Images disappearing or turning black

[sydnney2672703868fo]

Illustrator has been increasingly glitchy for a few months now. When working on files, images will randomly turn black or disappear - the image is still clearly there as it highlights blue when I hover my cursor over it, but the photo or graphic will not show up. It usually comes back briefly if I save, close, quit Ai, and reopen, but shortly it will happen again. I am using MacOS Sonoma 14.1.2 with the most updated 2024 version of Illustrator. All my images are .jpg or .png in RGB stored on an external hard drive. I store the images in their proper folders before importing them into the Ai file, so they aren't missing or unlocated. I have noticed it doesn't happen as frequently when I save the project file on Adobe Cloud and work from there, but that doesn't solve my problem completely - still have disappearing images. 

Please help! My workflow is so interrupted by having to close and quit the program every 10 minutes! 

[kglad]

in the future, to find the best place to post your message, use the list here, https://community.adobe.com/

p.s. i don't think the adobe website, and forums in particular, are easy to navigate, so don't spend a lot of time searching that forum list. do your best and we'll move the post (like this one has already been moved) if it helps you get responses.

<"moved from using the community bugs">

[sydnney2672703868fo]

thank you!

[sydnney2672703868fo]

Upon further investigation, it seems that the links are being broken. If I go into the links library, I can manually relink the files and the images will reappear, but I don't understand why this is happening and so frequently. I've been using the same workflow forever and have never had this issue before. 

[Mike_Gondek]

The links should not break if the file path to the files do not change,. You should also show a red chain icon showing the link is broken.

 

You are showing no icon which means the file is embedded. Please flip the triangle underneath to confirm what happened to the file.

 

[Mike_Gondek]

If you are logged into an incorrect account, or maybe you have a slow connection you will have more problems with saving to the cloud. Why not create those gradients in Illustrator instead? If you ned more help please flip the triangle to show the information on the image file in question, so we can better help you.

[sydnney2672703868fo]

None of them have a broken link icon next to it. I did try to embed some of the images to see if that helped - these are the ones that are turning black. Any that are simply linked disappear. Most of the gradients are made in After Effects, Illustrator can't always achieve the look I'm going for. I did make the green and orange gradient in Illustrator though, and even that is disappearing. But it's not just the gradient backgrounds, but also the images and graphics I've made. The longer I work in a project, the more things disappear until it's just text left. 

This is what my links library looks like. Even images that are gone still show the link connected icon next to it and shows the correct location in my folders below. 

[Ton Frederiks]

Try to move them on your internal harddisk. They also have a strange creation date, 6 february 2040.

[annep16849260]

I am also having the same issue! Please fix this Adobe!!

[jaclyn_3201]

I am also having this issue. Has there been any fix?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @jaclyn_3201, @annep16849260,

Would you mind sharing more details, like the version of the OS/Illustrator, if Illustrator behaves this way with all files or files from a specific folder, and a small screen recording of the problem (if possible), so I can better assist you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[jaclyn_3201]

Hi there,

Thanks for getting back to me. I re-downloaded version 28.7.5 of 2025 Illustrator and I haven't experienced the issue since. Potentially something with the latest version? 

I did also try new Beta version and same issue - I took some screenshots when it was happening but note, it was happening on 2025 too. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of work when the bug occured so I'm hestitant to replicate again.

Image 1 shows how the image has disappeared - You can still see a line of what the image was at the top.
Image 2 shows when I'm in Outline View (command + Y) and can see that the image sillhouette is there and I can select it but when I leave Outline View the image is still gone/empty.
The link on the link panel also showed as empty - Sorry I didn't get a screenshot.
Please let me know what you think could be the issue!

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @jaclyn_3201,

Thanks for sharing the details. Could you also provide the following information to help us investigate further:

•Whether this behavior occurs with all files or only files from a specific folder.

•A small screen recording of the issue (if possible).

Additionally, please package the affected file along with its links and share it with us. If the content is confidential, please send the link via DM using services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar.

This will help us investigate the issue more effectively as we’re currently unable to reproduce it on our end.

Looking forward to your response!

Best,

Anshul Saini

[pckgngdsgnrTR]

Hello,

I'm having the same problem.
My device and programme information is as follows; MacOs Seuoia 15.3.2 / Illustrator 29.3.1
There was also the part where I could not get it to video record. I am also having the same problem with linked jpeg and png files.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @pckgngdsgnrTR,

This issue seems more like a GPU rendering glitch than the issue posted by others in this post. Would you mind trying the following?

1. Switch to CPU Preview by going to View > Preview on CPU

2. Then, switch back to GPU Preview (View > GPU Preview)

Let me know if this resolves the issue or if the images reappear temporarily.

Also, could you share a sample AI file along with the images that were linked? This will help me attempt to replicate the issue, as I haven’t been able to do so on my end.

Looking forward to your response!

Best,
Anshul Saini

[pckgngdsgnrTR]

Hello,

I am unable to send it for now as I am facing the same problem when I prepare to send you the file. The problem still persists. please fix it in the next update. It is a big obstacle for me to work fast.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @pckgngdsgnrTR,

Thanks for the update. I tried reproducing the issue on my end using Windows 11 and Illustrator v29.5.1, but I wasn't able to see the same behavior you demonstrated.

When you get a chance, could you please update to the latest Illustrator v29.5.1 and see if the issue still persists?

Also, it would be great if you could try launching your Mac in Safe Mode to help isolate any third-party interferences that might be causing the issue. Reference: Start up your Mac in safe mode. Let me know if the problem continues while in Safe Mode.

Additionally, could you create a new Illustrator file, add a few linked images, and package the file using File > Package? Once that's done, you can upload the packaged folder to any public cloud service like Google Drive, Dropbox, or WeTransfer and share the link with me here (if confidential, share it via DM on the community).

I'll test it out on my end and also connect with the product team for further insights.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Abhishek

[Ton Frederiks]

@pckgngdsgnrTR It looks like a Mac thing, I can reproduce your disappearing screendump and you may want to vote here (although it says solved in beta, it isn't, but Adobe is working on it):

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/49703918-images...

[karina_9096]

Been having the exact same issue for the past couple of months! It doesn't seem to matter whether the links are embedded or not, my images are still turning black or completely disappearing, and actually get worse the more I work on a file. I've sent my ai files to coworkers and it doesn't seem to be an issue for them. Sometimes I can see the image on the artboard but the image ends up exporting all black. Using MacOS Sequoia 15.5 and the latest 2025 version of Illustrator.

I've tried saving images on my external hard drive and internally on my computer but still get the same issue. The creation and modification dates shows as February 6, 2040 for all my links as well so not sure if that could be a separate problem or part of the same bug.

I attached screenshots and a screen recording of the issue on three completely different ai files and projects.

[Studio_Miyabi0278]

Hi there,

Also having this issue and it's incredibly frustrating. I can relink the image and it then appears but after a few minutes of working on the file, the images are gone again. 

Adobe team, please fix this - we pay far too much for an issue like this to go on for so long and it's disruptive to my workflow. 

[Studio_Miyabi0278]

Hi there,

Also having this issue and it's incredibly frustrating. I can relink the image and it then appears but after a few minutes of working on the file, the images are gone again.  Adobe team, please fix this - we pay far too much for an issue like this to go on for so long and it's disruptive to my workflow. 

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Studio_Miyabi0278,

Could you share more details, like the version of the OS/Illustrator installed, if this happens with all files or file from a specific folder location along with a small screen recording of your workflow and the problem, so we can better assist you?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[marcel81]

for me, it happens since v29, first i thought that it happens only when the document was not been saved before,

but even if i save the document, the image disappears - but only sometimes.

[Ton Frederiks]

Marcel, it looks very much like this:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/49703918-images...

[joannax2560345]

I am having these issues for a couple of months now, it's incredibly frustrating. I am relinking the images, and they disappear a second or two later if I move anything on the artboard, it's really not ideal, on a deadline and this is so bad. Please sort it asap! I have to move everything over in Figma now.