I can't even turn on Windows Ink in the Wacom Tablet Driver without the setting quickly making me lose my temper. I really wish Microsoft would go back to the drawing board with that gawd-awful Windows Ink software.   Even with Windows Ink disabled I'll still get hit with the stuck vertical scrolling bar issue from time to time. This past weekend I got hit by it while trying to edit artboard size properties. Once the glitch grabs hold the only recourse is pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete to bring up Task Manager and end the Illustrator process. Thankfully I didn't lose any work. ... View more

The map image looks like it is (probably) vector-based. But my guess is the artwork may be nested in one or more clipping groups/masks. That's probably why it won't respond to pathfinder operations. If you open the Layers panel and drill down into the objects list it should show how the contents are grouped or masked. Still, using a clipping mask to show/hide portions of the map will probably be a much easier approach than trying to use Pathfinder commands to extract or cut parts of the map. ... View more

I couldn't tell you how to automate the process of creating cut lines around pixel-based artwork yet arrive at an end result that was good/clean and print/cut vinyl graphics that was easy to manually weed. ... View more

Can you post an example of the drawing? There are various methods of vectorizing hand-drawn artwork. The best method to use really depends on how the artwork looks. Certain kinds of pixel-based artwork don't need to be vectorized. ... View more

I prefer the Super Smart Remove function in Astute Graphics' Vector First Aid plugin over the stock Simplify command in Illustrator. But that is an after market plugin that requires an annual subscription (Astute Graphics' plugins are worth it, IMHO). ... View more

Is the driver for your computer's graphics card up to date? Very often the GeForce Experience app has to be launched to check for driver updates; the drivers usually don't automatically download when they're released. The latest NVidia Studio driver is v565.90, released 10/15/2024. If your computer has any other periphreals attached (such as a Wacom tablet) make sure the drivers for those devices are up to date. If your computer has any previous versions of Illustrator installed (and they're not being used) it might be a good idea to uninstall them. If performance issues persist after updating drivers and resetting the Illustrator Preferences file then it might be worth it to use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool to completely remove Illustrator and then do a clean re-install of the application. ... View more

IMHO, there isn't any good way to automate the creation of cut lines.   Automatically Live Tracing around a pixel-based image will yield a quick and dirty path -a path that is likely to have issues that cause the plotter blade to literally chew up the vinyl. Cut paths need to be clean. Not only so they cut cleanly, but also to make the graphics easier to weed. A live-traced path would need to be edited to remove the tiny kinks, bends, stair-steps and little overlaps that almost always occur in auto-traced paths. It's either that or the path would need to be hand-drawn using tools like the Pen Tool. Obviously creating clean cut paths from vector-based artwork is much faster/easier.   Be careful about making cut paths too intricate and detailed, especially if the graphics are small in size. The cut graphics still have to be manually weeded before being covered with release tape. If the cut details are too intricate and delicate weeding accidents will be much more likely. It also raises the risk that small portions of applied graphics will tear off the final surface when the release tape is removed.   If you don't already have a user defined spot color swatch for CutContour it's easy to create and re-use.   Are you printing/cutting large quantities of the same graphic or nesting lots of different designs together? ... View more

When you say "Bogue" do you mean this type family? https://www.melvastype.fi/fonts/bogue   The typeface has many alternate characters. Those alternate characters can be accessed multiple ways. Some of those characters can be accessed by using settings in the Character palette or OpenType palette. Some alternate characters may be displayed under a letter in a string of text that is highlighted by the text cursor. The Glyphs palette can display all of the characters contained in a font file. It's possible to click on characters in the Glyphs palette to make them insert into an active string of text. ... View more

What does the artwork in the SVG file look like? What does the file contain? I still don't understand what you want to cut out of it. ... View more

The question is a little vague. If you're trying to extract elements out of an existing piece of artwork there are multiple ways to do that. But it depends on the artwork itself. It may be as simple as ungrouping the objects (if they're grouped) and then selecting the desired pieces of artwork, copying them to the clipboard and then pasting them into a new Illustrator document. If you're trying to cut portions out of existing shapes the Pathfinder tools can do that. Clipping masks can show/hide portions of artwork non-destructively.   If the artwork is vector-based already (given that it is in a SVG file) then there is no need for exporting in PNG format and then somehow going back to SVG. PNG is a pixel-based format. Converting vector shapes to pixels and then converting back into vectors again doesn't make any sense. It would degrade the artwork. ... View more

Those aren't easy questions to answer without knowing the licensing details the university has with Adobe Creative Cloud (or if it has an educational CC license). Educational licenses can vary. Some have access to all type families hosted at Adobe Fonts while others get a more limited selection.   Generally speaking, anyone editing the visual design of the web site would need access to Adobe's applications and Adobe Fonts. A person writing copy for documents posted on the web site may not need CC access; someone else can copy the text and flow it into the web site. It's even possible to edit the code without needing an app like Dreamweaver. It just depends on what each person is doing.   If one or more of the type families in use are important to the university's branding, it might be a good idea to purchase licenses of those fonts. ... View more

There are several kinds of educational licenses for Creative Cloud. Some may have the full Adobe Fonts service while others may have a limited version of it. You'll need to check with the school's IT department to see what kind of CC licensing they have. ... View more

What kind of mouse is it? If you haven't already tried, physically unplug the mouse from its USB port and then reconnect it. If that doesn't work, try rebooting the computer. Are any other devices plugged into the computer's ports? ... View more

Developing a version of Adobe Illustrator coded for an ARM-flavored version of Windows isn't something that happens fast. As for plugins, most of those are developed by third party companies independent of Adobe. Each one of these companies has to make its own judgment call whether or not to port versions of their Illustrator plugins to the ARM version of Windows. They may have their hands full enough as it is just maintaining plugins for Mac OSX and the Intel version of Windows.   The Snapdragon X CPU looks fairly impressive for what it does, but I would be very hesitant to buy a computer based on a new/different CPU architecture without it already having a strong lineup of applications that run native on that architecture. It would be one thing to buy such a computer for personal use. It's much more risky buying such a computer meant for production work. ... View more

I'm not familiar enough with the free conversion apps to know which ones can fix naming table issues in font files. I've heard decent things about FontForge, but it's more of a font editor rather than an app that can do batch conversions of font files. ... View more

The original poster's topic was about print. I mistakenly responded to that post instead of yours. Are you exporting the PNG image using the Save for Web dialog or Export for Screens? When I test either one using a selected white object I can yield a PNG image with white graphics and a transparent background. ... View more

As others have said, the white ink in the print has to be defined using a custom spot color. How to name that spot color is going to depend on the service provider's print setup (their type of printer and print software or RIP application). You'll have to talk to them to get those details or just tell them which elements in your artwork need the white ink and then they can apply the proper custom spot color to it on their end.   Edit: I see this is a year old old post, but bumped by something that looks like it has a questionable link. ... View more

Dang, you posted as I was writing my own post. Haha. ... View more

Did all the people who are using Aptos get the fonts the same way? I think the type family may be available as an update for MS Office users. It's not available in the Windows Store. I found a link from Microsoft that allows users who don't have access to the MS Office fonts service to download and install the fonts locally: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=106087 The font files from that link seem to work fine in Adobe Illustrator. I'm wondering if some of the people who are having technical issues with Aptos downloaded the fonts from somewhere else other than Microsoft. With a quick web search I noticed several free fonts web sites offering the fonts. It could be possible font files at one or more of those sites could be altered or even corrupted somehow. ... View more

The canvas goes only so big. In standard mode that maximum is 227" X 227". If 8 of your artboards add up to more than that value then there is no way to get them placed all on the same row.   Large Canvas documents can be as big as 2275" X 2275", but those kinds of documents may be cut to 10% of their normal size when exported outside of Illustrator. Care must be taken working in that mode. ... View more

If you're sending the art file to another company to do the print work you need to make sure their print setup can handle PDF content natively. Is the work being printed in large format (banners, signage, etc)? Or is it being output on standard sized pages? You could ask them what kind of printers and print-related software they're using. It's pretty easy to find out if the print software and/or hardware can handle PDF content natively. ... View more

How does the PDF look when you open it in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat DC? It's possible the Edge and Chrome browsers are not interpreting the blending/transparency modes in the PDF properly. ... View more

I don't understand what you mean by customizing fonts. Are you talking about modifying letter shapes in a vector graphics application like Illustrator? If so, you can do that with any fonts, but it usually involves converting the type object to raw vector outlines in order for the letter shapes to be modified. That kind of work is legal to do since the letter glyphs would just be raw shapes. The vector shapes would no longer be part of a digital font file.   If you're suggesting modifying existing fonts and then trying to redistribute altered font files I don't think that would work with any fonts hosted by Adobe Fonts. Even the fonts that can be downloaded freely from Google Fonts have certain legal protections. ... View more

If there isn't anything odd (or custom) going on with firewall or network settings the "find more" feature in the font menu should work. It just takes it awhile to do so. I'm on a pretty fast Internet connection at my house and even there the feature can lag. To me, it's just easier going to the Adobe Fonts web site and browing type families there. ... View more

One step I would recommend is doing an "audit" of the font collection that FontBase is managing. Not all fonts are created equal. Generally speaking, high quality fonts from commercial type foundries tend to perform more smoothly than fonts created by an amateur who uploaded them to a free fonts web site.   Font files that contain clip art images as glyphs can perform really badly with font management software. If the font menu is actively creating preview images of the font's glyphs those clip art fonts can cause big lags or even momentary hangs of the application when scrolling thru the font menu. I would have any such fonts removed from a font manager's active list and only install such fonts in the operating system only one at a time as needed. ... View more

Adobe dropped support of Postscript Type 1 fonts in January 2023. That's longer ago than the oldest versions of applications that can be installed via the Creative Cloud app. One solution to the problem is buying a font conversion application, such as TransType 4 by FontLab Ltd. The application isn't very expensive and it can convert entire folders of Type 1 fonts into OpenType format. ... View more

I think the "find more" feature within Illustrator's fonts menu works somewhat slow even when the Internet connection is solid. Do you have a firewall running or anything else that could disrupt online access? Usually when I want to add fonts via Adobe Fonts I prefer to use their web site. I think it's easier to browse for fonts there. ... View more

I don't mind Avenir or Avenir Next all that much, although Avenir Next has a larger character set with features such as true small capitals, complete fraction sets, etc. Most of the time when I have to use Avenir the client artwork requires it. I think that often happens because Avenir Next is included in Apple's system fonts for OSX and iPadOS.   Proxima Nova appears fairly similar to Avenir, but certain glyphs, such as the lowercase "a" are very different. I think Proxima Nova has even more features than Avenir Next. Proxima Nova is available via Adobe Fonts (unlike Avenir). Proxima Vara (the variable version) is pretty handy for certain kinds of sign design tasks. ... View more

I bought a copy of Avenir Next LT Pro at the MyFonts site several years ago when the type family was on sale for only around $100. I don't often see deals like that at the MyFonts site anymore now that Monotype owns it. Anyway...   I see the kerning issue with the "rt" pair. The two letters are closely spaced, but don't physically touch each other in the lighter weights. The letters might look like they're touching on screen, but in print you'll see small gaps. The "rt" letters do start touching with bolder styles. It's very common for many typefaces to have letter pairs that touch each other or even overlap significantly.   I'm not seeing any problems with the "AV" kerning pair.   The optical setting is not a cure-all for kerning and tracking issues. The setting can even trade one set of spacing problems for another. With large passages of text on a printed page a good quality font's built-in spacing will usually be acceptable. When a string of lettering is sized big for graphical purposes the letter spacing often must be fine-tuned. Spacing needs for something like 12 point type on a letter sized page is very different than lettering in a logo.   Some fonts have different "display" styles that feature tighter spacing for large, headline use. Neue Haas Grotesk has different text and display fonts. Helvetica Now has fonts for display, text and micro uses. ... View more