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Illustrator artwork/objects disappearing on Mac

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
January 23, 2017
23 replies
32338 views

Hi all,

I'm using Illustrator CC on my MacBook Pro Retina (2015), running Sierra. Processor is 2.2GHz with Intel Core i7 and I have 16GB of RAM.

Often when using Illustrator (in fact very often, after around 50% of my actions), objects and artwork will be "cut off" and disappear from view, seemingly invisible. This most commonly occurs when I'm zoomed in on an object or group, perform some action, and then zoom out again; when I zoom out, any object that was outside the boundaries of my screen will become invisible.

An example:

I have a few groups of objects scattered around my artboard. I zoom in on one group, leaving the other groups partially out of view. I isolate my intended group, and make some adjustments to the objects in that group. I then exit isolation mode for that group, and zoom out.

Now any objects that were outside of the boundaries of my screen when zoomed in are not showing. In order to get them to show again I must zoom in or out a few times and scroll the screen left or right a bit to shake it out of this weird issue. The invisible objects will then reappear.

It doesn't matter if the missing objects were in a group or ungrouped or anything like that - as long as the object was out of view then it will disappear when I zoom out again. The objects are still there - they just can't be seen. If I cmd+A then I can see the object outlines.

As you can imagine, this has a huge impact on my workflow, having to constantly "shake the artboard around" in order to see all of my work. I never had this issue when I used Illustrator on a Windows OS - only since I got my MacBook. My machine has fairly good specs (see above) and I'm sure it should be able to handle Illustrator without these weird graphical performance issues. It doesn't seem to matter which version of Illustrator or which macOS I'm running; I've always had this issue since I first bought it.

Has anybody else experienced this problem, or does anybody have some advice as to what it could be and how I can resolve it?

Many thanks in advance. Let me know if you need more information.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Chris-911

I tested this thoroughly and came to a conclusion. The only time that the artwork will be missing is when you use the pinch to zoom on your trackpad or possibly on your Wacom tablets. If I use the normal zoom (cmd+spacebar+left click and drag) on my mac it never does that. If I start using the pinch to zoom on my trackpad either on my late 2013 Macbook pro or my 2014 iMac 5K dislpay, it starts to act up again. Since I've been using the (cmd+space bar) shortcut I never had this issue. It would be fun if Adobe could fix this issue with the track pad cause it would be very convenient to use it in this way.

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AtomCreativeMediaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Nice find, Chris-911, it never occurred to me that the trackpad might be part of the issue. I just tried it using my trackpad, and then my magic mouse and you're right - no problem using the mouse.

Still don't know if I'd call this an Apple issue or an Adobe issue. Is it hardware or software? This could suggest however that it's nothing to do with graphics cards, right? Or no?

Either way at least this is something to go on. Good tip from agilitation_romain, hitting CMD+E twice. Up till now I was just zooming in and out and panning left and right a few times to get all my objects back.

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Anonymous

If you pull down the "View" across the top and go to GPU Preview, click on that, it allows the view of the whole dartboard to be viewed at various sizes zooming in and out.

A

agilitation_romain

Participant

Same here on two different MBP. Both have Radeon graphic cards.

Have to hit command-E twice to make the graphics appear.

N

nigelholderby

Participant

Well, I'm having this issue as well on a MBP with the following specs:

Retina 15", Mid 2015

Intel 2.8GHz Core i7

16GB DDR3 RAM

Intel Iris Pro 1536MB

AMD Radeon R9 M370X

Mac OS Sierra 10.12.5

Also, Illustrator CC has been updated to the latest version.

I'm trying to do a logo for a friend, and this is driving me bonkers! As Chris-911 mentioned above, it does seem to happen while I'm using pinch to zoom on my trackpad. I do that a lot while doing work like this, zooming in and out a lot to get a detailed view of things. Bits and pieces of my work randomly disappear, and only saving, quitting Illustrator, and then restarting it brings it back temporarily.

I'm going to zoom via other means until a fix is issued.

timeasley

Known Participant

I'm having the exact same problem on my 2017 model MBP. Real annoying since I use the pinch zoom A LOT while working.

Chris-911Correct answer

Participant

I tested this thoroughly and came to a conclusion. The only time that the artwork will be missing is when you use the pinch to zoom on your trackpad or possibly on your Wacom tablets. If I use the normal zoom (cmd+spacebar+left click and drag) on my mac it never does that. If I start using the pinch to zoom on my trackpad either on my late 2013 Macbook pro or my 2014 iMac 5K dislpay, it starts to act up again. Since I've been using the (cmd+space bar) shortcut I never had this issue. It would be fun if Adobe could fix this issue with the track pad cause it would be very convenient to use it in this way.

A

AtomCreativeMediaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Chris-911 wrote
I tested this thoroughly and came to a conclusion. The only time that the artwork will be missing is when you use the pinch to zoom on your trackpad or possibly on your Wacom tablets. If I use the normal zoom (cmd+spacebar+left click and drag) on my mac it never does that. If I start using the pinch to zoom on my trackpad either on my late 2013 Macbook pro or my 2014 iMac 5K dislpay, it starts to act up again. Since I've been using the (cmd+space bar) shortcut I never had this issue. It would be fun if Adobe could fix this issue with the track pad cause it would be very convenient to use it in this way.

This is the closest we've come to being able to localise the problem. I'd put it down to an Adobe issue, in that they need to fix their apps to be compatible with the hardware (i.e. the trackpad). It's pretty major hardware too, not something obscure or little-used.

At least we know that it's not something that we can fix ourselves, and it's in the hands of The Big A. Let's hope they pull their finger out however I have a feeling we shouldn't hold our breath. Shame, since we're spending no small amount of cash on these products and services.

Marking Chris's answer as the correct one. Thanks everybody for getting involved.

Peace out!

G

Graphicosaur

Participating Frequently

Update:

several phone calls and online chats later...

The guys at Apple were helpful, after trying everything they can remotely, they offered to replace my machine with a brand new one, after Adobe said it'll take weeks or possibly months until they know for sure what's wrong. I got my new machine two weeks ago but unfortunately the problem is still there which now to me it says is most likely a software issue; whether is a drive or a software I'm not sure.

Adobe also got back to me at the same time, informing me that they have now managed to replicate the issue in the 'lab' and are now looking at it (about 2 weeks ago), they'll get back to me as soon as they know more.

A

Athletic1

Participant

I'm curious to see what they tell you. I have 2 new iMacs, one running illustrator CC 2015 and the other running illustrator CC 2017 and both are doing this exact same thing. its really annoying.

brentc52622623

Participant

Hello from Aus, experiencing the same issue.

I dont think the system is the cause, I've got a brand new MacBook Pro 15" and it does exactly the same thing. It's infuriating constantly zooming in and out to make sure your objects haven't completely dropped off the artboard.

MacBook Pro 15" with Touchbar (late 2016)

OS: osSierra 10.12.4

Memory: 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3

Storage: 2TB (currently at 10% capacity, so next to nothing)

Admire your patience here. Did you make any progress? My money is on Adobe being the culprit.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

There has been an update to Sierra that fixes several issues: 10.12.5

elishaj89846018

Participant

I have been having this issue for months!! Driving me mad!

I am also on a MacBook Pro, Rentina 15 inch. 2.2 Ghz processor. 16GB 1600 Mhz.

Mainly commenting to keep tabs on the issue as like OP, I can only get my objects or guides back by Command + A and a lot of zooming and fidgeting.

Hoping they fix it at some point, we pay them enough!

G

Graphicosaur

Participating Frequently

GreatSplott

Update:

Numerous calls and screen sharing sessions with apple and adobe (at different times), over the past few weeks, have not been conclusive.

I feel a little like a ping pong ball really, each company is putting the 'blame' on the other and asking me to contact the other for drivers, updates, known issues etc etc...it feels aimlessly.

I was talking to apple in fact this morning who looked at some of my screen recordings and information gathered from my machine, after adobe asked me to get in touch with apple for drivers updates. Apple 'suggested' I try their own design software instead as they were designed for their computers :0 i was a bit 'like, what?' lol

Anyhow, so i got in touch with adobe straight after and told them no new drivers were available and now the ball is with them, who've asked, again, to see me replicating the problem over screen share and also send them the screen grab recordings, again!

I dont think anyone has a clue of what is going on really, I'll be on another call with adobe tomorrow after they examined my recordings.

A

AtomCreativeMediaAuthor

Participating Frequently

I don't envy your frustration. I could have guessed that there would be no small amount of innocent holding up of hands and saying "Who, me?". Such is the way with global giants unfortunately.

Your dedication is admirable, however I don't expect you'll get far with the pass-the-buck mentality you're currently battling against with these guys! I myself have resigned to simply accepting that this is how it is right now. Maybe one day a fix will be made. Then again, perhaps one day I'll be able to afford a small sized popcorn and coke in my local cinema.

I hope I'm wrong - I look forward to hearing back from you!

G

Graphicosaur

Participating Frequently

The only reason I keep trying is because I've spent an enormous amount of money on apple and adobe subscriptions.

This issue has made me start looking at alternative software. I had no idea that google is making attempts to have a piece of the design pie

S_Gans

Community Expert

I've been reading more and more about problems with Illustrator and some other Adobe apps and Sierra. All the problems seem to relate to specific GPU's (MOST notably, the Nvidia cards, but I'd imagine there're a few other cards that'd be affected as well). Something about Sierra. I know that on one post regarding the Nvidia cards, an Adobe representative responded that they fixed the problem with their new pre-release. Hopefully, that'll also resolve the issue with your card as well. Take a look at this post to get an idea of what's going on (Illustrator CRITICAL Nvidia card bug )
What you describe DEFINITELY sounds like a problem with the GPU. If Adobe's fix on the upcoming release of the software doesn't fix it for your card, I'd strongly recommend writing to the Feature Request/Bug Report Form and letting them know it's happening with your software too.

Something about Sierra and the new versions....

Adobe Community Expert / Adobe Certified Instructor

B

benp78748380

Participant

I've been having this exact same problem! Glad I'm not alone. GreatSplott's example is spot on for me too.

I have a MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013, 2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, and Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB. Using the latest version of Illustrator CC 2017 21.0.2 (though it has been happening for a while with previous versions).

@MonikaGause Switching to CPU preview doesn't fix the issue, and it also doesn't seem to matter how many objects are in the file - could be many, in multiple groups, or could be 2 or 3 simple ungrouped objects.

It really does kill my workflow (it happens well over 50% of the time for me). I haven't found zooming very effective at getting the missing objects back, but scrolling the missing objects out of view and then back works for me.

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