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Live text in transparency mask not outlining or showing in font list

This is a 2 part issue:

  1. If I select all and outline the type the document doesn't outline anything that is in a transparency mask. This is a major flaw that needs to be resolved as has lead to mistakes being printed with default text.
    Select all and outline needs to either include everything within transparency masks or a new command to outline text within these masks needs to be created as a separate option.

  2. A huge worry is I released work last week where I believed everything in the transparency masks had been correctly outlined by individually going in to the mask and outlining type.
    When the printer opened the file, it said it still had live type, however, when I opened the file and checked the find/replace fonts panel, even thought there was live text still within a transparency layer that I had missed, the document said there were no live fonts, see attached image!

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  • Nathan Teske - CBX commented  ·   ·  Report

    If a font is used exclusively inside an opacity mask, Illustrator does not report that font as being used in the document.

    The font is not reported in:

    * Find/Replace Font Dialog
    * Document Info panel
    * XMP metadata
    * Missing font dialog when opening the document

    The last point is actually how we found the bug — a client asked us why we told them to license a font that, at least as far as they could tell, wasn't used in the document.

    The font *is* marked as missing in the character pallet but without any other outward indications that's a bit buried in a basement closet.

    Fonts in opacity masks are recognized if you check Find/Replace Font, Document Info, etc. while working inside the opacity mask. They aren't added to the XMP headers if the file is saved in this state.

    Environment: Illustrator 26 (30.2.1) on macOS 15.7.4 but the problem exists as far back as AI2024 (28.7.10). I was able to reproduce the problem in Illustrator 2026 without any 3rd party plugins.

  • AdminEgor Chistyakov (Admin, Adobe Illustrator) commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is something many struggle with, I think.
    The problem is worse given the fact scripts can’t deal with the contents of opacity masks, reported here: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/908050/suggestions/46727548 — and it means we can’t automate looping through each individual mask and doing anything with it, like outlining fonts... please upvote it if you really crave a one-click solution to the problem.

    Opacity masks are like parallel universe...
    At the moment the only partial solution I can offer is to use the amazing and free Select Menu plugin form Graffix: https://rj-graffix.com/downloads/plugins/#selectmenu — it will allow you to select object with opacity masks applied (with the new Select > Object > Special Art Types > Opacity Masks) to help you iterate through them manually. Better than nothing!

  • Tom commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same issue here. Our client delivered an outlined Illustrator file, but the font inside the opacity mask was still live text. No missing fonts warnings when the file was opened in Illustrator. However the missing font still got replaced with the default font, without headsup warning.

    The mistake was only noticed later on when a proof was sent to the client for approval.

  • Omar Fathy commented  ·   ·  Report

    Sometimes we need to convert all text in the document to shapes (Create Outline) to be in the save side in print process.

    When we have opacity masks that have text inside the mask layer, we can't edit it until we find the mask. Sometime, we receive documents that we didn't make ourselves and it will be not be easy to find all masks.

    The suggestion is to:
    - Have a command to find out all opacity masks.
    - Have a command to select text in the whole document even inside the masks.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Adobe Illustrator CC 24.3. Windows 10 Pro 1909. OS Build 18363.1082

    Converting fonts to outlines did not catch the ones used in a clipping group with transparency effects. The effect was an embossed look. When the fonts weren't activated for the file, the embossed look changed as it substituted a font, but Illustrator gave no warning and no fonts were listed in the "Find Fonts" panel. The font used in the emboss effect was listed when viewed in Acrobat but not Illustrator.

Illustrator (Desktop) Bugs: Type, Fonts, Text

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