Strange Ghost Objects

[Kate Johnson Studio]

There are a lot of strange ghost objects in my Illustrator file.  I can't click on them, but they show up when I mouse-over.  They show up in outline mode, but again I can't click on or select them.  They move with selected objects.  Any idea what these are???

The blue items are what I can see in normal mode and the only thing in the document I can actually select.  The selection was made with ctl+a.

This is what it looks like in normal mode and the blue outline is what I get with mouse-over, it is NOT actually selected. 

Whatever these are, they are making this file HUGE and hard to work with.  Any ideas how to get rid of them????

[Mohammad.Harb · Accepted solution]

This could be multiple clipping mask ,

click on the object , right click and select release clipoing mask Or ( ctrl + alt + 7)

[Kate Johnson Studio]

That IS what it was...BUT I didn't make them.  Any ideas how that happened?

[Mohammad.Harb]

Did you import the file or was the file saved as pdf?

[Kate Johnson Studio]

No.  I made it all from scratch.  Then made it a pattern.  I kept seeing while I was adjusting the pattern, so I selected just the items I could see and copied/pasted it to a new illustrator file.  They were still there and I couldn't figure it out.  I never made a clipping mask during the whole process, so I'm very confused.

[Monika Gause]

You made a pattern. There you have the reason where they came from.

Then you obviously expanded the pattern and there they are.

It will help you in the future that you read the documentation before working with functions you don't know.

Also: always keep the layers panel open and closely watch what happens after every expand or release or such.

[Kate Johnson Studio]

I did NOT expand the pattern.  And I use the pattern function a lot and this has never happened before.  I did read the documentation years ago when I started using making patterns.  It was looking at the layers panel that I figured out what they were just before the first person responded...but since I didn't expand the pattern, I don't understand where they came from.

[Monika Gause]

How did you save the file?

AI or PDF?

Did the file at any time get opened in a lower version?

Or did it get corrupted?

Any errors when opening it?

It would actually help if you could show the layers panel or even the file itself.

[Kate Johnson Studio]

I saved the file as .ai.  It was never a .pdf.

It could have corrupted as I had to open and close a few times, but it really showed any errors.  I've already fixed the file, unfortunately, so I can't show that anymore.  That probably would have been a good idea.

[Kate Johnson Studio]

And I should have recognized it as a clipping mask before I bothered anyone, but I was so frustrated and knew I hadn't at any point made a clipping mask.

[Monika Gause]

When a file gets corrupted or opened in lower versions, then it can happen that patterns get expanded automatically, because Illustratr accesses the PDF that is saved automatically inside your AI file.

When you suspect that something went wrong when opening, check the layers panel. A lot of clipping masks point to PDF.

[Kate Johnson Studio]

Good to know.  I don't have a lower version, but like I said I did have to open and close a few times because Windows updated.  Corruption must be the answer.  Thanks!