“Split Into Grid” creates a single live grid object now instead of independent paths and it's awful.
Recent versions of Illustrator changed “Split Into Grid” to create a single live grid object instead of independent paths. This completely breaks established illustration, print, and production workflows (stickers, dielines, laser cutting, icon sheets).
Please restore the previous behavior or add a preference/checkbox to output individual paths by default. Illustrator is an illustration tool, not a layout app.
Michelle McCartney
shared this idea
-
I’d like to see this, please... I know nothing about the change, so it’s something that either slipped into your build, not announced even, or something else entirely.
When I test it, in Ai GA 30.1 and the latest Beta, I get just a set of rectangles, as before — not grouped even.
Please share a test file with this live object type within and a short video showing the way it works for you. -
Hi Egor,
Thanks for chiming in — to clarify, I’m specifically talking about Object > Path > Split Into Grid, not the Rectangular Grid Tool.
In current versions of Illustrator, Split Into Grid creates a single live grid/container object. While it visually appears as a group of rectangles, ungrouping no longer reliably produces independent path objects the way it did in earlier versions. In older versions, ungrouping immediately resulted in discrete rectangles. Now the objects retain a shared structure until forcibly divided. The visual result is the same, but the underlying object model is not.
This breaks workflows where users need immediately separable shapes (print imposition, sticker sheets, dielines, etc.). The workaround now requires Pathfinder > Divide (and multiple ungroups) to get true individual paths, which wasn’t necessary before.
That change in object structure is what I’m referring to — not whether the dialog still exists or whether guides are involved.
-
Michelle, I’m a bit confused.
Object > Path > Split Into Grid makes a group of rectangles, based on the appearance and the size of the selection. Unless we tick Guides in the dialog, we don’t get lines. And we can set gaps between these rectangular cells. This is how it worked and still works.
Perhaps you mean the Rectangular Grid Tool? It’s usually nested within the Line tool, and it was always creating a grid of lines (and a frame, if one wants it). Clicking with it on canvas displays a similar looking dialog.
Please comment back.
