It never happened for me in previous versions, but in 29.7.1 it does happen randomly when changing keyboard increment setting.

All of these small and seemingly insignificant issues may appear to the developers as minor problems but for the day to day users they are a tangible and real issue that not only slows productivity down massively , it leaves users dangerously open to making mistakes on artwork builds.

When the units within the "Settings" (previously named Preferences in the drop down list but strangely still named preferences when the panel opens) is changed from points to mm, it does not hold onto the changed unit type between opening different documents or when restarting the software, instead it just reverts back to points for the keyboard increments when changed.
A very tiring process to have to keep going into.

Any update on this AI team? Why would a doc preset for Art or Print be in Points? Who uses points for document sizes? Anyone in the world? Why is this a default? And why no response?

Hello Adobe team and admin Egor Chistyakov,
Here is bug / feature request that you can merge. If you search default unit, you will see several differently worded requests that total over 55+. You should merge these into one request titled something like "Ability to set the default units for new documents"

Illustrator's default for Print doc is points...... but all print docs are either in inches or mm.

Do ANY users out there use points for anything other than fonts? What rationale was used to make points the default? Seems like an oversight or bug but if there is a reason, please let us know.

Same here. This seems to be a recurring issue. I don't understand why Adobe is developing amazing new features but at the same time is incapable of getting the basics right.

Setting Width & Height for a document in Points instead on Inches, MM or Pixels.

I can't think of any time that anyone would do that.

What do you mean 'setting width and height is a rare case'?!
I must have read it wrong somehow, but I do set these every time I create a document, and they differ every time.
Please explain.

Also, they do not reset for me... but I use legacy New.

When you set your Preferences for "Units" it always reverts back to "Points" after you close and reopen the application. Its a very frustrating issue.

*IMPORTANT NOTE.. Setting up WIDTH & HEIGHT for a document I can't think of any situation where one would use this setting. If so, it would be such a rare instance.. INCH, MM or PIXEL should always be the Primary Settings here.

Beautifully Written David,

Maybe we just need to get people to start spamming Adobe on this forum until they fix it?

Ya know, fight like adults in a digital world? :P

Has this issue gotten any additional attention?

The default measurement in the New Document dialog for the Print profile is Picas. We create primarily for print in North America (US) and almost exclusively use inches.

HERE'S WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM:

Yes, I can change the Units in the New Document dialog to Inches. And yes, they will remain Inches for my next new document. However, the Profile has now become [Custom]. Why should this matter, you may ask?

We get too many files from outside sources that began in Web or Mobile profiles. Those files begin in RGB. Yes, they can be changed to CMYK, but the Blacks in the file will be 4-color blacks, not single-channel, 1-color "K" Black.

Also, since Adobe moved the Document Raster Effects settings from where you could set it with no documents open and that would be your pref for all new files, to an option in the New Document dialog for each new document, files that began in a screen profile not only have to be changed to CMYK, all of the Blacks converted to grayscale, overprint set correctly, and then the Raster Effects Settings have to be at least checked, for each file, to make sure they're print resolution. (We sometimes get hundreds of single files for one title.)

The upshot is we advise people to always use the Print profile when creating art.

This sets all of the new art to Picas — regardless of the application preferences for preferred units.

Changing it to Inches makes the profile [Custom], and we're back to verifying the color and raster settings.

WHY CAN WE SIMPLY NOT SPECIFY OUR PREFERRED UNITS FOR NEW DOCUMENTS?

Seriously, this wasn't broken — why did Adobe go to these lengths to make this more complicated?

Better yet, why is points the default? Maybe those guys need to spend time switching back to points instead of us.

Illustrator 2021 doesn't save units in Preferences. Always sets up a 'Points'

It's an annoying thing that happens when you update. But all you have to do is change the units in your pref. cmd+k or ctrl+k. Then open a new document, and change that to Inches, or whatever your pref. is. Then close illustrator out. Once you launch again, it should stay as Inches, or whatever you chose.

if u click on an empty section of the artboard the properties sidebar will give you the options to change the units for the document! I always get stuck on this and this is how you fix it!

I have had same issues driving me crazy. I believe the reason was that I haven't had the fully control over the Adobe folder (drive:\program files\adobe). So the Adobe Illustrator Prefs couldn't be updated. See attached screen shot and look on security tab for your (user) permissions

This has been a well documented bug for years. The fact it persists is testimony to how little the bank of Adobe cares about its customers.

If ever a corporation was eligible for investigation over pricing, quality of product and snuffing out the competition it is Adobe. A true clusterf*ck of broken parts.

I hadn't had this problem when I was working on my Mac @ work, but now I'm working on my PC from home, this has been driving me crazy.
I may have stumbled upon a fix, though.

Open Illustrator
Change unit preferences to required units
Create a new document, making sure you switch to required units before creating
Close document and Illustrator completely
Units should now stick (well they did for me)

Hope this is of some help.

Dang! I was hoping to find a solution here. This is so tedious.

Adobe still hasnt fixed this problem, its been on all of my versions of illustrator and even happens on photoshop too. 2017 and on....customer service sucks cant get through to anyone who isn't beyond "level 1" training.