Text gets duplicated in the second threaded area
Good morning,
Often, when I have two linked text boxes, the text placed in the first box is repeated in the second box. This doesn't happen right at the beginning, when I link the text boxes. I notice this later, when I review the work done. Can you tell me why this happens?
Sandra Baptista
shared this idea
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Yep, this is happening.
Simply selecting the text in both threaded frames makes it obvious the rendered outlines don’t match the actual characters placed.
Thanks you for sharing this! I’ll try to push it further. -
Hello Egor, sorry for taking so long to reply.
Yes, I still have the file. I can share it with you so you can perform any tests you deem necessary.
At the moment i am using adobe illustrator 2026, but I've been using Illustrator since CS4 and this was the first time i noticed this problem.When I created the file, the information was entered correctly. I took some screenshots for approval by an healthcare professional (as shown in the attached images) and everything was fine.
Later, I opened the file a second time to continue entering information, but I didn't look again at the already validated information. I only realized this error when we posted the images on social media.
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Henry Stock
commented
Here is an Illustrator file where this has happened, and a screenshot of how the file previews using the space bar in MacOS Tahoe 26.2.
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Henry Stock
commented
I have found an example. Page 1 is the file as created, and page 2 is the same file after it was saved and reopened.
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Henry Stock
commented
The issue with the duplication of linked text boxes (with multiple columns) only appears after the file is saved and reopened. While the file is being created the boxes behave as expected. When the file is saved (in .ai 2020 format) and reopened, the content of the first box's columns is repeated at the start of the next linked box's columns.
i.e.
A B C D E F G H J K L M N
P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AAbecomes when saved and reopened
A B C D E F G H J K L M N
A B C D E F G H J K L M NP Q R S T U V W X Y Z AA are still there, but they are pushed forward by the duplicated first box's contents, and you must delete the repeated text.
Also, it seems to only affect text boxes with letters in my case. If I have linked boxes with measurements containing a mixture of letters and numbers, or just numbers, the duplication does not occur.
Entries in the columns are separated with a hard return (enter key), not a tab.
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Sandra, can you please share a test file with these linked text boxes?
When you edit the first one — does the second one change as well?
If the first one overflows — does the text go into the second one as expected?
If you can, please record a short video of the behavior, just in case it works like this on you computer only.Also — what Illustrator version are you using and when did you first start noticing it?
What is your system’s specs?
