Create Outline changed text frame (with text only) to coloured block
macOS Ventura, Illustrator 27.0.1
I have several documents with texts in frames and texts as 'loose'/text area. But as soon as everything is converted to letter contours, some text frames change into colored blocks. In the example file it concerns a Google font, but it also happens with Adobe CC fonts, the problem seems to have to do with the text frames, see the example file.
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You can go a step further and automate this workaround into an action, which you can run instead of plain Create Outlines.
So in place of Cmd+A, Create Outlines (I assume you do that), you can make an action Select All, then run the script (they no longer get dropped from actions, like they used to several years ago), clear the fill, Deselect, Select All again and then outline.
Once you bind it to a hotkey, the speed is almost the same.As for the update... since it is not the recent break — and I checked the behaviour in earlier versions (they treat these strange area type objects in the same manner) — and you can’t provide more details on the way they were created (I failed at creating these from the ground up) — the issue most likely will not get prioritized high enough to get a swift fix, sadly.
If you get more information on these weird filled-but-not-rendered fills and their origin, please comment.
If I get any news from the team — I will surely make you know too. -
Sipke commented
Hi Egor, thank you for the script! This workaround helps al little, but on the many artworks I work on daily (from other makers, with different platforms and Illustrator versions) I hope Illustrator comes quick with an update. This issue has never happened in the past and additional action such as the script is by no means desirable for the future. Is there any insight into whether Adobe will also address this problem?
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Another solution that might help you in this particular situation is this script by Toshiyuki Takahashi (https://twitter.com/gautt): https://graphicartsunit.tumblr.com/post/135973419019/select-text-path
It selects path, both for area type texts and type-on-paths.
Select all in your document before outlining, run the script, apply None to fills. -
Sipke, strange. I am testing this file on Windows in Ai 2022 (and on Mac’s 2019), and it behaves the same exact way — frame restore they fill when the text gets outlined.
Again, any fill gets usually gets dropped if you convert a rectangle into a area type frame, and is visible, if you fill the frame afterwards.
The problem is also it can’t be fixed easily with the Select Same Fill command, because Illustrator doesn’t display these frames in Layers panel...
The only workaround I can advise you at this moment is to convert these with Type > Convert to Point Type command, and the Create Outlines. This effectively kills the frame and its fill altogether, and the formatting stays basically the same... unless you use justification.
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Sipke commented
Hi, first of all thank you very much for taking this problem seriously as it is a very big problem for us!
The history of the file is difficult to determine. What I now mainly can determine is that it concerns redesigns, so existing files that were made in older versions of Illustrator and are currently being redesigned on Apples with an M1 processor with Illustrator 22 and 23. I haven't seen it happen on older Apples with Illustrator 22. (see also another example of another packaging where it also happens). Hope this information can help.
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For some reason some of your type area paths are colored with this exact red. When you outline the type, for some reason it gets re-applied to frames.... This is both right AND wrong. The strange thing is that I can’t replicate it from the scratch. Do you have any memories on how did you do that?
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Just wow. I confirm that!