Back with a vengeance: Constrain (holding Shift key) doesn't work with Smart Guides turned on, for Scale, Rotate, Reflect
This is an older bug that was fixed a while ago but seems to be back with a vengeance.
It is now happening in Adobe Illustrator 28.4 on Mac OS Sonoma 14.4.1.
See this link:
When smart guides are on none of the constrain features (holding down shift) work properly, whether it's rotating, reflecting, etc. It just sort of jumps back to one position, often the original position, and won't move. The little magenta text that lets you know the angle etc. also goes a little crazy and looks like it's trying to display a few different words on top of each other.
Erwin
shared this idea
A current 'workaround' is to disable Transform Tools option in Preferences > Smart Guides. This removes the 'uniform' guide, making the smart guides less useful, but it stops it from jittering.
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Mariano Gonzalez commented
I've been doing what you're saying for a while now, but it makes my work less productive. Plus, I lose the precision and agility that smart guides provide.
Please consider correcting this error. -
When using the scale tool (o) on any object, with smart guides enabled, it becomes very difficult to get a good result. When scaling the object proportionally by holding down the shift key, the object starts to flicker or have a random proportion.
The problem only appears when I work on MacOS. On Windows I don't have this problem.
This error has persisted for many versions of Illustrator without a solution. -
Disabling Transform Tools in Preferences > Smart Guides does make it go away, but it’s a mere workaround
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Erwin
commented
Hi Egor,
I tried toggling 'Construction Guides' in the preferences but I don't remember that working for me. I tried the latest update 28.4.1 but that didn't fix it. I eventually reverted to Illustator 27.9.3 which does not have this bug.
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Erwin, does the older trick to workaround it work for you — to toggle Construction Guides in Preferences: Smart Guides?
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Erwin
commented
In Adobe Illustrator 28.4 on Mac OS Sonoma 14.4.1 this very annoying problem seems to be back.... Please fix this.
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Katie
commented
This is my file
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Katie
commented
I have the same problem. Any update on this?
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Here is the demo
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Yes.
It is very similar to this now solved problem:
https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/36247978-constrain-shift-key-doesn-t-work-with-smart-guid
And it is caused by the merely same problem — a Smart Guides option, this time it’s Transform Tools' fault. Disable this option as a workaround. -
stove commented
Holding Shift key down to proportionally scale an object used to be more 'forgiving'. At some point, it became necessary to align the mouse push or pull perfectly on a 45 degree angle to constrain proportions. There used to be wider margins. It is harder to keep the mouse aligned with the 45 angle. It becomes necessary to look at the snap guide angle instead of the artwork.
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Jay, I can’t reproduce it :(
Can you share the file, please? At least the part of it that gives the bug. -
jay robinson
commented
When holding the shift key down to constrain an item when dragging (Keeping it aligned) the object jumps about as if trying to align to something else. This happens whether smart guides or snap are on or off (All combos thereof).
It's making laying out work very difficult. Just updated to 26.0.3 hoping the bug was fixed but it's still there. Only noticed this happening very recently, in the last day or 2 (24.01.22).
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Dave Barcos
commented
Yes, this is tied to Smart Guides. Which I like. but can't use if this contradiction if it makes the functionality too difficult to use.
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Dave Barcos
commented
When I use the shift button it is too difficult to find the exact mouse position is too difficult.
