either make another image that is just text (rest transparent) or if you have after effects just add a new type layer in there and position it on screen (and drag out to the length you want) ... View more

possibly the color space/profile for each document is a little different... and thats why it globally changes it once you 'paste' into the other document/file ... View more

if there is no movement (aka no animation and just a still frame) ... just edit the two images import into your editor (premiere or aftereffects and just drag the time out on you 1 frame so it last however long you want/make it cut to the next image (again extended to the run time you want) then you can put match grain effect and a shake of some kind (wiggle is mentioned earlier in the thread, I would use a low setting) then it will appear that you still image is more dynamic (with the wiggle/animated film grain 'noise' on the 1 image).. aka has movement/life but only need to edit the 1 image once. ... View more

I got the impression OP is trying to take the ref image and expand upon it with his own graphic (shape and size..in the vein of the warbly colors) a simple image trace might get him sued haha ... View more

its a good way to 'undo' a bunch of stuff you did in your session and just keep working vs closing and saying 'don't save' etc.... also good for temp edits that you copy paste else where (in that state) and just hit revert to get your file back to its last save-state It is extremely useful in my opinion. All adobe apps are made by different people, different mindsets.  Apples and oranges... some apps you get into different thinking/contexts than you would in some other adobe app... so its just the nature of the beast. You just aren't going to get stuff to conform across all adobe apps unless you painstakingly go in and change it to some custom shortcuts (which is pointless in my opinion, you'd have to do it for every new version etc and keep track of what app gained or lost features) Just get better at remembering what shortcuts you need and use them... we already use desperate apps (ms word, 3d animation software etc... and we are able to make the logical jump between those as being different for shortcuts)..these CC apps just fall under the same umbrella for ADOBE.. but they are all quite different. one that always bugged me was ctrl+enter commits text in photoshop... but just enter in after effects does the same (its just a quirk'/nuance that you need to commit to muscle memory or write down somewhere) these adobe apps have been around forever and they aren't about to conform shortcut keys anytime soon--trust me I've been waiting haha ... View more

I would try checking preferences>performance Maybe restart the machine as well? ... View more

yeah I would try photoshop, use a 'difference clouds' effect or take a picture of clouds..some kind of fractal noise for the weird shapes. and put a gradient map over it (to get those wild colors) ... View more

I would recommend just being more generic with it. I myself run a few versions installed. I just pick my 'default' program (PC user) / set a file type association to a specific photoshop... and any subsequent scripts I write I always just type #target photoshop ...and my OS takes over runs the code out in my default Photoshop I have set.  I change my default version quite a bit in a week. (which you mentioned trying this target earlier, but I am not sure what photoshop you have set outside the script) I just think if you let your OS decide ahead of time... the script will get routed to the default 'photoshop' you have set for .psd files, etc.The script(s) will launch that version of CC you have selected... no need to get specific in the script. hopefully helps out ... View more

very cool idea ... View more

the alt key is new to me... maybe don't have to reset/reinstall you may not need to really hold alt while recording... unless it just seems you need to in the workflow (I'm not too certain exactly what your goal is) and maybe just do expand/release manually or in a separate action or just end of the action. mine seem to be getting the job done without holding the alt key... path operations (vertices and splines) seem to work the same as shape or path. ...groups are kind of not too critical and if it pockets things in them you still work on the document have it appear like it would without grouped items... but again not sure what you goal is file structure wise... just seems like you want them ungrouped because 'they can' versus it presenting any limitation on you file worst case manually rip them out of groups. ... View more

Compters literally only do what you tell them to so my guess is they recorded wrong somehow... I would try re-recording ... maybe try hitting different bits of the gui... try from the effects route (same functions though) or just record from the pathfinder palette possibly you were just recording them wrong and didn't see because it hid steps. the mere fact that merge...aka 'UNITE' =  'Add' is the first choice has to be the reason for your glitch... here is me getting all of them to work and because they record correct they will work in perpetuity. *now I have absolutely no idea how you were able to rename the 2 steps (1 substep) as 1 step 'Compound Shape' that bit is odd.. maybe last resort reset/reinstall the illustrator app... the fact that it reverts on a double click is kind of telling and maybe just leave it as it records ... View more

the white fill/black stroke is just default behavior (if you are drawing rectangles, draw with pen tool, etc) Fonts, start with a fill only and no stroke... possibly you are just remembering bits of other stuff you've made having or not having the default stroke/fill setup... ...and I figured out what is up with your action... when I double click the "compound shape" step in the action its morphs/resolves into this... (which is what mine record as anyways) and it includes the sub-step that explicitly says what type of thing it is merge/add/etc... I am not sure why its naming that way ... my record as pathfinder (like it does when I double click on your actions anything in there 'compound shape') hope this helps... it at least shows what truly is recorded for the step 'Compund Shape' ... View more

possibly just make a script that does all the AI work and they just make choices outside the app as well (if you truly want to lock out the ignorant) ... View more

yeah something like scrolling or zooming is a more surperficial 'edit' --its not going to impact the exports or the files or anything. things like that are basic and kind of just needed all the time.  Imagine if you were able to lock that and then had to work on a different monitor... there goes all ability to now see your file/work in there, then your template is useless. just worry about locking portions of the artwork ... View more

I would spend more time on google or hire a designer... their resolution specs are for your delivered asset to print. So font can be any size (72 is arbitrary like in ms word size 12 etc) make sure your artboard is the right dimensions.... when you export a jpeg or png thats where you can specify the dpi etc for the printing file. Artboards can also show transparency if you want to see that ... you can also just open the export for web legacy window and see the transparency by previewing the png export there. adobe illustrator is a vector program so you resolution is going to be set on any exports you make. ... View more

I'm not sure why you would want that "feature"... if you are worried about people panning around/zooming in and saving in that state and confusing others... just have them run a 'fit on screen' at the begin/end of a session with the template. ... View more

are you magnifying your gui panels at all -- possibly its getting tripped up on increased scale/resolution ... View more

Mine are working like your 'new' one. I can't get it to recreate being broken like it is for you. the 'drop down' you mention in the *edit* post... that is right... it is hitting the action/menu item 'subtract' possibly the ones without any sub-detail... are defaulting to the first button on the pathfinder palette ... which is 'unite' and you describe it as acting like a 'unite' upon restart' So just make sure the action you are making is adding the tiny details like the literal 'subtract' in the recording of the action. then save and it should work in perpetuity. Just make sure you action recordings explicitly describe your steps... save and re-save upon any change.  it should work. Only thing else is maybe put your actions here and we can see if they break for us ... View more

just use adobe bridge -- it is adobes window explorer and very good at previewing/zooming/adding meta data ... View more

Ctrl+f is 'paste in front' and it places it infront of whereever you have selected in the layers panel (not topmost to all items) my favorite is: ctrl+alt+shift+v is paste in place (and it is going to 'remember layers' meaning it pays attention to all the stuff in your file (groups/layers... etc) possibly your copy command isn't working (even though you are pressing it) I would just resort to clicking from the gui or recording the menus hits as an action... possibly its just a stuck/broken key on your keyboard or something. ... View more

custom font is the best route.... change 1 letter in 1 file and done (and edit further if you need) 1 a that maps out to any 'a'  is better than typing 10000000 a's ... View more

I know its not much help (looks like you are tracing a ref image under it) but sometimes I go into overprint view (ctrl+y) just so I can see the skeleton of vertices... kinda a quick road map of where some are then toggle the view so you can see the reference image under ... View more

make a custom font... otherwise the 2 routes you don't like scripting and hunting and pecking with selections is you only bet (would take forever by hand per file..and possibly could skip a letter by mistake.. vs just globally swapping out letters and saving a font to use in illustrator) FontCreator for Windows - the most popular font editor ... View more

I just opened Illustrator CS (trust me its super old) and it doesn't show anchors on rollovers... neither does CC (newest 2018 + 2019) ... View more

No worries, that stuff is always so annoying in the heat of the moment of making content. [Press 'Go' and you get a 'Stop'] Sorry you gotta deal with all that ... View more

oh I see you should mention that in your future posts... I have admin privileges at work and home so I have no constraints... tell IT to unlock your Adobe folder... kind of silly of them to have it locked off, if someone blows up any installs you can just re-download from the adobe creative cloud app (or have IT roll back an install) Tell them you need full control of the adobe folder/any of the app installs ... View more

Cool, but making a copy in the original folder works just as well too. Just down to how much you trust yourself with edits I'm guessing since they stipulate that in the help file vs the source file they don't find it too explicitly important. Is this what the OP was having hard time with? ... View more