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Anchor points not displaying with layer color

My anchor points are not displaying correctly. They are not the layer color and when objects are selected, they are a light gray and barely visible on a white or any color background. I've tried changing the layer color and that doesn't help and have checked any preferences that may have been changed, but still the same issue.
Specs:
Illustrator v 25.3.1 on an iMac 27" (late 2012, 2.9GHz Quad Core Intel core i5 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 66oM 512 MB graphics)
Running MAC OS Catalina v 10.15.7
Please help with any fixes. I've already restarted Illustrator and my computer a few times and no change. This seemed to have started after a recent update to the latest Illustrator version.

12 votes
Cathy Donley shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →
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  • Sandra Murray commented  ·   ·  Report

    This seems like an old thread, but the problem still exists. NONE of the fixes suggested in all of the various community forums has worked. And this problem JUST started happening for me since I've gotten a new mac and new monitor. It is crazy making.

    Illustrator 28.1
    macOS Ventura 13.5 (on a Mac Mini)
    LG UltraFine monitor

    UPDATE - It seems to happen consistently when I attempt to remove an (empty) dartboard

  • Rhonda Martin commented  ·   ·  Report

    Resaving as an older version does not work for me. As long as there is more than one file open, the first file open will display the anchor points correctly but the others don't. If you have only one file open it's ok. As you open more files the anchor points are greyed out.

  • Mal Jones commented  ·   ·  Report

    A solution that worked for me was to save my document as AI — but in an older version (CS3). When I re-opened my document, the anchor points were displaying correctly, with layer colour outlines.

  • Justin Taylor commented  ·   ·  Report

    When selecting with GPU preview turned off, the selection color doesn't match the layer color, it is just gray, and missing parts of the selection as well. We have verified this issue on multiple Macs, so far we have only seen the issue on macOS Monterey. We are running Illustrator v 26.4.1. See attached screenshots, the one with red selection is with GPU turned on, the other one is with it turned off.

  • Rhonda Martin commented  ·   ·  Report

    2017 Imac Monterey 12.4, Illustrator Version 26.4.1

    I start a new file and it’s fine. The anchor points are the same colour as the layer. If I open a second file the anchor points on it are grey. If I copy something from the second file to the first, all of the anchor points change to grey. If I save and close the first file which was OK at the beginning, the anchor points are now OK on the second file which I still have open. I think the problem has to do with having more than one file open at the same time and copying from one file to another. Maybe a clipboard issue? I don’t know how to fix this and it’s very annoying as the anchor points are very hard to see. This started happening after I upgraded my operating system a couple of months ago. My coworker doesn’t have this problem and she has the same operating system and is running the same version of Illustrator but she has a newer iMac. The seems to be the only difference.

  • Rhonda Martin commented  ·   ·  Report

    2017 Imac Monterey 12.4, Illustrator Version 26.4.1

    I have the same problem. It happens with pretty much every file. I can start a new file and it's fine but at some point the anchor points change to grey losing the layer colour. I have tried saving files as eps and then resaving as an ai as someone suggested and it seems to work for a while but almost always the anchor points lose colour again. I can’t even pinpoint when it happens. The only thing I can think is that I upgraded the operating system a couple of months ago and this started happening around that time. My coworker is running the same operating system and the same version of Illustrator and doesn't have the problem. She has a newer computer - iMac 2020.

  • Jane commented  ·   ·  Report

    Imac running OS Monterey 12.4, Illustrator Version 26.3.1
    Even though I have ticked the preference box to have coloured anchor points, they mysteriously turn white and are really difficult to see. I can't pin down when this happens, it occurred in previous versions and started doing it again, possibly after and auto OS upgrade. Previously it has mysteriously stopped, but now it has stuck and is DRIVING ME MAD, it makes it so hard to see anchor points. It seems that others have had this problem also.

  • Todd Klein commented  ·   ·  Report

    Further discovery, if I save an existing Illustrator file with the selection problem as an EPS, then close and reopen that file, the problem is gone. If I then save that EPS as an Illustrator file (2020, latest option), the problem remains gone unless I choose View Using GPU, but at least that's not chosen as a default and can be avoided. This is a very time-consuming workaround, but at least I found one.

  • Todd Klein commented  ·   ·  Report

    I have the same problem, but I've discovered that if I open an EPS file instead of an Illustrator one, the problem is gone UNLESS I choose View Using GPU, then it's the same light gray on selections, but there I can get it to work normally by unchoosing View Using GPU. So it's definitely GPU-related. On Illustrator files, though, View Using GPU is grayed out so I can't choose or unchoose it. The toggle under Preferences>Performance doesn't do anything for me. I recently updated to the latest Illustrator version through CC, and I am using Mac OS 12.2.1. Also, just discovered that if I create a new file, the problem is gone unless I choose View Using GPU, but this doesn't help with the thousands of existing Illustrator files I have.

  • Guy Laird commented  ·   ·  Report

    The anchor points within a given document will suddenly turn white (or a light grey) and become virtually invisible against the background or artboard. Doesn't seem to matter which tool I'm using, nor does it matter if it's an older existing document or a new document. The only fix I've found so far is to copy everything into a new document and resave it (overwriting the existing document) and even then, the problem sometimes returns in the new document.

  • Ray Cabarga commented  ·   ·  Report

    My operating system is Mac Monterey 12.1

    My Illustrator version is 26.0

    Please open the file attached to see the details.

    This is very serious and costing me a lot of money as I can't get my work done in the current state of Illustrator.

    The steps I was taking were: trying to use the pen tool as I have since Illustrator 88 through every subsequent version.

    The attached file is a PDF so you should be able to open it in Illustrator.

  • Mark commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same issue as the above. Updated to Illustrator 25.4.1 Running macOS Catalina v10.15.7. In need of a fix for this issue. Thanks in advance for any help.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    I had this very same issue running the same version of Illustrator as you and the Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6 and the solution for me was to turn on/checkmark "GPU Performance" in IIlustrator's Preferences>Performance panel.

  • Sandra commented  ·   ·  Report

    I have a similar issue. Do they flicker when you mouse over them? When you change your User Interface color preference in illustrator, do the anchor points change to that color?

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