AI CC shows blank artboards when GPU performance is ON

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
August 7, 2017
3 replies
3021 views

Hello Forum,

After countless google attempts to find a solution I have come here for answers.

I have ai files and editable pdf's made in AI CS6 (old desktop). I am planning on switching to AI CC on my new laptop and at the moment I'm using the trial version (still have 3 days left).

My problem however is that when I open my files in AI CC it shows me a blank artboard. When I go to the layers panel I can see all my layers and their thumbnails and even select them but nothing shows up on the artboard. Pressing Ctrl+A also highlights all the layers in the panel.

The odd thing, however, is that when I close the window, the artboard suddenly shows my designs in a split-second before it closes.

After fiddling around with AI settings I was able to recreate my My "invisible artboard" problem by enabling "GPU Performance". When it is OFF I can see my objects on the artboard. As soon as I turn it on everything goes invisible.

I specifically bought a new laptop so I could upgrade to CC as well. I'd be really upset if my nvidia graphic card would be useless in AI.

Here are my specs:

Dell XPS 15" 9560 UHD (4k)

Intel HD Graphics 630 + NVIDIA GTX 1050

16GB RAM

*Using latest BIOS and graphic card drivers

Any helpful tips and insights would be greatly appreciated!

This topic has been closed for replies.

Mai_KAuthor

Participant

Ok so after reading everybody's suggestions it led me to find two helpful articles from Adobe Help regarding my issue. Sharing them here to help others who are experiencing the same problem.

First of all, it turns out that both my graphic cards do not fully support the Windows GPU performance in Illustrator:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/system-requirements.html

Second, there are some troubleshooting tips to help temporarily resolve the invisible and blank/white artboard problem:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/gpu-performance-errors-troubleshooting-workarounds.html

Solution 1: Update GPU card software drivers - DONE

Solution 2: Start with a clean preferences file - DONE

Solution 3: Ensure that your on-board GPU card is the default for all display activities

Using your BIOS settings, ensure that the add-on GPU is used by default. Disable the on-board GPU, if possible. - DID NOT HAVE THIS SETTING IN MY BIOS
In your Operating System settings, ensure that the add-on GPU is used as the default to drive all display functionality. - DONE WITH NVIDIA CONTROL PANEL
Use hardware device manager software to disable the on-board GPU. This causes the computer to default to the add-on GPU. - TRIED BUT DID NOT HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM

Solution 4:

Click View > GPU Preview
Save the document and then close and reopen it. - This helped as a TEMPORARY FIX. But of course I already did all other 3 solutions first.

cmgap

Community Expert

Can you share this file? Can you open other files and create/see multiple layers?

Mai_KAuthor

Participant

hi cmgap!

I can't share the file since it is branding work for a client. But it opens up without problems on my old desktop which has AI CS6.

I can see the layers just fine, it's only the artboard that doesn't display anything (when GPU performance is on).

Tested this with 5 different files and the problem is the same. I even made a new file on CC and just created a bunch of shapes, turned on GPU performance and then everything on the artboard became invisible.