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Some time in the last year, Illustrator (which previously worked just fine) has become unusably slow and laggy on my 2011 iMac. Anyone out there have solutions or work-arounds?
I had the same problem in Illustrator CC 2018 22.1 and MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6.
I have a MacBook Pro 15 inch (2017), Intel i7 2.8 GHz, 16 GB RAM, Radeon Pro 555 2048 MB RAM.
I tried to reinstall without retaining preferences. I tried resetting preferences. Nothing worked.
Strangely enough, for me the solution was disabling the dictation feature of MacOS: Illustrator returned fast.
To confirm this, I tried to re-enable the dictation feature in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Dictation: Illustrato
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I'm on a 2011 iMac, 36GB RAM, OS X 10.11.6
I have given up using CC 2018. CC2015.3 still seems to work adequately (I never downloaded 2017). I've stayed with OS X 10.11.6 so I can still use AI CS5 which is MUCH more reliable and snappy than any of the AI CC iterations and has features that were lost in subsequent versions. The only issue I have with CS5, since updating to El Capitan is that it reports a "crash" any time I close the program. It saves and works fine though.
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What version of Illustrator and what version of the Mac OS are you using? Also what version of the Mac OS did your iMac come with?
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Bill, thanks for your questions. I've recently tried versions of Illustrator from CS6 all the way up to the most recent version, with identical results. I'm currently running MasOS10.13.6 Beta (High Sierra), but this problem has been occuring for some time, predating that Beta install. I don't recall the original version of the OS installed on the computer, but whatever was current in mid-2011. Lion, maybe?
Qualitatively, the experience of using Illustrator, it is as though the cursor is selecting and deselecting semi-at random (I assume this results from extensive lag). The upshot is that it is essentially impossible to select or manipulate anything in my files or in the toolbars, and a maddening experience, to boot.
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It is quite possible that your 2011 Mac is just too old to be running High Sierra efficiently. I had a similar situation with an old iMac that kept getting slower and slower as I updated it to later versions of the Mac OS.
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I have the latest Sierra and Adobe CC running on a 2013 Macbook Pro. What worked for me was closing Photoshop while using Illustrator.
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4 years later and this seems to be a big help so far!
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I am having issues with Illustrator too. It is not that is slow or laggy…. but sometimes it freezes. Now this is happening on my one device. I have yet to try it on the other device.
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I too have been having major issues with painfully slow open times, or illustrator not responding at all. It's common for me to experience 3-4 minute open times for 16-38mb illustrator docs.
I'm on a 2017 MBP (2.9 GHZ, 16GB) running High Sierra so this seems pretty ridiculous.
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Hi All,
We are very sorry for the performance issues you are facing with Illustrator. Here are few steps which you may try to enhance Illustrator performance:
Improve Illustrator performance on macOS
Improve Illustrator performance on Windows
Hope it helps!
Regards,
Srishti
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I am dumping my Adobe products. it isn't just CC that is causing issues with my Mac. It is also Adobe Acrobat DC. I have a newer MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM and a perfectly adequate SSD drive. I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get a mainstream app to run on my computer. Time is money, Adobe.
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Hi Thomas,
We are so sorry to hear about this frustrating experience. I can try to help if you can share a few more details about the issue:
Regards,
Srishti
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Srishti,
Just loading it causes problems. Working in Illustrator or any other CC
app causes performance issues. I have to use alternative products that do
not overload my system processors.
I am using macOS Mojave 10.14.5. I don't know the version of Illustrator.
I uninstalled all Adobe apps, yesterday. I had just downloaded it, so it
had to be the most current version. All of my Adobe apps were up to date.
On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 3:01 PM srishtib8795206 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>
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thomaso31515832 schrieb
I am using macOS Mojave 10.14.5.
On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 3:01 PM srishtib8795206 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>
Is the dictation feature turned off in the system?
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Yes
On Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 4:21 PM Monika Gause <forums_noreply@adobe.com>
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Do you have iCloud synching running?
It's known to interfere some way with Illustrator.
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Thanks for the information shared above. I would need a few more details like:
Go to Spotlight
Search for Console.
Go to User Reports and share the last report related to Illustrator.
Regards,
Srishti
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None of this things is causing the problem. It happens to all files
accessed from my SSD or USB drive.
I have been in IT for almost 40 years. I have worked in and managed
software development, infrastructure, and security. I have looked at
everything you have already asked. Further, the app doesn't crash. It
just increases processor use so much that my machine grinds to almost a
stop. It is the only app that does this. It isn't just Illustrator.
Acrobat also does this.
I believe this is a problem with CC. When watching my Activity Monitor, I
see multiple Adobe processes running that are related to CC. These affect
overall system performance, even if I have not loaded any CC apps. If I
kill the CC processes, performance significantly improves.
And, no, reloading the app does not help.
What completely solved the problem was removing all CC products from my
computer. I reinstalled it, problems restarted. Uninstalled it, problem
went away.
Regards,
Tom Olzak
On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 3:06 PM srishtib8795206 <forums_noreply@adobe.com>
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thomaso31515832 schrieb
None of this things is causing the problem. It happens to all files
accessed from my SSD or USB drive.
So it doesn't happen with files on the internal harddisk?
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My SSD drive is internal.
On Thu, Jun 20, 2019 at 8:04 AM Monika Gause <forums_noreply@adobe.com>
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Thanks for sharing all this information. Next steps from here would be live troubleshooting session. I would request if you can reach our chat support at Contact Customer Care.
Click on the link shared above and click the small chat icon on the bottom right corner.
Regards!
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It is every version of Illustraitor CC on all Mac OS versions on all hardware confihurations. Illustrrator CC is very slow and buggy when the CS6 version ran perfectly.
One particular workflow which broke when upgrading to CC is copying transparent images to the clipboard. My cursor turns into a beachball and it takes 30 seconds to process. This is weather the image is linked or embedded. When I convert the photo to JPG it works fine but then I lose my transparent background.
I have a top of the line 2019 Macbook Pro. This shouldn't be happening.
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I had the same problem in Illustrator CC 2018 22.1 and MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6.
I have a MacBook Pro 15 inch (2017), Intel i7 2.8 GHz, 16 GB RAM, Radeon Pro 555 2048 MB RAM.
I tried to reinstall without retaining preferences. I tried resetting preferences. Nothing worked.
Strangely enough, for me the solution was disabling the dictation feature of MacOS: Illustrator returned fast.
To confirm this, I tried to re-enable the dictation feature in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Dictation: Illustrator
became laggy again.
UPDATE: I also found that the bug is known and reported on UserVoice. Here's the link:
Click and touch release problems Illustrator CC 2018 Mac High Sierra - cause dictation software – Ad...
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Thanks so much for posting this!
I have a 2018 MacBook Pro running High Sierra 10.13.6 and Illustrator CC 2018, 22.1 and it was bringing my entire system to its knees just having Illustrator running, let alone trying to do any work or click on an object.
Turning off dictation in the keyboard settings 100% solved it for me and now I can get back to work.
Thanks again!
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Disabling Dictation worked for me also