GLOW EFFECT PROBLEM

[Bilbobaggins2020]

Ai5.5 when I apply an outer glow effect to an object (rectangle/elipse), a bounding box is generated which also has the glow effect partially applied to it. 
Ungrouping the object & removing the bounding box removes the glow from both objects.
When reapplying the outer glow efect the same thing occurs.
If I move the bounding box away from the object the glow is contained in it! It is not applying the "glow" to the intended object but th outer box.
Is this a software glitch or corruption???
Any help greatly appreciated!

 
This does not happen in PSD5.5.

[Monika Gause]

You mean CS5.5, right?

I'm not sure if that was a bug - it's so long ago.

But what you can try: In Effects > Document raster effects settings there is an option  where you can "Add" an area around effects. Make that value higher.

[Bilbobaggins2020]

Thanks Monika. Yeah CS5.5!
Changing that setting sort of works but doesn't resolve the issue.

[Monika Gause]

Can you make that value even higher?

I remember that there is a limit to it - you cannot inoput an endlessly high value.

[Bilbobaggins2020]

Hmmm.... making it higher doesn't actually solve the problem... the bounding box remains albeit with minimal "glow".
By altering the radius of the glow it can make the "ghost glow" disappear but that limits the effect I actually want to have on the object. The object & the effect are still seperate as can be seen in the image above. Maybe that is how it works.

I also noticed a similar issue with the "outer glow" effect. 
I suspect the "effects" files are corrupted so I'll see if I can replace them.

[Monika Gause]

The effects are not corrupted - you might just have reached the limit in them.

[Bilbobaggins2020]

You may be right. It may also be an issue with CS5.5.
I tried some other glow effects on various objects including type and the bounding box gets generated each time. I doubt that is "normal". 
Thanks for your input. I'll keep searching for the answer!!! 🙂

[Monika Gause]

Can you please tell us which object sizes we are talking about? How much did you add in the Document raster effects settings? There are just limits to what this can do.

[Bilbobaggins2020]

OK! On double checking my version of Illustrator it is CS5.1 not 5.5 as I thought! DOH!

I replaced all the Plug-ins & Effects from an old backup. The problem remained so that's done & dusted.

What I found was this issue does not seem to happen when adding glow to Type.
If I converted the type to outlines it was OK as well. But there is a procedure you need to go through with it. Basically a New fill should be added to apply the effect to. Here's an example but using Inner Glow: http://vectips.com/tutorials/creating-editable-letterpress-styled-text/

There is a limit to the size of the Glow Effect: Seems to be 6.5 mm. Then the bounding box kicks in. It is there regardless but no effect is applied if the radius is below 6.5.

The object size has no bearing on this from my trials anyway.

I am still puzzled as to why the effect is on a seperate object. This doesn't happen in Photoshop or InDesign Ver CS5.5. Maybe I need to update Illustrator!!!

Anyway, many thanks for your help & interest in this oddity! Regards bilA

[Bilbobaggins2020]

UPDATE 090821

After some more research I found that the Glow Effect is a raster effect. As such it is applied separately to the object so it has a bounding box (presumably) to contain it. Depending on the glow radius setting it may appear in the corners of the bounding box.
Altering the Raster Effects Setting doesn't seem to make any difference to the problem.
For whatever reason this "bounding box" oddity doesn't happen to type even when expanded.
I give up!