Character & Paragraph Styles not working in Illustrator any more

[ACWaters]

I have noticed that the Character Styles and Type Styles are not working any more in my files in Illustrator.

I did have a "Chat" with someone at Adobe who suggested it was just the one file I was working in so I tested in another new file and it seemed to be working.I thought perhaps I was having trouble was because the file is a PDF and had been Reverted by Illustrator when I opened it back up in Illustrator?

But then later when I was working again in another file, NOT a reverted PDF file, I could not apply the Character Styles and Paragraph Styles to the text I was working on AND I had the same problem.

The styles had dropped the font specifics and when I went back in and "fixed" them, they immediately reverted to being with out the font specifics (family, weight, style). And they were not applying to new text I had copied and pasted into the file. And of course I know about using the option key when applying the styles.

It WAS working before the update because this is something I have been doing for a while now and I would really like to be able to continue doing this in the future.

Anyone else have trouble with type Styles in the updated Illustrator?

[Monika Gause]

Please describe what exactly is not working

Is it in all files? EVen a newly created one with newly created styles?

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

You mentioned that you are using an updated version of Illustrator. When you updated if you had the option to "import previous settings and preferences" checked in the advanced options which appear during the install that could be the source of your problem. Importing old preferences has been shown to affect the smooth operation of the new version. Try trashing your preferences and see if that fixes the problem.

To do so:

For Macintosh Users: The User Library folder in which Illustrator’s preferences are stored is hidden by default on most Macintoshes. To access it make sure that Illustrator is closed and click on the desktop to launch a Finder Window (Command-N).With this window in column view follow the path User>Home folder (it’s the folder with an icon that looks like a house—it may have the user’s name rather than “Home”) and click on the Home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. “Library” will now appear within the Home folder. Within the Library folder find the folder called Preferences and within it find the folder called “Adobe Illustrator <Version #> Settings” (earlier versions of Illustrator might just say “Adobe Illustrator”) and the file called “com.adobe.Illustrator.plist” and delete both that folder and that file. When Illustrator is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults.

For Windows Users: You can try the quick way of resetting on a PC which is to hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. There have been some recent reports that the window asking if you want to reset is not popping up but that the prefs are being reset anyway. If this works great but if it doesn’t you may have to manually delete them.

To do so:

On Windows 7 and above the preference files are hidden. To find them go to the Control Panel and open Folder Options and then click the View tab. Then select “Show hidden files and folders” or “Show hidden files, folders or drive options” in Advanced Settings. Then delete (or rename) the folder at the end of this path: C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version number]\ Settings\<Language>. Make sure that Illustrator is closed when you do this. When you relaunch the program it will create  new preference files and the program will be at its default settings.

The advantage of manually deleting preference files is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.

[Srishti Bali]

Hi there,

Sorry about this issue. I am hopeful that the steps suggested by Bill worked for you. If not, will it be possible for you to share a sample file and exact workflow you are following? If yes, please upload it to Creative Cloud/ Google Drive/ Dropbox and share the direct download link.

Thanks,

Srishti

[o65morales-1]

Hi Srishti

Hard to follow Bill suggestion as finder have a different look on my mac.

There is only one file to delete (bottom on the ( img ) and no folder to delete because the file is in the preferences folder and not in the Illustrator one Illustrator

Thanks

[Srishti Bali]

Hi there,

You can also try the steps shared here: How to set preferences in Illustrator.

Please note: Resetting preferences will remove all the custom settings and Illustrator will launch with default settings. You can also take a backup of the folders in case you want to. Location is mentioned in the article.

Regards,

Srishti

[o65morales-1]

Thanks Srishti

The link you send me doesn't work either. When you click "Preferences" on Illustrator, you get the preference panel. And the Optio-command-shift just clear the recent files option when Illustrator opens

[ACWaters]

I can not actually find the Illustrator preferences anywhere.

I am on a Mac.

There are no Adobe Preferences of any kind in the user folders listed at all. The only Preferences I can find are listed in the main computer (hard drive) Library and the System Library (which of course I am not going to mess with).

Even in the regular Library under Preferences, I can see some other application Preferences, but there are no Adobe Preferences listed in there except for: com.apple.acc.AdobeDesktopService.plist, com.adobe.acrobat.pdfview.plist, com.adobe.headlights.apip.plist, com.adobe.PDFAdminSettings.plist.

I even found some files under Library > Application Support > which has quite a bit of stuff but NOTHING for Illustrator at all. Looks like all the other programs have folders there but not Illustrator.

Can you please help?

[Monika Gause]

ACWaters  schrieb

I am on a Mac.

Please learn how to work with your system.

Apple thinks we are not capable to handle the user library folder and therefore hides it from us by default.

https://www.noterepeat.com/articles/how-to/70-mac-os-x-accessing-hidden-library-folders

[ACWaters]

Please learn how to work with your system.

Seriously?

Please learn how to not be so condescending and stop adding unnecessary, snotty comments.

Otherwise, great, thank you!

[tonyharmer]

Hi

Just to jump in here, I think Monika's advice was intended as friendly, not as a snotty comment—honestly, she is lovely. It may help you to know she is German and although her English is very good indeed, I think this is probably just functional language.

Her tip below that does highlight how to access the library though as it is hidden from "normal" users, and it's helpful to know your way around that.

[ACWaters]

Okay, thank you for that.

I know it is easy to mis-interpret things online when you are not meeting a person.

I am just really not a fan of tech people presuming I don't know what I am doing (my own cross to bear). Just because I don't remember this little trick doesn't mean I am not capable or know my way around my system (which I have been doing for 20 years now).

I think tech people often come at issues with an unhelpfully superior and often dismissive attitude. I realize this comes from working with a lot of people who don't know what they are doing. But my point is, that even if most people are not very good at navigating their systems, as a tech person, is better to start from a helpful place and not presume ignorance or stupidity.

Thank you again -- like I said, i am not sure that getting rid of my preferences helped. When I updated the program, I am pretty sure I had to run through all the set up crap I just did again, so i think I didn't have that keep preferences thing clicked.

Hopefully though, it seems to be working. Could have just been bc it was edited outside of Illustrator and is a PDF. I can't believe I didn't save an AI version -- my plan is to just remember to do that in the future and hopefully avoid this problem.

[Monika Gause]

ACWaters  schrieb

I am just really not a fan of tech people ...

I am not a tech person and I am not support staff.

I am a graphic designer who happens to sometimes answer questions about Illustrator.

Sorry if what I wrote came across as harsh. I have just experienced that it helps when you have at least a broad knowledge of how your system operates. That doesn't include to know every detail, but maybe to an extent that you know what to search for.

[Bill Silbert]

o65morales-1  wrote

Hi Srishti

Hard to follow Bill suggestion as finder have a different look on my mac.

There is only one file to delete (bottom on the ( img ) and no folder to delete because the file is in the preferences folder and not in the Illustrator one Illustrator

Thanks

The highlighted folder in your screen shot is the correct file to delete.

[o65morales-1]

Hi Bill

When you say "file to delete", you mean "folder to delete"?, the "en-US"?

Thanks for your help

[Bill Silbert]

Yes, I mean folder to delete.

[o65morales-1]

Thanks Bill

Now is working great.

Have a good day

[ACWaters]

Like I just mentioned I have not had time to repeat my problem -- life has been pretty hectic lately.

When I get a chance I will see if I can tech it out and let you know the specifics of when it is working and when it is not.

And after doing that I will try what Bill proposes and see if that helps.

Thank you for your reply.

[ACWaters]

Thank you for that answer -- I have not had time to test this out but I suspect it may work.

[ACWaters]

Okay, so I deleted the preferences for Illustrator and the file still doesn't work properly.

It was converted to a PDF file and when I opened it, it said "This document has been modified outside of Illustrator (which i think means my co-worker edited it in Acrobat actually)."

Okay it looks like for the all fonts (name and style) were missing in all the Paragraph styles. When I add them back into the styles, it seems like everything else started working okay. The font sizes and leading and tracking were all there, just not the name/style. For all of them including Normal Paragraph.

However it looks like there are character styles which were interfering with the paragraph styles -- I do know how character styles work so I am bit confused about how that is happening but it could be I set them up oddly so I can't be sure that is a glitch.

Now I can style existing text and it works fine.

[ACWaters]

I am not sure the deleting the preferences is what did it. So I unmarked that answer as correct, but it seems to be working now. Thanks to everyone for your help.

[Lucas Caminha]

Na nova versão do illustrator (2021) você encontrará aqui "Window > Type > Character Panel".
ou
Ctrl + T