Why is Illustrator using so much RAM?

[AnthonyB_DSDExpress]

How is it that Illustraror needs to use 44GB+ of memory on a file that is 400MB in size.  How is that even possible?

Currently my Illustrator program has been (Not Responding) now for 24 minutes. Memory usage jumps from 4GB, 19GB, 34GB, 44GB, 36GB, and now it's down to 17MB and still not responding. What is going on?

This is an ongoing issue with Illustrator even when working with minimal size files. My files are not all tha complicated and don't include anything drastically complex. I've researched and adjusted my settings to oprimize the programs speed. Reduced saves, Unchecked background services and done everything I can think of to try and increase the speed of Illustrator, but yet it still continuiously wants to be a resource hog and utilize more memory than the entire instalation of all programs on my computer. There has to be a program issue that is allowing such large amounts of memory to be used which is causing these lock ups and failures. Yesterday I lost 4 hours of work when Illustrator crashed and didn't recover any of my work. 

The same with the day before and before that. This is causing my anxiety and stress. 

These issues need to be resolved.  The only thing I have not yet tried is a complete windows reinstall, but I don't believe that will resolve these issues. Everything else works fine. 

For peace of mind, could Adobe support please respond to the following.

1. Please list all the possible steps to help reudce the amount of memory Illustrator uses.

2. Please list all the possible steps to help increase the speed of the Illustrator program.

3. Please list all the possible steps to help minimize the background features like AIMonitor and AIRobin. 

(Gone 10 years without using AI as a graphic artist, yes, I'm sure it's features are nice, but for someone who relies on speed these features only slow down my work process)

Time is money and I'm losing way to much time then I should be by having to deal with a program that does not manage memory properly. 

Yes my programs are updated, Yes I have all the Windows updates. I'm not a Novice with Illustrator. I'm a professional graphic artist

Thank you for your time,

Anthony

[Anubhav M]

Hello @AnthonyB_DSDExpress,

Would you mind sharing more details, like if Illustrator behaves this way when working with files from a particular folder location like an external/network drive or a cloud-synced folder like Google Drive/Dropbox/etc and the version of the OS/Illustrator, so I can better assist you?

Also, try running Illustrator under Safe Mode (Windows / macOS) and under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[AnthonyB_DSDExpress]

Anubhav,

Apologies, this response never posted a few months ago, but was saved.🤦🏻

Illustrator Version 28.1 

All my files are local. I don't use Cloud files and/or using Adobe cloud sync because they only slow things down. 

I use a $4k ASUS ROG gaming windows computer with high speed DDR5 4800mhz RAM,  dual 2TB Samsung 980 pro and Intel 2.5ghz 12th gen. 

There is only one account setup on this computer and it doesn't matter if I run illustrator in safe mode or not. Different users and/or safe mode does not make any difference. The results are still the same. High intense games like Cyberpunk and Witcher 3 run perfectly on my system. So I know it's not hardware. 

The files are only 6" sticker designs. Yes surely there are some shading and mesh layers to give these designs a realistic look, but nothing that illustrator shouldn't be able to handle. 

And no we have this whole AI addition of features to the program which only eats up more resources. 😭 There should be a basic illustrator version and a seperate AI version. I don't need AI. I need more resources freed to optimize speed. The amount of money I lose having to wait for illustrator to move an object or render thing is costing my and thousands of other artists a lot of time and money. 

[AnthonyB_DSDExpress]

And again, this doesn't happen all the time. I could be going through 12 designs and have no problem and then all of a sudden illustrator wants to puke in its own mouth and throw up all over me. It's random. There is never any reason that I can determine that why it does this. But it just wants to lock up and start utilizing GBs of RAM for no reason. 

[Anubhav M]

Hello @AnthonyB_DSDExpress,

I have sent you a DM. Kindly check.

Anubhav

[Makerman111111]

Happening to me almost everyday now since the last 2 updates. It will never get better. Adobe is too poor to refactor their code or rebuild it from scratch. They only make 20 billion dollars a year from us, its not enough money to put a team together to bring this software into the 21st century. We are literally working on a singlecore app that was written in the 80s. They will never take care of us. They will hire people to tell you to reset your preferences and check for GPU updates. 

30 thousand employees. 20 billion in revenue last year.

[Bobby Henderson]

Is the Illustrator file that is causing problems a normal print size file (letter, A4, etc) or is it something else, such as a large format style document (signs, vehicle wrap, etc)?

If it's a layout meant for large format printing/production make sure the document raster effects setting is set at a reasonable value. Something like the 300ppi default is sheer overkill for something like a vehicle wrap. Such a setting could seriously bog down Illustrator performance, especially if the layout has a lot of raster-based effects (glows, drop shadows, etc).

[richardesignerUK]

Same. My brand new M4 Mac Mini has apparantly run of out of memory using Photoshop and Illustrator! I thought 24GB of Ram would be enough, but apprantly not. I keep getting these 'Your system has run out of application memory' alerts. Check out the screenshot below! 19GB for Ai and 19GB for PS. 

[Bill Silbert]

When I compare the memory usage in your screenshot to the activity monitor on my own system (2021 M1 Mac on Sonoma 14.6.1) I note that the most significant difference is actually that your Safari is using 7.09 GB of Memory while mine is only using 201.7 MB. This looks to me like there could be a fault with your system rather than from any specific programs. Are you using any third party plug-ins to your OS? Are you operating over a server on entirely on your local machine? 

[AreliMedia]

I am experiencing this too, and it's slowing down my work productivity so much. Illustrator and Photoshop are hogging so much more memory than they used to for the same files I have been working on for the past 4 years, and my computer is freezing up trying to process the 26mg of memory AI and 11mg of PS are hogging, I get "you're out of memory space" errors now that I've never gotten before. The Adobe apps used to take up no more than like 15mg of memory together total. I work on small file sizes, all for screen view things, nothing crazy. This is maddening and so frustrating.

I've been working on Adobe apps for over 10 years. All my Mac and Adobe software/apps are updated. I'm losing so much work time while my computer tries to handle these apps now, it's awful.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @AreliMedia,

That does seem strange. Could you share more details, like the exact version of the OS/Illustrator/Photoshop installed, a screenshot of the Memory usage after launching Illustrator without opening any files, and if you have any plugins enabled, so I can better assist you?

Also, try running Illustrator under a different administrator account (Windows / macOS) and share your observations.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[AreliMedia]

All of my apps are on auto-update, so I'm on the current versions. AI v29.7.1, PS v26.10. Running Mac OS Squoia 15.6.1.

No plugins. On launch, they run lower memory, around 1GB. Once a file or two are opened the memory skyrockets. Again, these are very simple files nothing heavy.

[Anubhav M]

Hello @AreliMedia,

Thanks for confirming. Could you also try running Illustrator under a different administrator account (macOS) and after rebooting in Safe Mode (macOS) and checking if it helps?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav