Character/Paragraph panels - lazy and/or incorrect updating
Illustrator 23.0.3 on Win10
It is vitally important to me that the Character and Paragraph panels tell me the truth at all times: an accurate description of the properties in play based on the selected text or the cursor position if nothing is selected.
I constantly run into the problem where I select a line of text and the 'space before' and 'space after' controls in the Paragraph panel are completely wrong. Clicking the up/down arrows on the controls will change the displayed (wrong) value, and the text will suddenly leap to god-knows-where, rather than the desired "up or down by 1pt" relative to the other text in the paragraph.
Sometimes I can see the correct current values for the text by putting the cursor in the line and moving it around with the arrow keys. The actual current values will briefly display before being replaced with Illustrator's mistaken idea of what values should be displayed.
See attached video of the Character panel doing the same thing. The cursor is on a line of text that is set in Adobe Caslon at 25pt, but the panel is telling me it's Myriad Pro 12pt. Each time I move the cursor, the correct values are (briefly) displayed before being replaced with the uselessly wrong values. FWIW, the wrong values are the defaults: "[Normal Character Style]" and "[Normal Paragraph Style]" in the Character/Paragraph Styles panels, and if I created a new text box and started typing, yes, I'd get Myriad Pro 12/14.4. But having already typed text and changed its style to something else, I need the panels to show those values.
It's more than a little irritating.
John Bradley
shared this idea
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Clip Groups From Hell
commented
Illustrator 24.3 on Mac OS X
I have the same problem, one WHOLE Ai version later than the one mentioned at the start of this thread.
To recreate:
Create a new file.
Create a text area. Create two paragraphs of text and create paragraph styles for each. Define a "space after paragraph" for one of the paragraph styles.
Duplicate the text area.
Arbitrarily change the space after paragraph value in one of the paragraphs. Don't update the paragraph style.
Use the text tool and select the equivalent paragraph in the duplicated text area.
Inspect the value of the space after paragraph.The value shown is the value of the arbitrary change to the non-updated paragraph, and not the actual space after paragraph value of the selected text.
Unfortunately I have to use Illustrator for layout jobs, working in a new team. Usually I would be usually using InDesign, which is, er, an actual layout app, and not an app for illustrations. But hey. Seeing as a large part of the world uses Ai instead of Id, Ai should be able to accommodate advanced typesetting options in its 24th version.
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Stephaney Weber
commented
Have the same problem with fonts/leading/kerning, won't report it correctly, wrong font, kerns the UNselected paragraph above the selection. Very frustrating - not sure how you are suppose to create a piece of artwork with these issues. I have to close the program over and over to get it to stop, but sometimes it doesn't help.
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Lindsey Thomas Martin
commented
23.0.3 on Mac. Similar behaviour all the time. The most troublesome error for me is that, when one changes the font family in the Type panel, the font style will not stick and gets set, usually, to the lightest or thinnest style. One has to close, re-open the panel and reset the style before it will stick, doubling the time it takes to make what should be a quick, simple change. This behaviour was reported in detail for earlier versions and has not been fixed. I don't understand why this doesn't have your full attention as the Adobe Type Engine is one of your top competitive advantages over competing programmes.
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JR
commented
It’s ridiculous that this is still an issue. My #1 irritation is the leading jumping to 1295 every time i try to adjust.