Stupid Illustrator tricks--any suggestions why this is happening?

December 3, 2012 7:47 PM

My rectangles in Adobe Illustrator keep disappearing in regular view, although I can see them in outline view. Any idea why this is, and/or any suggestions regarding how to make it stop?

I'm posting this for my husband, because Illustrator is getting on his last nerve:

In Illustrator in Creative Suite 6 on Windows 7 Enterprise, I create rectangles with the rectangle tool that then will not show up in regular view even though my stroke is set to at least 1 point black and fill is set to none. In outline view (control-Y on a Wintel machine), the rectangle will appear, but not in regular view.

Sometimes rectangles that have been visible in regular view will become invisible, although, again, in outline view they're still there.

Why is this happening and how can I stop it?

Thanks for any help, hive mind!

posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy to computers & internet (5 answers total)

Hard to say without seeing the file. It could be:

1. Somehow the stroke is being removed, which seems unlikely since you say that they have a 1pt black stroke apparent when you select them
2. Somehow the opacity is being set to 0%
3. They are behind something else
4. Some weird graphics glitch that's interfering with Illustrator's display

If you save the document as a PDF, do the rectangles appear in Acrobat?
posted by girih knot at 8:00 PM on December 3, 2012

Thanks for answering. We appreciate your time. I think they do appear in Acrobat if he saves the document as a PDF. Will have to double check with him in the a.m., though. It doesn't seem to happen all the time, either, which makes it even harder to diagnose.
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy at 8:06 PM on December 3, 2012

FWIW, I also have this issue sometimes in Mountain Lion with CS6. I think I might be pressing a keyboard shortcut inadvertently but I haven't figured out which one yet. He's not alone!
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 8:16 PM on December 3, 2012

You could be getting "stuck" between zoom levels. Does zooming in or setting a thicker stroke make it go away? I've had this issue where thinner strikes don't render at certain zooms.
posted by dadici at 9:10 PM on December 3, 2012

I can recreate this problem by setting the Dashed line options to a dash of 0pt and a gap of 1000pt. That's probably not what is wrong with yours, but you might check all the options in the Stroke palette. You could also check the Brush options - I've experienced weird glitches in Illustrator where shapes do not work properly because their stroke has mysteriously lost its brush style.

Is the shape set up as a clipping mask? Can you select it and then choose Object → Expand Appearance?
posted by oulipian at 9:49 PM on December 3, 2012