Since updating to the latest version of Illustrator, I haven't attempted to use the freeform gradient tool. I've used the tool many times in the past, and usually I can find ways to work around any bugs that (often) pop up while using it. Today, I tried to use it for a project I'm working on, and I ran into an issue I've never experienced before. I can't seem to work around it, no matter what I try.
I'm using the most recent version of Adobe Illustrator on Windows 11, and I also have the Astute Graphics plugins installed (mine is the free trial version; trial is still active right now so it's essentially functioning like the paid version would).
My issue is with selecting multiple color stops on a freeform line gradient. When I hold down shift and try to click on multiple color stops, the cursor flickers rapidly and won't select more than one color stop. I've tried closing and relaunching Illustrator and making a new document, but neither fixed the issue.
When I relaunched Illustrator for the third time and attempted to select multiple color stops again, it worked. I changed the stops' colors, deselected them, and tried to do it again on a different freeform-gradient-filled object. It no longer worked; I couldn't select more than one stop and the cursor went back to flickering every time I held down the Shift key.
I think it's also worth mentioning that when I attempt to select multiple color stops (and subsequently encounter this bug), my computer suddenly begins overheating. I checked my task manager, and there were sharp spikes in performance (specifically "CPU" and "Memory" categories) immediately after encountering the bug. I have nothing else running in the background, except for the automatic/essential Windows processes and the Windows Defender program (antivirus/anti-malware). I'm painfully aware that Adobe software is hefty and runs redundant instances of itself/supporting software in the background, and that it hogs a lot of system resources as a result. However, this sudden spike in resource usage and the sudden overheating is new to me, and it's very strange to me that it's consistently happening after encountering the bug I described above.
I saw that somebody else recently posted about an issue they were having that sounded (somewhat) similar to mine. My first thought was that maybe the Astute Graphics plugins were somehow causing this problem, since we both have them installed and we both started experiencing issues with freeform gradients at (almost) the same time.
I was going to try uninstalling the Astute plugins, to see if it would somehow solve my problem, but the person who posted about their issue mentioned that they'd already tried that, and it didn't work.
If anyone has any insight on this, I'd be so grateful to hear it. I really need to find a way to fix this (or at least find a workaround until Adobe fixes this) because having to edit color stops one at a time is really slowing my work down.
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