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Align to key object automatic selection in align Panel

In the new update (24.2) I have "align to artboard" as a default but when I select multiple objects it automatically selects "align to key object" even after choosing the other multiple times. This is a new issue.

Windows 10
Ryzen 2700x
nVidia gtx 1660
16gb RAM

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Oscar alfonso shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →
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Completed (Comments Open)  ·  AdminVarun Sharma (Sr Product Manager, Adobe Illustrator) responded  · 

Hi Everyone,

We have fixed this bug in our latest release – v 24.2.1 which is available worldwide now. Thanks for your patience on this.

Please note that after upgrading you might still see that Align To sets itself to Align to Key Object. If you see this, please manually set the Align To to the required setting, and this reported bug will not happen again. You’ll need to this one time only.

The reason Align To might get set to Key Object after update is because Ai remembers your last Align To on subsequent launches as well. So, if your last Align To was Key Object before quitting/upgrading, after first multi-selection, it will set itself to Key Object. After you manually change it one-time, it will work fine.

You can update to the latest release using Creative Cloud desktop App: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/creative-cloud/help/creative-cloud-updates.html

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  • Philippe Galmel commented  ·   ·  Report

    Illustrator 26,2. Illustrator align return allways to "Align to the selection" at launch.
    It's annoying because when the objects are already almost centered with respect to the artboard, one may not notice that in fact they are not.
    The default behavior at launch should always be "Align to the artboard".
    It makes a lot more sense to have to select the key object for this.

  • AdminEgor Chistyakov (Admin, Adobe Illustrator) commented  ·   ·  Report

    If anyone is experiencing this problem with the latest release — please attach a video of it and describe the exact steps you perform to reproduce it.

    (Edited by admin)
  • Sarah commented  ·   ·  Report

    Running version 25.2 and this bug has not been fixed.

  • Michelle commented  ·   ·  Report

    It is Feb. 17, 2021 - I am using Illustrator on a new MacBook Pro (non-Apple chip), and I am having the same issue. My CC is totally up-to-date.

    UGH. I need to finish this project tonight.

  • René R commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hi, the problem seemed to have been resolved for some time, although I did notice some strange behavior every now and then when using Align.
    On closer inspection, this turns out to be the same behavior as Wes Rand wrote about on October 17: when I select multiple objects, I can only choose "Align to Artboard". This only seems to happen (or especially) when I select all objects at once by selecting a complete layer.
    If I go back and select all objects individually, I get to choose from the other options "Align Selection" of "Align to Main Object".
    I am using version 24.3, 64 bit, Windows, Dutch version.
    I remember having

  • Haroon Qureshi commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hi, when I used to move my objects on artboard, there used to be lanes and alignments automatically showing me when two objects on the artboard are in alignment with a green line. However, I can't see that feature anymore, it just happened since yesterday. very frustrating. Is this a bug, or is this due to some settings issue?

  • Wes Rand commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is still broken. When I select multiple objects -- often by selecting the layer -- the alignment option will not let me choose anything other than "Align to artboard." I have to go back and select all the objects individually to then be allowed to "Align to selection" or "Align to key object."

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is not true. I have to set it for every document I open. Extremely annoying. How do you set it to default to selection like it always did?

  • [Deleted User] commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same here, the Alignment Settings always jump back to "Align to Artboard"

  • Shannon commented  ·   ·  Report

    October 7, 2020 - THIS IS NOT FIXED. Once again, I have to downgrade to fix the bug. Upgraded...and I'm at 24.3...does NOT fix the issue.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    "Align to" feature not at all working from touch bar. As it is supposed to take you to the next level of vertical/horizontal options - which is failing to kick the action.

  • Roy Leban commented  ·   ·  Report

    Using 24.3, I see this error message all the time: "partially selected objects cannot be set as key objects" when I am just selecting points. A reproducible case is when I am selecting points in a compound path such that the selected points comprise an entire sub-path in the compound path. I'm not trying to set a key object. The Align to Key Objects choice in the Align panel is not selected. If I tell Illustrator not to show me the error message, it beeps pretty continuously while the object is partially selected, and some things don't work. Please fix!

  • Donatas Pabrėža commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hi,
    This is very bad!

    On the new release 24.3 I saw a new fix "Align To setting remembers the last setting when relaunched".
    I tried it out and it turns out that every time I load Ai the Align To resets to default "Align to selection".
    This means I have to set it back from default every time I start Ai!
    This is unbelievably frustrating!

    Why can't you just let users set the default values in the Preferences panel for settings like this?

  • David commented  ·   ·  Report

    In the latest version of Illustrator there is a new "feature" that is driving me crazy! Whenever two objects are selected, Illustrator now automatically selects the top object as the key object, whereas before, you had to click on one of the objects a second time to activate the key object. I want to know how to turn this "feature" off as it completely hinders my workflow and is not a "feature" that I care at all about getting accustomed to. I need to be able to select the key object that I want to be a key object when I want to and not have Illustrator select it automatically. I have alignment issues that I do not always want to have a key object. Please help as I have reverted to a previous version to avoid this annoying "feature."

  • Wes Rand commented  ·   ·  Report

    I'm using version 24.3 and the alignment bug seems even worse. Most of the time I can't even select an option other than align to artboard. Please fix!

  • Lewis Tsalis commented  ·   ·  Report

    I've been using the 24.3 update that came out a week ago and it seems to have finally fixed the alignment bug.

  • sc8tty commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is one of the most disruptive bugs in Adobe history. I'm still seeing it in 24.2.3. Please fix!

  • Chris commented  ·   ·  Report

    +1. This KEEPS breaking.

    But as long as we're paying to save the engineers time when they're working on the program at the expense of stability and ease for the end user, right?

    Adobe's "write once, deploy everywhere" corporate mentality has been an absolute cancer for so many years.

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