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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:

  1. Create a simple circle.
  2. Create a simple rectangle.
  3. Place the circle inside the rectangle using a clipping mask.
  4. 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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  • Daniel commented  ·   ·  Report

    the white rectangle appears when there is gradient with a transparent color in it

  • Daniel commented  ·   ·  Report

    Illustrator 29.6.1
    MacOS 15.5
    iMac PRO 2017

    the clipping masks show white rectangle

  • Mark Gervais commented  ·   ·  Report

    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

  • Stéphanie Noverraz commented  ·   ·  Report

    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!

  • K commented  ·   ·  Report

    hi Egor
    may I know any update for the issue?

  • Karina Ponce Pié commented  ·   ·  Report

    @Ahmad. Yes. It’s happening when I have transparency in the clipping mask

  • K commented  ·   ·  Report

    save as pdf, and export jpg and export for web are fine, it may just a preview issue

  • K commented  ·   ·  Report

    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

  • K commented  ·   ·  Report

    Preview issue after updated illustrator
    When an irregular shape clipping mask a gradient shape with opacity control, the preview is not correct, the graphic will show white colour outside of the mask which is the part of gradient object.

    On pixel view is fine

    iMac
    Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019
    Processor 3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core
    i5
    Graphics Radeon Pro 570X 4 GB
    Memory 40 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

    macOS Sequoia 15.5

    Adobe illustrator 2025 29.6

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

    'Blank square'? Please show how it looks (both the object on canvas and its location in the Layers panel).
    If possible — share the file here. Add more details: when it happens? What kind of objects does this affect?

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Illustrator (Desktop) Bugs: Rendering Issues (GPU, CPU)

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