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Question

Moving a pattern inside a shape

Forum|Forum|2 months ago
November 5, 2025
3 replies
384 views

I used to use the tilde (~) shortcut in Illustrator (Direct Selection Tool, A) to move the pattern inside a shape without moving the shape itself. In previous versions, I could see the pattern move live while dragging, which made it easy to know where to release the mouse.

Since updating to Illustrator 2026, I can still move the pattern, but the live preview no longer works, I only see where it ends up after releasing the mouse.

How can I fix this?

CarlosCanto

Community Expert

I've got you,

1. press "~"

2. click and drag with the Direct Selection Tool (A)

3. press Shift, while still dragging

4. release Shift

5. keep dragging, now you see the pattern move

update: pressing Shift did not work on my office computer, but pressing Alt did

Kurt Gold

Community Expert

Looks like your instruction does not work in non-English versions of Illustrator, Carlos.

Even if one takes the various international equivalents of "~".

Doesn't work as it used to work.

CarlosCanto

Community Expert

it doesn't work??? how sad, I thought I discovered a workaround

does it not work at all on your side? my situation (with my English setup) was as described by the OP, pressing the "~" key works but does not live update until one releases the mouse

I only introduced the pressing and releasing the Shift key

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Sophie, the behaviour has indeed changed, it works (seeing the pattern move inside the object) in 2024 and earlier and stopped working like that in 2025 and 2026. See attached screenrecording.

move_patterns.zip

S

sophie_2628Author

New Participant

I see, but the weird thing is that, yesterday, before installing Illustrator 2026, it worked like in the first clip of your video. And that was Illustrator 2025. It also still works that way for my colleague and she also went from 2025 to 2026. We just can't figure out how to get it back on my Illustrator.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

That is indeed weird. I have multiple versions installed and it only works in 2023 and 2024. I tried resetting 2025 but that had no effect. Idid change my OS from Sonoma to Sequoia last night.

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

Are you using the CPU Preview? Is Preferences > Performance > Real-Time Drawing and Editing checked?

GPU Preview and ~ shows the pattern moving for me, but it does not show how it will be clipped by the path until I release the move tool (as it does when using the arrow keys).

S

sophie_2628Author

New Participant

Yes, that’s checked. The shape moves, as if I want to move it, and then, when I release the tilde (~) and stop dragging the print. The shape snaps back into place, to show how the print has moved. But before this update I could see how I was moving the print, live.

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