Illustrator crashes when I click the text selection in my Control Panel

[stanj35354233]

At first, I would select the text option to see what text i'd like to use from the toolbar at the top of the program, it works fine but it does not give me the example of how the text looks. So from the "character" panel  in the control panel, when i select the drop down box, the program either crashes or it will show me the font list all "whited" out. Can someone help me correct this issue?

[Monika Gause]

So this is CS5?

Which system?

Do you use font management? Is it compatible with Illustrator and the system?

Have you checked your fonts for corruption?

[stanj35354233]

It's CS4.

Mac 10.12.2 Siera

[Mike_Gondek]

CS5 came out in 2008 Sierra came out in 2016. Suggest you do not upgrade your OS until you update an older software you need to still function.

The  previewing of your font is likely what is crashing your system.

Quickest solution is  remove  fonts you do not use. Most suspect are:

• Old type 1 technology fonts (shown by "a" in find font
• Free fonts

Use Font Book to validate fonts, or a commercial tool such as font doctor.

You can flash your font cache a number of ways. Footnote is free and one of the most thorough.

https://www.jamapi.com/products/fontnuke/

Please reply to let us know your findings and the name/source of the font, so others will know what  to avoid.

[stanj35354233]

Thank you Mike. That did not work. From Illustrator I was able to get a screen shot of what happens when I click the pulldown menu of the character window...See attached. The "blue" highlighted area is where I have the cursor. So a) it simply crashes when i click the pull down menu, or b) it looks like the attached image where it is difficult to see the FONT's image. Still in need for help. Thanks

[Monika Gause]

That's not a crash.

That's just your transparency setting in the System Setup > Accessibility.

A crash would be when Illustrator shuts down or just would not respond.

[Jacob Bugge]

Stan,

To elaborate on what Monika said, I believe this may solve it:

Open System Preferences and go to Accessibility. Next, select Display from the source list along the left, then check the box labelled Reduce transparency.

It was first presented in this post #15 by TheUlser:

https://forums.adobe.com/message/6854594#6854594

It has been described on this page too:

http://capitalmacservice.com/font-preview-working-illustrator-cs-5-yosemite-fix/

It may also depend on the monitor, as it appears from post #29 by Loncar in the same thread.

[stanj35354233]

Thank you guys. That did not solve it...

Apparently its a "sensitivity" issue with Illustrator. Not sure. Works fine from the top pull down menu of Illustrator. Issue only occurs when I click the pull down menu from the TYPE/CHARACTER window, It simply refuses to display the FONT.

[Monika Gause]

Replace "sensitivity" with "incompatibility"

[Mike_Gondek]

Your second screenshot was much more on target. Glad you posted  that as you original post was misleading. We struggle with this on the forums often, but really appreciate when posters as yourself attempt to be clear, concise (but provide enough detail) and visual.