- 29.5.1. 

[Anubhav M]

Hello @johnb68533364,

Could you share more details, like the exact font used in your files with which you encounter this problem along with a link to a sample file after uploading it to a file sharing service, so I can better assist you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

[stevedowd]

I am have an issue with fonts randomly changing in style and format on recalled files done approx a month back doe anyone know what would be causing this see scren shot of image to left circled areas have changed...pdf done at the time the fikle was created is fine.

I saw a note aboit turning off enable missing Glymph protection but this has not helped.
Appreciate any feedback from anyone who has had this issue and found a solution

[Bobby Henderson]

Do you get any missing fonts warnings when opening the file? I can't tell for certain which condensed typeface was used in the original example. Maybe a style of KnockoutHTF? It's pretty strange the affected type objects are getting changed to what looks like Montserrat.

Does the document use any Postscript Type 1 fonts? Those are no longer compatible with Adobe applications. Some fonts can have technical problems, and even get updates to fix bugs. I've experienced technical problems with certain type families downloaded from Google Fonts; months later I'd download another copy and find the bugs fixed.

[stevedowd]

thanks Bobby it is a bit wierd no missing font warning and no type one fonts used....so we do not actually get the opportunity to update or correct

[Bobby Henderson]

When the strange font changes occur are there any other applications running in the background, be it rival graphics apps or even a font management app? There are certain applications I won't run when using Illustrator because they cause headaches with the fonts list in Illustrator.

[Monika Gause]

Is that an AI file?

Or a PDF?

Did you check the font for corruption?

Do you use font management?

[takadad86698400]

In Illustrator CC2025, when I try to edit text after changing the font, it automatically reverts to the previous font.
Is there a setting to prevent this behavior, or is this a known bug?

[Monika Gause]

Are you already using the latest version?

29.5.1?

[Mohammad.Harb]

Does that happen in a specific document ? is the font already installed on your computer ?

if you try it in a new document, are you getting the same issue ? 

[Martin_Wilson747]

Adobe must not be silent on this. Under Australian consumer law the program is not fit for purpose! They must NOT charge us while the program is not functioning. Everyone needs to request a refund for the time. There stuff up could cost Agencies thousands of dollars!! 

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi everyone, 

Thanks so much for sharing your concerns so openly. I completely understand how disruptive this issue has been, especially when it impacts important projects and deadlines.

I've checked with the product team, and they've confirmed that there was a bug logged for this issue and this is tentatively planned to be fixed in the upcoming July release. I'll make sure to keep you posted if there are any changes in the plan.

I really appreciate your patience and understanding. 

Abhishek