Random issue with color flickering in Illustrator.

[Guiarderius]

The issue is that colors randomly flicker within the workspace. This only happens in the workspace, as you can see in the video, where menu and tool elements do not flicker. This issue is unique to Illustrator. Thank you in advance for your help!

[Guiarderius]

I forgot to mention that the colors flicker when I move the cursor or zoom. Thank you!

[Monika Gause]

Which MacOS is it?

Does that also happen when you turn off the GPU preview?

[Guiarderius]

It's MacOs Ventura 13.4. Now I'm noticing that when I switch to CPU preview, besides the change in performance and it becoming very slow, the colors are also affected. It seems that when the error occurs, the program intermittently switches from CPU preview to GPU preview, but at no point does it lose performance. It mainly causes visual disturbance.

[Guiarderius]

I usually work with GPU preview because it's how the program runs faster. As the issue is random, I haven't had the chance to verify if it also occurs when I switch to CPU preview. When it happens again, I will check and let you know. Thanks.

[Monika Gause]

You're welcome.

Please report back if it keeps coming.

You then might need to have Customer Care look into it. you can also contact them via https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html They can login your system.

[Guiarderius]

Yes, thanks. Now I've encountered the error again while working, and switching from GPU preview (which I always use) to CPU preview has stopped it. I am attaching a video in which it can be seen.

However, I can't work with CPU preview as it is very slow, and I understand there shouldn't be any issue working with GPU. Could this suggest that there is something wrong with my graphics card? Or could it be a compatibility issue with Illustrator? I'm working on a Macbook M1 Max. 

If we see that there is no solution, I will check with Customer Care. Thank you.

[Anshul_Saini · Accepted solution]

Hi @Guiarderius,

Thank you for providing additional details about the color flickering issue in Adobe Illustrator on your Mac running macOS Ventura 13.4. The fact that switching from GPU preview to CPU preview temporarily resolves the problem is indeed interesting.

To further investigate and help you, could you please:

• Check if you encounter the issue after upgrading your macOS to the latest version (macOS Sonoma).
• Share information about your external monitor setup if you are using one.
• Provide details about your Mac's specifications (such as the model, RAM, etc.).
• Share a screenshot of your color settings in Adobe Illustrator.

This information will assist us in understanding the issue better and providing more targeted assistance. If the problem persists, reaching out to Customer Care is a good step, and they can log into your system to explore further possibilities.

Thank you for your cooperation, and we'll do our best to help you resolve this issue.

Best,

Anshul Saini

[Guiarderius]

Thank you very much, everyone. I've been working for a week the same way, but after updating MacOS to Sonoma, it's working perfectly for now. So, it was probably just that... sorry and thank you very much!

[t3l3monst3r]

I already have Sonoma 14.6 installed on a brand new Mac Studio and yet the flickering in Illustrator persists.
This is unacceptable on Adobe's part for professional designers.

[t3l3monst3r]

Can you provide any information about what Adobe is doing to fix this bug (screen flickering)?

[t3l3monst3r]

@Guiarderius can you provide any information about what Adobe is doing to fix this bug (screen flickering)?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @t3l3monst3r,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. To further investigate and help you, could you please:

• Check if you encounter the issue after upgrading your macOS to the latest version (macOS Sonoma 14.7.6).
• Share information about your external monitor setup if you are using one.
• Share a screenshot of your color settings in Adobe Illustrator and a screen recording of the problem (if possible)
• Check if this happens with specific files

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

[t3l3monst3r]

I have the same flickering issue in Illustrator 28.2 using a brand new Mac Studio with an M2Max chip and 64GB RAM, Sonoma 14.3.1. The issue is fixed when I switch to CPU instead of GPU, but then I lose features like the animated zoom.

[ericav11430747]

@Anshul_Saini  I have also had the same flickering issue. I'm on Sonoma 14.3, Apple M2 Max, 32GB of memory, LG UltraFine Display, Ai is in RGB color. I switch to CPU and back to GPU as a temporary fix, but the problem keeps coming back. Also, when I zoom in using the animated zoom, periodically, the images become blurry. 

[t3l3monst3r]

Sonoma OS does not solve the problem.
I am running Sonoim 14.6 and the flickering in Illustrator is terrible.
I feel it is not acceptable for Adobe not to have a bug fix for this issue.

[totaison2]

Hi, I am experiencing this from day one with my Macbook Pro M2 Max. I have everything up to date (sonoma and illlustrator). Randomly illustrator make colors flickering during cursor movement (usually when changing between apps or when back from sleepmode). If I stop moving cursor, flickering stops, or when changing to cpu and back to gpu. At least two years with this without any solution... You can see clearly in my attached video (when menu appears, I am changing from gpu to cpu and gpu again). This is very annoying and weird at proffesional level.

My setup:

Macbook pro m2 max

Apple studio display (also occurs on laptop screen)

Sonoma 14.5

Illustrator 28.6

[Monika Gause]

---

@totaison2  schrieb:

Hi, I am experiencing this from day one with my Macbook Pro M2 Max.

---

Is Photoshop running as well?

Do you have a Window Manager installed?

[totaison2]

Hi, yes, I usually have Photoshop open at the same time...

and yes, I have Magnet installed and running... 

[Monika Gause]

Magnet does not play well with Illustrator. Better turn it off or disable it for Illustrator.

Also unfortunately having Photoshop open at the same time with Illustrator causes the flickering for some people. I've never seen it happen, but there are some threads about it on the forum.

[totaison2]

I am trying now with the Magnet option "Disable for illustrator", and testing if flickering happen again, I update my answer in a few days to see this is the cause. 

Not having Photoshop opening while Illustrator running is not so friendly solution for designers 🙂 So I want to see first the Magnet side...

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[Monika Gause]

Some people could solve it when first opening Illustrator and Photoshop afterwards.

[Mr.Billy_C137]

I'm experienceing the same flickering issue on a new Mac Studio with everything updated. This has been a long running issue that is very problematic for anyone, but especially professionals. This is just sad and shows how little Adobe cares about the people who rely on their now sketchy software to make a living. They trap you with monthly subscriptions and actively ignore bugs that impact what seems to be many unhappy paying customers. At this point I'm going to crack open my suite of Affinity apps that I paid for once and don't have this headache inducing issue. 

[Javier olariaga]

I'm experienceing the same flickering issue on a new Mac Studio with everything updated.

[wlym]

M4 Macbook Pro (Sequoia 15.5) here experiencing the flickering when using GPU. ONLY in Illustrator, not InDesign, Photoshop, Calendar, Mail, etc... But of course, Adobe says we should contact Apple?!