Small pixelated smudge appears on all Illustrator pages

[Chouettecacahuete]

A few days ago a small pixelated smudge has appeared on all Illustrator pages, all except CS6, only Cloud. So old and new pages have this mark that is near the centre of the artboard: I agree its very small but it is also very irritating, if you magnify this page up you will see it. Any ideas?

[melissapiccone]

I can't get it to show up... What tool do you have selected? I searched in view, but nothing made anything like that pop up. It looks like part of reference point...

[Chouettecacahuete]

Hi Melissa, what you see is a screen shot actual size, the only way to see it is to magnify the page up and then you can see it is like a pixelated semi circle. The screenshot is sitting between the word 'artboard:' and 'I agree'

[melissapiccone]

I see the image in your post. I can't make it appear inside of Illustrator. Even if I zoom in in Illustrator... Can you post a screenshot of your Illustrator? I want to see your zoom amount and which tool you are using

[Chouettecacahuete]

The mark will not get bigger when I use the zoom tool in Illustrator. The image I pasted is a screenshot in preview and this can be magnified up. This is a magnification of the preview screenshot:

[melissapiccone]

The mark is visible in Illustrator at any magnification, is that right? I get that you can't make it bigger on zoom - just like control points and handles don't get bigger. So if the mark stays the same size, a full screenshot will still help me look at what you are talking about. Post a screenshot and tell me where the mark appears.

I don't see the mark in your screenshot... Are you using shapes? I'm working in Illustrator this morning and am not experiencing any weird marks.

[Chouettecacahuete]

Yes it stays the same size at full magnification, this is the full page screenshot and the mark is inside the square:

[melissapiccone · Accepted solution]

Well, that is just weird. It's not even in the middle of your screen!

Try resetting the preferences...

How to set preferences in Illustrator

[Chouettecacahuete]

Yup, resetting Preferences cleared it

[melissapiccone]

Glad I could help, guess I should have suggested that, first!

[Chouettecacahuete]

Thanks Melissa