illustrator treating transparent background as white

[crunchmouth]

Something weird just started happening where I set up my png sticker files for printing and the transparent backgrounds are being treated as white. Like I can't overlap the transparent outer edges of the designs because it's treated like a white square or rectangle, opposed to just the design. Any ideas on what's going on and how to fix it? I included 2 pics, one showing the overlapping designs on the artboard and the other off the artboard. Thank you!

[Ton Frederiks]

Can you share an example file? I you first image there is a grey background covering the other image, just like the white covering the other image in your second image.

[crunchmouth]

I don't think I understand what you are asking for. The png file is bottom file on the gray background. that is what it should look like.

[crunchmouth]

Oddly though, if I open the png file within illustrator, it doesn't have this problem. The transparent outer edges act as they should - like they are nonexistent. But if I open a new document and start placing pngs on it, that's when the transparent background becomes a solid white or gray or whatever.

[Monika Gause]

Can you share such a PNG?

Which app did you use to create it?

Does it also happen in CPU preview?

[crunchmouth]

Sure. Here is the png. I created it in Illustrator. You can see that everything within the bounding is being treated as a solid, rather than just the image itself. Interestingly, when I go to print preview, it displays as it should. So it's just messed up when I'm working on it in Illustrator.   

[Ton Frederiks]

That is not the png, but a screenshot of a png...

[crunchmouth]

Sorry. My mistake. Here you are. 

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

Thanks, looks like there is nothing wrong with the transparency of that image.

When placed in an Illustrator file, the Links panel says Transparent: Yes.

The regular things to do when Illustrator behaves strange is restart, reset preferences, try CPU Preview.

[crunchmouth]

Thank you! It seems to be working normally when I switch to CPU preview. Apparently I was in GPU preview. I didn't even know those different previews existed. 

[crunchmouth]

Unfortunately, I reset the preferences and restarted Illustrator and the problem persists in GPU preview.

[crunchmouth]

Sorry I didn't even know what you meant when you asked: does it also happen in cpu preview? No it does not. 

[Ton Frederiks]

Good to hear that helped, but it should not be that way.

I saw a similar post of a white background "solved" by switching between GPU and CPU Preview (Cmd or Ctrl E toggles between the two).

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/why-are-all-my-pngs-across-multiple-files-sud...

It would be useful if this is reported at UserVoice:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/

[crunchmouth]

So you ewant me to report this to UserVoice? Should I repost the topic now that I have more information about what's going on? I reset the preferences and uninstalled and reinstalled the program to no avail. Please advise. Thank you.

[Ton Frederiks]

Well, you can report it at Uservoice and mention that switching to CPU Preview shows the transparency, or add your experience to this old report:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/37813777-transp...

[crunchmouth]

Ok thank you

[crunchmouth]

Is rolling back to an earlier version a good option to try and resolve the issue?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Todd35697350lf37,

Could you confirm the version of the OS/Illustrator installed, and if this happens with all PNG files, so I can better assist you?
Also, try running Illustrator under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

[crunchmouth]

Sure. OS is windows 11 pro. Illustrator is 29.5 (64 bit). It does not
happen on all pngs. The problem occurs when I open a new document and place
various pngs on it for printing. However, if I open the png file, there is
no problem. I can even place other pngs in the document and it acts normal.
As I said, it's only when I open a new blank document.

I will try running under a different administrator and let you know if that
does any different.