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laws2151
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Preserving text when copy/past

Oct 23, 2011 8:33 PM

Illustrator CS5.5 on Mac: When I copy text from one Illustrator document and pase it in a different document, the text canges to Myriad (the deafult font). Is there a setting somewhere to preserve the formatting? Even pasting into an existing text style still changes the font.

 

Thanks

4683 Views   39 Replies   Latest reply: jillshepherd, Jun 13, 2012 3:34 PM
 
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  • CHMprepress
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    1. CHMprepress,
    Oct 24, 2011 12:41 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    This has always been the standard behavior of Illustrator, that being said it would be nice if this is possible in the future.

     
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  • [scott w]
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    2. [scott w],
    Oct 24, 2011 12:46 AM   in reply to CHMprepress
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    I'm not certain why you're seeing that. Or why CHM posts that "its standard behavior."

     

    If I set text in ... oh... say.. ClanPro in one Ai document, copy it, switch to a different AI file and paste.. I get ClanPro. Text pastes in exactly as it was copied. In fact, nothing I do here results in the font choice being reset to Myriad.

     
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  • steve fairbairn
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    3. steve fairbairn,
    Oct 24, 2011 3:48 AM   in reply to CHMprepress
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    This has always been the standard behavior of Illustrator

    No it hasn't.

    Copy/paste from Illie to Illie always results in the same font, same object, same just about everything. Even same positioning if you use Cmd+F.

     

    It would be interesting to know how you can copy one font and paste another. The only way I can do it is by pasting to Word or TextEdit, copying from there and then pasting again into Illie.

     
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  • CHMprepress
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    4. CHMprepress,
    Oct 24, 2011 3:55 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    Yes, my reply was wrong, I did not see it was from Illustrator to Illustrator.

     
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  • steve fairbairn
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    5. steve fairbairn,
    Oct 24, 2011 4:28 AM   in reply to CHMprepress
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    O.k., so now we have to sort out laws2151's problem.

    Can anyone replicate it?

     

    The only thing I can think of is to try a restart.

    If that doesn't work, try a reboot.

    If that still doesn't work, try trashing the prefs folder.

     

    The other thing is to try a drag-and-drop between Illie files. See if that works.

     

    But I really don't know how to track down what appears to be some sort of clipboard failure.

     
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  • emil emil
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    6. emil emil,
    Oct 24, 2011 6:13 AM   in reply to CHMprepress
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    CHMprepress wrote:

     

    Yes, my reply was wrong, I did not see it was from Illustrator to Illustrator.

    Even between different programs, not sure on a Mac but on my PC using Windows 7, I  Just made a test with copying formatted text from Microsoft Word 2007 to Illustrator SC5 and the same font and formatting was preserved.

     
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  • [scott w]
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    7. [scott w],
    Oct 24, 2011 6:20 AM   in reply to emil emil
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    On the Mac, between apps, fonts are retained, unless you use a plain text editor. Then you lose the font as Steve posted. But I've never had a font drop between AI files.

     
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  • steve fairbairn
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    8. steve fairbairn,
    Oct 24, 2011 7:14 AM   in reply to [scott w]
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    But I've never had a font drop between AI files.

    I meant drag and drop a text object between files.

     
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  • [scott w]
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    9. [scott w],
    Oct 24, 2011 7:19 AM   in reply to steve fairbairn
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    I knew that I mean "drop" as in lose it's font designation.

     
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  • Mike Gondek
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    10. Mike Gondek,
    Oct 24, 2011 7:26 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    Do you have any multiple master fonts in this document? That can drive illustrator to act crazy. Font that end in MM are what to look for (eg:  Myriad MM ,Oceans Sans MM , Nueva MM,  Cronos MM).

     
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  • emil emil
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    11. emil emil,
    Oct 24, 2011 7:29 AM   in reply to [scott w]
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    [scott w] wrote:

     

    On the Mac, between apps, fonts are retained, unless you use a plain text editor. ...

    The same on a PC, if a text editor is capable of the formatting it is retained.

     
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  • steve fairbairn
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    12. steve fairbairn,
    Oct 24, 2011 7:50 AM   in reply to [scott w]
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    I knew that I mean "drop" as in lose it's font designation.

    O.k., gotcha :-)

    Neither have I, at least not within Illlie.

     

    But there are occasional problem is with Photoshop.

    Fonts only hold if pasted through the Type tool. Otherwise they get pixellated/rasterized.

    At least that's the way it is on my ancient version of PS.

     

    Likewise pasting from Illie into InDesign can work strangely unless there's some setting I don't know about.

    If you paste a text object from Illie to ID the text becomes outlined and uneditable.

    If you copy Illie text with the type tool and paste into ID (also using the type tool) the font defaults to whatever you have selected in your basic character style options.

    This has sometimes caught me unawares but can also be useful, depending on what you are trying to achieve.

     
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  • laws2151
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    13. laws2151,
    Oct 24, 2011 12:23 PM   in reply to steve fairbairn
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    Thank you all for replying.

     

    I tried the suggestions, but the issue remains:

     

    Using the Illustrator CS5.5 text tool, I copy a few words from a paragraph that has a text style. I paste it into a similar document and the font changes to the default Myriad.

     

    I know font info is not retained between different programs. Both files are Illustrator CS5.5. I don't remember this issue in CS5.

     

    Fonts are OTF, both paragraphs use the same style. It's very strange and can cause production issues if I don't pay attention. A workaround is copy from Doc A, paste into TextWrangler (or similar), paste into DocB. That retains the font (but of course removes any character styles.

     

    Can I email my file to any of you to confirm its not something on my system? Just to be clear, none of you have this problem?

     

    Thanks again

     
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  • steve fairbairn
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    14. steve fairbairn,
    Oct 24, 2011 1:45 PM   in reply to laws2151
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    I think it must be some kind of character or paragraph style that is kicking in somehow.

     
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  • [scott w]
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    15. [scott w],
    Oct 24, 2011 1:59 PM   in reply to steve fairbairn
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    steve fairbairn wrote:

     

    I think it must be some kind of character or paragraph style that is kicking in somehow.

     

    I agree. If you altered the [Basic paragraph] style to something other than Myriad then the style of the new (paste to) document would overwrite that style since [Basic Paragraph] in all AI documents is Myriad by default. Howver, if you create a new paragraph/character style, that should be retained.

     
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  • laws2151
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    16. laws2151,
    Oct 24, 2011 9:10 PM   in reply to [scott w]
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    The default is [Normal Paragraph Style] and I don't think it can be removed or renamed. At any rate, these are new paragraph styles.

     

    I had a feeling I was missing a Preference relevant to copy & paste or retaining formatting. But can't find anything.

     

    So when you copy and paste in Illustrator CS5.5 as I described, you retain the formatting? Thanks.

     
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  • Mike Gondek
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    17. Mike Gondek,
    Oct 25, 2011 8:48 PM   in reply to laws2151
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    Got your files, and could not reproduce the probelem with CS5 on windows, will try this on a mac CS4 tomorrow. Can you specifially give an example of what element this problem happens 100% of the time with, or does it happen with any text I copy and paste with the text tool.

     

    Char &paragraph style are buggy in illustrator, and unfortuantely copying between docuements really does not work well, especially when copying by the text tool.

    1. Copy text with the text tool (I- Beam) and paste in a a new document, the styles will not come over
    2. Copy your text with a selcection tools, paste into a new or exisitng document, the style appear in the char & par palettes, but they have a plus (overrides) after them, so you want to clear overirdes

     

    In both cases the text should look the same in the new document you paste to (unelss the new document has a style with the EXACT same name.

     
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  • Mike Gondek
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    18. Mike Gondek,
    Oct 26, 2011 10:08 AM   in reply to Mike Gondek
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    Problem did not happen to me in CS4 mac, if you have another mac does the problem happen there?

     

    I would

    • search for all your .LST files on you local drive and delete them (eg: AdobeFnt11.lst)

    • reset you illustrator prefs

    • close down any fonts you do not use often

     
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  • laws2151
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    19. laws2151,
    Oct 26, 2011 11:07 AM   in reply to Mike Gondek
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    I don't have another Mac. But issue didn't happen prior to CS5.5 update. I've tried other suggestions before, no luck, I'm fairly certain the issue is with Adobe and CS5.5 font handling.

     

    There's another type issue with Font Explorer X that I have on another thread. Font Explore X tech sent me a patched font app handler. I;m curious to see if anyone else using 5.5 under Snow Leopard has issues.

     

    Thanks

     
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  • [scott w]
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    20. [scott w],
    Oct 26, 2011 11:12 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    Laws, I've been using CS5.5, CS5, CS4, and CS3 with OS 10.6.x and have never seen the issue you have. In fact, I've never seen it on any Mac with any version of Adobe apps. Ther's something else afoot with your system.

     

    Based on your last post, I suspect if you remove FontExplorerX, your copy/paste issue may vanish.

     
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  • laws2151
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    21. laws2151,
    Oct 26, 2011 11:34 AM   in reply to [scott w]
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    Yeah, it only showed up after 5.5 upgrade. I have another issue with CS5.5 apps not seeing fonts (a different thread) and Font Explorer X tech sent me a patched app that fixed the problem. So you maybe right, I'll test it later. I bought every font handler before and liked Font Explorer X Pro, maybe have to switch again.

     

    Thank you.

     
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  • apolux74
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    22. apolux74,
    Mar 20, 2012 7:19 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    Hi everybody, I read all the discussion and it seems there is no solution for this problem so far. I have the same problem under Windows but not with Mac. In the same document, even in the same layer, just copying a text object or several objects where one of them is a text and then pasting gives me only a text with the default unformated Myriad font. This problem happens only in Windows, not in Mac, so I'm guessing that something within the preferences or configurations of Illustrator (Windows) has changed.

    I've tried erasing the preferences files (AIPrefs and Workspace\AIWSPrefs, and also IllustratorFnt.lst) but the problem continues. Can somebody please help us?

     

    Thanks,

     
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  • pikotato
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    23. pikotato,
    Apr 5, 2012 1:28 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    I am also experiencing the same problem as the original poster.

     

    My problem actually occurs within the same document. I cannot copy and paste within the same document at all. My type will reset back to Myriad and erases all form of formating.

     

    I have tried all of the "fixes" listed above and nothing has worked. This is very frustrating.

     

    Please, if anyone has a solution, I would really appreciate the assistance.

     
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  • Jacob Bugge
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    24. Jacob Bugge,
    Apr 5, 2012 3:22 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    law, apolux, picotato,

     

    Elaborating on the fifth post by Steve, there may be a few possible errors/interferences. Here is a list of things you may try in serious cases like this (you have done the first few already) and see whether it helps:

     

    1) Close down Illy and open again;

    2) Restart the computer;

    3) Close down Illy and press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift during startup;

    4) Move the folder with Illy closed;

    5) Look through and try out the relevant among the Other options;

     

    If you have Windows (Hasta la) Vista, always close down the computer before you restart Illy.

     

    Even more seriously, you may:

     

    6) Uninstall, run the Cleaner Tool, and reinstall.

     

    http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

     
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  • laws2151
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    25. laws2151,
    Apr 5, 2012 9:07 AM   in reply to Jacob Bugge
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    Thanks all. Clearly some people don't have this issue. After all fixes, its still there. I run CS5.1 (15.1.0) on Mac 10.6.8. (I also use CS2 on XP, no issues.)

     

    I believe it only happens when a defined style is used. My workaround is to copy text, paste it into a plain text editor (TextWrangler), re-copy that text and paste it into the destination. The issue occurs exactly as pikotato expained above, even within the same Illustrator doc, the text changes to the default Myriad font. I have not edited the default font.

     

    Below is a screen cap. The text has a paragraph style defined by me. I copied the words "grease and almost." I pasted the those words into the paragraph. The font changed to Myriad rather than retaining the paragraph style.

     

    example.jpg

     
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  • Kurt Gold
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    26. Kurt Gold,
    Apr 5, 2012 12:32 PM   in reply to laws2151
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    I haven't reread the entire thread and I don't know if it may help, but could you provide a sample .ai file?

     
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  • cjmelendy1978
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    27. cjmelendy1978,
    Apr 5, 2012 12:37 PM   in reply to laws2151
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    This same problem started happening on my PC a few days ago, but I can't pinpoint exact time or date, but I think it started after opening a file from a Chinese partner - who I think created in Corel?  It is driving me BATTY.  It always reformat back to Myriad Pro font at 12pt. type.  If I have other vector information, or rotated text, all that information is lost.

     

    I am using CS5 15.1.0

     

    I am going to go ahead and call this a bug.

     

    It does not happen when copying formatted text from one selected text block to another text block.  However, if I select one or more objects, and at least one of them contains text, the formatting of all will be lost.

     

    WORKAROUNDS:

    A.  I am using duplicate on objects -

    1. select object to copy.

    2. Hold ALT key down

    3. click and drag from original to new location.

     

    B. Convert text objects to outlines to preserve formatting (less useful)

    1. Select object(s)

    2. Press SHIFT+CTRL+O

    3. Group the resulting objects

     
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  • pikotato
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    28. pikotato,
    Apr 5, 2012 9:09 PM   in reply to Kurt Gold
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    First of all, I must say thank you to everyone for trying to help out. I really appreciate it.

     

    Jacob Bugge, I have tried your suggestions and so far nothing worked. I am in the process of reinstalling Illustrator and I will keep you all posted with the result.

     

    Kurt Gold, the problem does not lie within any specific .ai file, but the entire program. I have opened the exact same file on a different computer and the issue doesn't appear there.

     
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  • jillshepherd
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    29. jillshepherd,
    Apr 19, 2012 10:15 AM   in reply to pikotato
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    I have been having the same problem on my 64-bit Windows 7 machine for a few weeks now and it's SO FRUSTRATING. It happened out of nowhere and I've tried all the fixes listed above except for the reinstall. This is my work computer and I will have to go through the IT dept to do a reinstall (they have the software), and I am not seeing here that it has helped anyways. In addition to what everyone has said, if I select a group of objects that includes a line of unoutlined type, and paste, ALL that pastes in the stupid line of type, no other objects, and of course it's back to myriad 12 pt. AGHAGHAGHAGH!!!  Obviously, there is an issue that Adobe might want to look into.

     

    Thank you SO MUCH cjmelendy1978 for at least the "duplicate" workaround. It's a lifesaver, seriously.

     
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  • LizStephens7
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    30. LizStephens7,
    Apr 25, 2012 5:31 AM   in reply to jillshepherd
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    If it helps, I'm having the same problem but someone on a different forum suggested that some kind of weird interaction with Chrome was the problem. So I closed Chrome and tried to copy and paste the text and then the font is preserved, reopen Chrome and try again and the problem comes back! So the short term solution seems to be to work without Chrome open, but if anyone could point me to a better solution that would be much appreciated!

     
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  • jillshepherd
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    31. jillshepherd,
    Apr 25, 2012 8:14 AM   in reply to LizStephens7
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    Thanks Liz but though I have it on my machine, I am not using Chrome .

     
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  • cjmelendy1978
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    32. cjmelendy1978,
    Apr 25, 2012 8:20 AM   in reply to LizStephens7
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    Wow, That worked for me!

    Thanks Liz.

     

     
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  • jillshepherd
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    33. jillshepherd,
    Apr 25, 2012 8:24 AM   in reply to cjmelendy1978
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    Actually, here at work, I don't even have Chrome on my MACHINE anymore.(freaking  IT must have removed it). So sadly, I will keep looking for answers.

     
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  • laws2151
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    34. laws2151,
    Apr 25, 2012 8:43 AM   in reply to jillshepherd
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    Same here, not using Chrome. Also, the copy/paste error example I posted earlier was on Mac. But interesting, I wonder if some other program is monopolizing clipboard memory? I only have this problem in Illustrator CS5.1.

     
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  • jillshepherd
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    35. jillshepherd,
    Apr 25, 2012 8:57 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    I am on a PC with CS5. I think you are right about the clipboard memory, though I just tried it with no other programs running and still having the issue. Sure would be nice if Adobe would step up and take a look into it.....jsut saying.

     
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  • chrism@intelix
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    36. chrism@intelix,
    May 25, 2012 10:36 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    I thiknk I found the problem!  Disable Skype Click-to-Call in your browser. I am now able to keep chrome open and copy and paste. I was starting to see this problem show up in word and excel. I don't have a Mac to test with, but I would try to diasble it in Safari.

     
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  • Dopeless Design
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    37. Dopeless Design,
    May 28, 2012 10:44 AM   in reply to laws2151
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    Same here Illustrator CS5 (15.0.2) Win 7x64. Draganddropping between files works, copy-pasting - does not. All the programms except Illustrator are closed, i have tried everything. It started suddenly - I had two files opened, first copy-paste was ok, the second was only plain text.

     
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  • iconwineandspirits
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    38. iconwineandspirits,
    Jun 13, 2012 12:11 PM   in reply to laws2151
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    Thanks for the helpful answers! My colleague randomly started having this problem today, and I found that disabling the Skype plugin was the solution. She's using CS5 and Internet Explorer, so Chrome may not be the issue after all.

     
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  • jillshepherd
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    39. jillshepherd,
    Jun 13, 2012 3:34 PM   in reply to iconwineandspirits
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    Thanks everyone so much! I don't even use Google Chrome but I tried turning off the Skpe thing and it fexed EVERYTHING!

     
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