New Participant

Question

Illustrator suddenly switching to CPU preview, GPU preview greyed out

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
January 16, 2023
15 replies
26420 views

I have a document with some large images that suddenly switches my view to CPU Preview shortly after opening, or sometimes when zooming. It'll freeze for a moment before switching to CPU, and GPU Preview will be greyed out. I was able to fix this temporarily by switching to Outline, saving, then closing and reopening the file, but it keeps happening regardless. Does anyone know what's causing this, or how to fix it?

D

defaultbj1empfe1wqt

New Participant

First. If you have a computer that has good enough GPU, CPU and memory and you have not had the issue before.... then you need a new GPU most likely. If it is not the GPU then you need to rebuild the operating system. Happens to me all the time. I rebuild Windows once every three months and it fixes the issue.

If this happens all the time since the first time using Illustrator then you need a better computer. Illustrator takes a ton of computer to use.

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adrianjx

Known Participant

Here are the steps to reproduce it (again):

1. IMPORTANT STEP: Under Preferences - > User Interface -> Canvas Colour -> Change to "White"

2. File -> New Document

3. View -> Show Grid. NOTE THAT WE ARE STILL IN GPU MODE

4. View -> Outline. NOTE THAT WE ARE NOW STUCK IN CPU MODE

This bug is real.
Happens on a new, blank document, or any document you turn the grid on and switch to outline, with AI prefs Canvas Colour set to White.
It's repeatable, on multiple machines and multiple MacOS, including latest Sequoia, and latest illustrator: 29.0.1
It has existed for multiple versions of Illustrator.
I have plenty of RAM, CPU, GPU, HD space.
Try it for yourself. Follow the above steps!

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @adrianjx,

Thanks for sharing the details. I was able to replicate this behavior on my end. Kindly allow me some time to check this with the team.

Anubhav

K

konrathink

Participating Frequently

Illustrator '24 and '25 still have this issue for me. It's always after I zoom in really close and then zoom out. I've been using the '23 version for the past few years without issue.

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fati_say4049

New Participant

change your image color profile to match your color Illustrator profile and mac color profile, for example, if your Mac color profile is sRGB IEC61966-2.1, so should be your Adobe Illustrator and your image color profile is sRGB IEC61966-2.1, boom your problem is solved.

prop281218

Participating Frequently

9 October 2024 and this bug still persists. I would much rather we only had releases every two or three years if it meant the developer team just spent the time making Adobe's very expensive software solid and not like living in a constant beta!

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @prop281218,

I am sorry to hear about your experience. Would you mind confirming if Illustrator behaves this way with specific files? If so, please share a sample file and confirm the OS/Illustrator version and the system specs (CPU/GPU/Displays used) so I can check it with the team.

To share the file, kindly upload it to a file-sharing service like Google Drive / Dropbox and share a link here or via DM.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

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adrianjx

Known Participant

Steps to reproduce on October 9, 2024 in Illustrator 28.7.1 (Mac OS 15.0.1, Macbook Pro M1 Max, 64Gb Ram):

1. In AI Preferences -> User Interface -> Canvas Color -> Set this option to "White"

2. Create a new AI file of any type: File -> New

3. Turn on grid: View -> Show Grid — note that we are still in GPU mode.

4. Now Switch to view outlines: View -> Outline — Note that Ai switched to CPU mode and can't go back unless you close the file and open it new again.

- This is file independant.

- This has been happening for several versions of AI, across several versions of MacOS.

- I'm shocked not a sinlge Adobe person has been able to follow these simple steps to see this for themsleves.

At this point I don't think Adobe knows how to fix this issue.

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fedelanzarotta

New Participant

This is ridicoulous, 5950x, 128gb ram, 3090ti, 100+ euros a month in adobe, 4000+ in pc, but I cannot use gpu accelleration on 99% of my work because it involved a lot of CMYK for print.... ADOBE PLEASE STOP ABUSING YOUR CUSTOMERS. PUSH ACTUAL FIXES, THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM IN 2024

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slmarc

New Participant

This is what helped me at least to balance workload without raging at computer. It's a fix that works temporarily for me, but I'm sharing cause you never know. This is working atm but I still fail to get a consistent performance out of illustrator. I disable all my external monitors and use a generic default color workspace usually thegeneric apple or windows color profile then I match system and illustrator. That allows me to do the groundwork without loosing zoom then i put back calibrated profile to review the work. Have issues on 3 different machine 3080TI on PC, MacStudio M2 at work, Macbook M1 all suffer with gpu issues. If I dar add images to my board embbeded or not illustrator dies and gpu gets greyed out.

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Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @fedelanzarotta,

We understand that encountering technical issues can be frustrating. Would you mind trying to update the OS/Illustrator to the latest version to check if it helps? (https://adobe.ly/3K9Lnqg) (https://adobe.ly/4bDMN88)

Also, try performing a clean reinstallation of the GPU drivers (Intel / NVIDIA / AMD), setting the Graphics Preference to High-Performance for Illustrator (https://adobe.ly/3K7Ghec), and running Illustrator under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

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adrianjx

Known Participant

This issue still exists in Illustrator 28.1

Love how Adobe support is still asking for examples of how this works.

Literally open AI.
New document.
Turn on grid.
Switch to outline preview.
Boom... see it switch from GPU to CPU preview, and you can't go back.

Every time this happens, I end up looking at other software for my vector drwaing needs.

It's 2024, could we have this fixed? Please?

Monika Gause

Brainiac

@adrianjx schrieb:

This issue still exists in Illustrator 28.1

Which system?

Which version of Illustrator?

Which graphic card?

Are you using a Studio driver? Illustrator does not like gaming drivers.

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adrianjx

Known Participant

Apple M1 Max - 64GB RAM, 2TB HD (lots of room)

MacOS Sonoma 14.2.1

Illustrator 28.1

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Daníel Ágúst23679296v0kk

New Participant

Same here! Having this issue as well constantly. Illustrator goes to CPU mode within minutes and GPU is greyed out. Hope Adobe fixes the issue quick as it's very bad for workflow.

Running Illustrator 27.8.1 on a standard MacBook Pro 13-inch, M1, 2020

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hello @Daníel Ágúst23679296v0kk,

I understand how frustrating it can be to encounter performance issues while working in Adobe Illustrator. Let's try to address this together.

To get a clearer picture and provide you with more targeted assistance, could you please provide a bit more information?

Please confirm which version of macOS you are currently using.
Please share screenshot of your color profile assigned & color settings from the edit menu.
Does this issue happen while working on a specific file, or does it occur across all your files in Illustrator? Understanding if it's file-specific can help narrow down the problem.

Also, please update your Adobe Illustrator to the latest version, v27.9, and see if that helps!

If the problem persists even after updating to v27.9, it would be immensely helpful if you could create a screen recording that captures the issue in action. You can share this recording with us, which will significantly assist in diagnosing and finding a solution.

Your input and these details will assist us in providing you with the most effective support. We're here to help you get back to a smooth workflow in Adobe Illustrator.

Best,

Anshul Saini

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boneadventure

Participating Frequently

Hi all! Looks like update 27.4 fixed the issue.

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Doodlebug68

New Participant

I'm still having this issue on 27.4.1

Anshul_Saini

Community Manager

Hi @Doodlebug68,

We are sorry to hear that you're still experiencing this issue. Our product team has worked hard to address this in version 27.4.1, but GPU configurations & workflows can vary greatly.

Would you mind telling us what actions you performed before the GPU switch to CPU and confirming your system specifications, including CPU, GPU make & model, and OS version with build number? We'll do our best to help you resolve this issue.

Thanks,

Anshul Saini

B

boneadventure

Participating Frequently

My little research has shown that the preview mode changes if the cmyk document contains cmyk images. In a cmyk document with rgb images or an rgb document with rgb/cmyk images, there is no gpu to cpu preview switching when zooming. I think it's a bug. My system: i58400, 32 Gb, GTX1650, Asus PA329C, windows 11, Illustrator 27.2