GPU Preview glitches with clipping masks and transparency (since Illustrator 29.6.0), white rectangle appears below
I've encountered a rendering issue starting in Illustrator 29.6.0, and it's still present in 29.6.1. Here's how to reproduce it:
- Create a simple circle.
- Create a simple rectangle.
- Place the circle inside the rectangle using a clipping mask.
- Apply any transparency to the circle (e.g., set opacity < 100%, or add a drop shadow).
Result:
The rendering becomes corrupted for any object positioned beneath the clipping mask (try placing a filled shape underneath to see the issue clearly).
Additional Notes:
The issue only appears in GPU Preview.
Switching to CPU Preview restores correct rendering.
Changing the color profile or color model did not resolve the issue.
Deleting Illustrator's preferences folder also had no effect.
Rolling back to Illustrator 29.5 resolves the issue.
Apologies for not including a screenshot – I rolled back to 29.5 before capturing one.
System:
iMac Retina 5K (27", 2017)
macOS Ventura 13.7.6
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Screenshot%202025-08-07%20at%2010.11.11%E2%80%AFAM.png 2844 KB -
exhibit_error.ai 9184 KB -
Screenshot_while_using_CPU.png 3953 KB -
Screenshot_while_using_GPU.png 4910 KB -
Screenshot%202025-07-30_clipping%20mask%20bounding%20box%20knockout%2003.png 174 KB -
Screenshot%202025-07-30_clipping%20mask%20bounding%20box%20knockout%2001.png 209 KB -
Screenshot%202025-07-30_clipping%20mask%20bounding%20box%20knockout%2002.png 209 KB -
problem%20ai.png 244 KB -
Screenshot%202025-07-23%20alle%2009.10.17.png 1502 KB -
Screenshot%202025-07-23%20alle%2009.08.19.png 1907 KB -
Screenshot%202025-07-23%20alle%2009.08.04.png 1701 KB -
ClippingIssue.mov 2778 KB -
20250709-ClippingTransparency.mov 29432 KB -
Screenshot%202025-06-24%20at%201.00.34%E2%80%AFPM.png 518 KB -
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Screenshot%202025-06-24%20at%2012.59.33%E2%80%AFPM.png 598 KB

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Galya Akhmetzyanova commented
The same clipping mask displays differently depending on its position. When placed over an object, it appears with unexpected white space. This seems to be a recent glitch, likely introduced in the last two updates.
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monkeywrench commented
GPU is rendering transparent areas of a placed image as white instead of transparent, when the image is inside a clipping mask and has blending mode other than "Normal".
It is working fine in CPU mode. Also, if I set the blending mode of the image to "Normal" or I use the image outside of a Clipping Mask at any blending mode, I have no problem.
See attached Screenshots, one with GPU rendering showing the problem and the other with CPU rendering showing the correct version. I also attached the original Illustrator file that can be used to reproduce the problem.This is on MacOS Sequoia v. 15.5 and Illustrator v. 29.7.1. The GPU is Radeon Pro 580 8 GB
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Mark Gervais commented
I've upgraded to Ai 29.7 and this is still an issue as many have described here. Super aggravating!
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Annukka commented
Hello!
I updated yesterday to 29.6.1. Illustrator, and previously created files' clipping masks stopped working properly.
Please see the attached screenshots:
The texture has a same shaped clipping mask as the yellow vector element.
The bounding box seems to knock out items behind it, creating a white area where there shouldn't be. The white area mimics the background, for example, the white artboard or the dark grey work space.OS specs:
iMac Ventura 13.7.6
3,4 GHz Quad-core Intel i5
Radeon Pro 570 4Gb
16Gb RAMPlease see the attached screenshots. While writing this, I checked out other similar elements in my file, and this bug seems to appear only in some of them, regardless of using a clipping mask on a vector drawing (with shape gradient) or a photo. Could it be a performance issue?
Best,
Annukka (she/her) -
Stevenflow commented
Same problem here - white rectangle appears around clipping masks when masking gradients with transparency
iMac
Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017
3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
Radeon Pro 570 4 GB
40 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
Ventura 13.7.6Rolling back to 29.5 fixed it for me also.
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fuyumi yuki commented
Whenever I use blur or a PNG that's already background removed, and put on a colored canvas, it suddenly gets a background. But when it goes outside of it, the background is gone.
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Daniel commented
the white rectangle appears when there is a gradient whit transparency inside de clipping mask
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Daniel commented
the white rectangle appears when there is gradient with a transparent color in it
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Daniel commented
Illustrator 29.6.1
MacOS 15.5
iMac PRO 2017the clipping masks show white rectangle
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Mark Gervais commented
Upon upgrading to Ai 29.6.1 it has introduced rendering issues to shapes with clipping masks. You can see the behaviour in the video. It draws a white box where the bounding boxes seem to intersect. This has behaved exactly the same after multiple reboots so it doesn't seem to be going away. After some testing I can see what seems to trigger it.
- it seems to only happen when the interior shape has a slightly more complex appearance
- it occurs when the interior shape has both a fill and a stroke and has less than 100% opacity on either element.
- Switching to Pixel Preview eliminates the issue
- Copying and pasting the vector files to Photoshop does not transfer the issue, even when pasting as a Smart Object
- Switching OFF GPU Performance in the Performance Settings fixes the issue. It also makes Ai sloooooowwwww and kinda hellish to work in.- MacOS 15.5 > Intel iMac Pro 2017
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Stéphanie Noverraz commented
Illustrator 29.6.1 on Mac Ventura 13.5.2.
I have a JPG image and a Shape. When I clip the image, Clipping Mask works just fine. However, if I change the image transparency, I get a white rectangle the size of the Shape.
Note that the map in the background is also a clipped JPG with transparency and there's no problem with it. (Edit: silly me, of course, the "bounding rectangle" of this mask is the same as the shape)
Please help!
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K commented
hi Egor
may I know any update for the issue? -
Ahmad commented
Thank you Karina.
Here's a videos showing the workflow (attached).
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Karina Ponce Pié commented
@ahmad I saw your screenshot and yes, that’s what is happening .
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Ahmad commented
I installed Illustrator Beta 29.7.41 to capture a screenshot (attached).
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Karina Ponce Pié commented
@Ahmad. Yes. It’s happening when I have transparency in the clipping mask
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Ahmad commented
Is there any transparency inside the clipping masks?
I am wondering if it is the same bug I described in this report: (https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/50092491)
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K commented
save as pdf, and export jpg and export for web are fine, it may just a preview issue
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Sure, I get it... something has changed between the build obviously....
The team has been informed.
I wonder if this bug stays when you try to export an image? -
K commented
hi Egor
but I need to do the graphic with transparent this preview issue happened when I updated ai 205, if I use ai 2024, the preview is fine