BUG: New Window 'aligns' to first window
Illustrator CC 2018
When I open a 'New Window' and arrange them tiled or float both windows so that they are both viewable at the same time and then position different views of the document in these two windows, when I start editing text in Window 1 the viewable content in Window 2 'aligns' with the view of Window 1 - why?
For example, I set Window 1 to view the top of the document and set Window 2 to view the bottom of the document and then when I edit text in Window 1 (top) the view in Window 2 scrolls up to present an 'aligned' view of Window 1.
Interestingly, if I open up a third New Window, giving all three different views, when I make an edit in Window 1, now Window 3 'aligns' and Window 2 keeps showing the view I originally set.
Now if I open up a fourth window, giving all different views, then when I make an edit in Window 1 the Window 4 'aligns' the view to Window 1 but Windows 2 and 3 stay put (different and original views I set).
It appears my installation has some sort of bug which causes two windows to 'align', a bit frustrating.
I've gone through preferences and have looked for any checkboxes to tick to prevent this behavior but have found no way to prevent this from happening.
Daniel MacLeod
shared this idea
-
Seth commented
I've just encountered this myself and didn't immediately understand what was happening until I realized editing text pulls focus to the object in each window. It would be nice if Illustrator respected focus and didn't presume to make adjustments to a windows view. If nothing else, a lock for the view would be nice. Rotation (not sure if Illustrator even supports View rotation), Zoom, Proofing, etc. should all be able to be fixed in a window so that you can have an always up to date preview, reference, or whatever you created the window for.
I doubt I'm alone in thinking that's kind of a logical expectation for separate windows into the same file. When I'm programming in Sublime Text or Notepad++ and create another view or window into a file, that second window does absolutely NOTHING unless I specifically change focus into that view/window and do so myself. That's expected behavior. And as others have mentioned, that other view is great for having a certain section of a file in view all the time, like headers, variables, etc.
-
Dan Newport
commented
I have the same issue. This defeats the purpose of having multiple separate windows in Illustrator, and it adds complication to complex projects. I hope it gets fixed soon.
Some suggested workarounds in the meantime:
For some situations, a temporary solution might be to use a screenshot as a second window so you can reference one part of a design while working on another.
Alternatively if a screenshot isn't enough and you need access to objects in another part of a design, you could open a second copy of the Illustrator file as your second window. This way the second window doesn't jump when you edit text in the first because the windows are from separate files.