Participant

Answered

Images within opacity masks shift when reopening document

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
February 26, 2025
9 replies
6862 views

I have placed images for backgrounds and inside of masks. Everything is scaled and positioned correctly. When I save my file and re-open it the next day, some of the placed image files have moved out of position significantly (image attached).

If I embed the images the problem disappears but significantly slows down my project and increases file size. This bug makes the 'place file' functionality redundant as I cannot send over files if things will only re-open incorrectly when handing the package off to artworkers or client.

Thanks in advance.

Bug

Correct answer FilipGrz

Sure. Looking forward to your response.

Thanks,

Harshika

There has been an update now for Illustrator and I cannot replicate the problem anymore so probably they fixed it. I will write if I encounter this again.

L

Laura28401647wwnr

Participant

On which Illustrator version is the fix? I am using illustrator version 29.4 on a Macbook Pro and the issue remains.
Does anyone anyone else still have the issue? Thx

L

LaPope79

Participant

Has anyone else encountered this:

Import a linked image into an illustrator document
Use it as a mask
Duplicate and transform the graphic (including mask)
Save the file and close
Reopen the file
Observe that the second image/mask has lost its transform properties and moved to the centre of the artboard

It's incredibly annoying when I use this workflow on nearly all the work I do, and it seems not to have been picked up as a fairly major bug.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Looks like this problem:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447/suggestions/49690523

L

LaPope79

Participant

Ahh yes, thank you!

Will keep an eye on it 🙂

J

jose_litofinter

Participant

Hola!

Primera vez que posteo aqui, casi nunca me ha dado problemas gordos Illustrator.
La verdad es que no se si es un problema o es que yo no se hacerlo (aunque llevo mas de 15 años artefinalizando documentos con camas de blanco, reservas brillo o mate y tintas planas).
El caso es que desde hace un par de meses me he topado con un problema con las mascaras de opacidad y las tipicas reservas brillo o mate hechas con tiffs en negro. Resulta que cada vez que abro el documento, Illustrator me coloca la imagen en negros, pero lo hace a su resolucion original, descolocandome esa reserva y liandomela parda en el AAFF. Esa misma imagen en negros la utilizo por ejemplo para un golpe en seco sin que vaya embebida en una mascara de opacidad y si que me la deja colocada en su sitio exacto y al tamaño que hace falta. Me ha pasado con bastantes documentos ya. A ver si alguien sabe algo de esto o le ha pasado. Gracias de antemano! 🙂

A

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @jose_litofinter,

I tried to replicate this behavior on my end but could not. Could you share more details, like the version of the OS/Illustrator installed, and a link to a sample AI/TIFF file along with a small screen recording of your exact workflow after uploading them to a file-sharing service, so I can check this with the team?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

J

jose_litofinter

Participant

Hi @Anubhav M !
I'm using the 29.4 version of Illustrator running on Ventura 13.6.2 on an IMac Intel i5.
I can upload a pair of screenshots of the opacity mask and how it opens and how it supposed to be.
First one it's how it opens and the second one is placing it in the right place.
Hope it helps you! 🙂

F

FilipGrz

Inspiring

So, this is the issue I have been dealing with for some time now. I have Illustrator version 29.5.1.

I make a new file, for example put some text and couple of images. I save the .ai file with the option to include linked files. Next time I open the file, the images are displaced. I don't know why and how to fix this.

I run Adobe on Macbook M1 Max on Sequoia 15.5

A

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @FilipGrz,

Are you dragging and dropping your images in Illustrator? If yes, please try using the Place command (File>Place) to link/embed your pictures and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

F

FilipGrz

Inspiring

Thanks for your answer, I will try to only place them. So far have been dragging and dropping them as it is much easier and faster.
will let you know if problem persist once I use file place option..

P

Ping_1985

Participant

Since last one or two month, I have noticed a strange issue reguarding with my Illustrator.

When I put an Image (not vactor) into an Illustrator file, mask it, save the thing and close the app, than re-open it, that very Image will always got re-positioned way higher (in y-axis) than it was.

Although I do not require this function very often, it really borders me whenever I do.

Every Image I put into any Illustrator files have this same issue, and it always happen on 1st save and load after putting in each image.

If I put like 10 images at once, and do the save & load, they all got moved.

But if I re-position them back into place after a load, they will not move again.

A

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @Ping_1985,

The product team is aware of this problem and is investigating it. Please upvote the UserVoice for this request (https://adobe.ly/45nPOJT) and add your comments there. Doing this will help us prioritize this request, and you will be notified of any updates.

Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.
Anubhav

M

MarcoElsy

Participant

This has started happeneing to me as of yesterday. But without opacity masks. I have muliple instances of a logo on multiple artboards and they all moved in the same way upon re-opening the file. I opened the same file today and a diffferent set of images have moves in the same direction by roughly the same amount.

A

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello everyone,

The product team is aware of this problem and is currently investigating it. I would request you to upvote the UserVoice for this request (https://adobe.ly/45nPOJT) and add your comments there. Doing this will help us prioritize this request, and you will be notified of any updates.

Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.
Anubhav

Egor Chistyakov

Inspiring

The actual bug report about shiftin images within opacity masks is here

Still not fixed in Beta. The team is aware, but please still upvote it.

J

jose_litofinter

Participant

I tested it this morning with the Beta version and it worked fine for me. If you can download it and try it as well to compare, that would be great.

sishamIAGD

Community Expert

Can you provide us with a step-bystep process you use to see if we can replicate your issue?

C

Charles27340089bkc9Author

Participant

Sure thing. All is explained in the attached PDF - a very basic demo and step by step. I believe it is only an issue when placing linked files inside of transparency masks.

Placed_file_in_mask_bug_step-by-step.pdf

C

Charles27340089bkc9Author

Participant

I can repeat the bug following your steps.

In my test the image disappeared because it was scaled and moved outside the mask area.

Please report it here:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/

I've just typed out the report but have noticed this has been flagged by other users. Hopefully this will be resolved

leaha75783371

Participant

Hi there!

I've been using Illustrator for a few years now but have been experiencing this problem just recently for the first time. A lot of the work I do includes creating/working off of templates where many photos can be dropped into a clipping mask frame. When I save the file to work on later, however, all the photos have shifted slightly upwards within the clipping mask/path. It takes me a while to shift all the photos back to where they were which is tedious and time consuming. Does anyone know why this is happening/what I can do to fix this issue? (My software is up to date and I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling the desktop app incase it's just a bug issue.)

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!! 🙂

A

Anubhav M

Community Manager

Hello @leaha75783371,

Would you mind checking if Illustrator behaves this way with new files and when using an earlier version of Illustrator (https://adobe.ly/4hTwGXz)? Also, kindly confirm the current version of the OS/Illustrator installed, and screenshots of the problem, so I can check it with the team.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

leaha75783371

Participant

Thanks for your response - I've taken a screen recording of the problem. This file was created yesterday and when I saved it, all masked photos were in the correct position. I opened the file today, and they had all shifted upwards (see attached video). I'm currently using 29.2.1 (64-bit) version of Illustrator but have installed last year's 28.0 version, as per your advice. I opened the same document with the older verison of Ilustrator only to be met with the same issue, however. 😕😕

I've also noticed that a lot of the photos that are shifting out of place have been automatically embedded without me doing so and when I attempt to unembed them, the file window pops up with the file type set as a Photoshop image (when the images haven't been editted in Photoshop/are not Photoshop files) - I've attached a screenshot of the pop-up, as well. When it's a new file with new photos, embedding the image typically works to prevent the issue, but if I don't do so, the next time I open the file they've all shifted and the images have automatically embedded. Very strange.

Hopefully this all makes sense! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Recording_2025-02-27_095351.zip

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