Smooth Tool oversmooths
Manual use of the Smooth Tool over smooths no matter what I set the fidelity to.
This tool used to be so helpful in smoothing out rough areas or sharp corners but the new Illustrator 2025 (Desktop) PC version way over smooths.
This makes everything a blob instead of providing the polished finishing touch it used to give.
Now I have to manually remove unwanted points to achieve and retain desired shapes.
Delano Sweeney
shared this idea
AdminIllustrator Engineering
(Software Engineer, Adobe Illustrator)
responded
Hello All,
We’ve implemented a fix for the previously reported issue in the latest release, version 29.0.1. Please check this update at your end and share your observations.
Your feedback on the effectiveness of the fix is crucial for us to ensure stability and quality.
Regards,
Aishwarya G Gadodia
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Kaci
commented
Yes! The new update work perfectly!! Thank you SO much for getting this fixed! =)
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Kaci, I meant the file, the actual document, not a video :)
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Kaci
commented
Sure, here's another video for you. Let me know if you need just the photo of it.
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Kaci, I have a guess about the problem with the path that you show in the video... but only a partial one.
Can you share this bottom 'Bethany' line (if you still have the original) to test it, please? -
Kaci
commented
I also use this tool for calligraphy and ever since the recent update I haven't been able to figure out how to fix it. I'm attaching a video to show how extreme the smoothing tool is to a simple path. Please fix!
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Brianne Knowles commented
I echo what Rebekah has said! I am a calligrapher and I use the smooth tool to smooth out the edges of my letters after I live trace them. When I click on the smooth tool now, I get the slider, and no matter what setting it is on, when I brush over any path to smooth out my existing anchors, the entire path goes crazy and simplified and my calligraphy letter turns into a blob. The smooth tool is critical to the work I do and what I use illustrator for, and I would love to see this tool returned to its previous functionality.
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nicolas botta commented
La herramienta suavizar simplemente esta rota, al intentar suavizar los nodos de una ilustración deforma automáticamente toda la imagen y todos los nodos, no importa cuanta sensibilidad seleccione, lo probé en tres computadoras distintas y lo sigue haciendo, sucede desde que actualice a la ultima versión, antes no ocurría así, seria ideal que funcione como antes ya que es una herramienta muy util para quienes ilustramos a diario.
Tengo Windos 11 pro, mi version de ilustrator es la v29.0
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Rebekah, please share a test file and a video that demonstrates the problem.
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Rebekah Gordon commented
I have the exact same problem, incredibly frustrating. When brushing over the path, it completely distorts the shape, rather than just smoothing the brushed over area, regardless of the slider's setting.
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Delano, do you refer to the new Smooth slider we can call from Object > Path > Smooth, or by grabbing the Smooth tool (which can also be called with Opt/Alt when using Pencil tool, if the option to do so is enabled in its options)?
One can use Smooth tool as previously, by brushing over the path locally — this bit never changed, as far as I know...
The slider is still rather new, and it never existed before... So which one do you refer to, the slider (which is more a function) or the tool (which works the same, at least for me)?
Can you please record this over-smoothing on video?
