Peraps a corrupt preference

try his

1. Quit Illustrator.
2.Go to User/username/Library/Preferences/ Adobe illustrator CS# Settings and trash or rename the settings folder ( if you rename it, rename to something like Old Settings, the whole folder not just the contents of the folder..
3. Start Illustrator. Illustrator creates a new preferences file.

My color book files are in seemingly the correct place, Illustrator is just not reading them properly.

Applications / Adobe Illustrator CS6 / Presets / en_US / Swatches

I'm having the same problem. Tried trashing preferences - didn't work. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling - that doesn't work either. Still the same problem. Is there anything else I could try? The swatch files are all there in the correct place.

Uninstalling didn't do anything? Damn. I'll try this and let you all know if it fixes the issue… the weird thing is the files are there.

Dave, thank you so much! I'm re-installing Illustrator right now, but that must be the problem. I just updated my FEX a few days ago, I bet that is the issue with my setup as well.

I'll let Linotype know about this as well.

Indeed, the FONT EXPLORER X plugin (version 3.5.0) for Illustrator CS6 is causing the issue.

In Font Explorer X, go to Tools / Plug-In Manager… and remove the Illustrator plugin.

The plugin file is also located in Applications / Adobe Illustrator CS6 / Plugins

Hi guys, and thanks for all the replies. After reinstalling several times and sometimes working and sometimes not, I eventually returned to my old ai5 only to discover that the problem had effected my ai5 as well, and I know that was working previously as I had been using it for probably well over 12 months.

I have done a complete uninstall of CS6, cleaned up the whole mac, reinstalled CS6, FEX as well and removed FEX plug-in and voila ... it is now working like a charm.

After days of uninstalling and reinstalling, such a simple fixit taking all of several minutes. Grrrr

Thanks again guys for the help. Hope this helps others as well

I sent an email to the support at Linotype, but it might help if others do so as well. They're not known for being very responsive but I suspect if more people let them know there is a bug there, they may update it sooner. Here's the link to do htat:

http://www.fontexplorerx.com/support/

I'm not sure if anybody else has had this reply from Linotype, but I received this today. No real help apart from uninstalling, but at least they're aware of it:

"Dear Neil,

thank you very much for your email.

Unfortunately, new Plug-Ins contain a bug that has not occurred in the testing process.

We will deliver new versions as soon as possible via plug-in updater. In meantime, the only solution for customers with CS6 is to uninstall plug-ins and wait for update.

Customers with CS5/5.5 can either uninstall plug-ins and wait for new version, or revert to old plug-ins:

1. Please quit the FontExplorer X Pro

2. Download the FontExplorer X Pro (Mac) version 3.1.1

http://fex.linotype.com/download/mac/FontExplorerXPro.dmg

3. Install over FontExplorer X Pro 3.1.1 (replace existing application file)

4. Start FontExplorer X Pro and in Plug-In Manager, you can now get the default plug-ins if you click on "downgrade" button.

Should you have any questions or additional requests, please feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,

Dejan Grbic

Customer Support "