Some paths won't paste from illustrator into Photoshop

[lghtstrm]

NOt sure whether this is a Photoshop or Illustrator problem, but...

This is something I do all the time: create intricate paths or type in Illustrator and then paste it into Photoshop as a Smart Object or as paths. But for some unexplained reason all of a sudden neither of these will work for me. I copy, then paste and it tells me the box is empty, but there is definitely data on my clipboard. This has never happened before. Help, please.

Mac OS iMac Pro 10.13.6

Photoshop CC 14.2.1

Illustrator CC 17.1.0

[Daniel E Lane]

I would highly recommend updating your versions of Photoshop and Illustrator. Both of those are rather old and you have a later version of the Mac OS. Not the newest, but close. And that is Photoshop CS4... Surprised you can still keep that working. Definitely don't upgrade your OS if you want to keep that Photoshop. None of the old CS versions are working in the latest OS except for CS6 for most people. Your Illustrator is the first CC version, so you might be safe there.

[Doug A Roberts]

Photoshop 14 is Photoshop CC (2013), not CS4.

When you say 'it tells me the box is empty', what is happening exactly? What is the error message? What box?

[lghtstrm]

Yeah, I noticed that, too, so I have upgraded. Seems like I have the latest versions on my laptop but my desktop has not updated for quite some time. I did that overnight. Will try it out and then hopefully close this thread. Thanks.

[lghtstrm]

OK, now this is really weird. I  have updated to the latest PS and AI (V20.0.2 and 23.0.1 respectively). Launched my psd doc and my ai doc with the paths that I want to paste. I copied the art from Illustrator and attempted to paste as a smart object in Photoshop. A bounding box appears but there is nothing in it. I CMD click the Smart Object layer icon and I get the following

So there is nothing there.

I try again, but this time I choose to paste as PATHS. Then I get this message:

I try this multiple times to no avail. Then I go to the paths layer and paste. The paths paste, but they are locked and I cannot move them with the move tool. Totally baffled at this point.

[Monika Gause]

When was the last time you restarted that computer?

Do you have anything installed in your system that enhances the clipboard?

[lghtstrm]

I will try a restart when I get back on site, and there are no clipboard enhancements to my knowledge—nothing intentionally installed at any rate. There is room in the clipboard, however, because I can paste the data back into a clean Illustrator doc, just won't go into Photoshop correctly.

[lghtstrm]

I have tried the restart. And I am having exactly the same problem. Pasting into Photoshop is not working.

[Monika Gause]

Is it just this file or others as well?

How is the Clipboard preferences set up in both applications?

[lghtstrm · Accepted solution]

After multiple restarts and then a reinstall, it is now working. Thanks.

[IosifSimon]

IIn Adobe Illustrator, copy the shape you want to paste into Photoshop, but after you copy it, open up a new document inside illustrator. Paste it there. Then copy it from here, and then paste it in Photoshop. There must have been something corrupted in the initial illustrator file.