5 Replies Latest reply: Jun 3, 2011 7:49 PM by judith@NASA RSS

    Problem with giving a shape a color fill (cs4 & cs5)

    thatsimmonsman Community Member

      I recognize that this may be the wrong forum but I can't find help anywhere else. It amazes me that adobe charges so much for a product and has 0 support beyond installation problems. End rant

       

      So I've used Illustrator for years. Recently I upgrade to CS5. My problem this. I'll be working in a document making progress then all the sudden my ability to use color fill function stops working.

       

      For example I can use the rectangle tool to make a rectangle. Then when I choose a color nothing happens, it just stays white.

       

      This has happened before when I open a photo in illustrator or something similiar but that is not what I'm doing. I'm talking about a fresh new illustrator document.

       

      I've tried quitting illustrator and deleting adobe.illustrator.plist files. The only thing I've found that will fix it is restarting my machine (ridiculous was of my time.)

       

      I do not know what to do and it's plagued bothe my CS4 and CS5 install. I'm uninstalled completey removed everything related to adobe and reinstalled and still it's happening.

       

      Does anyone know what this might be or a fix for it. Am I missing something? PLEASE!!!! I'm so over this issue.

        • 1. Re: Problem with giving a shape a color fill (cs4 & cs5)
          Wade_Zimmerman Community Member

          Try this first and if it does not work then try creating a new user account, logging into that account and launch Illustrator and see if it is fixed that way.

           

          first this

           

          1. Quit Illustrator.
          2.Go to User/username/Library/Preferences/ Adobe illustrator CS4 Settings and trash the settings folder, the whole folder not just the contents of the folder..
          3. Start Illustrator. Illustrator creates a new preferences file.

           

          PC

           

          1. Quit Illustrator.
          2. Rename the AIPrefs file (for example, to AIPrefs.old) in the Users/(user)/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CS3 Settings folder.
          3. Start Illustrator. Illustrator creates a new preferences file.

          • 2. Re: Problem with giving a shape a color fill (cs4 & cs5)
            [scott] CommunityMVP

            Since you posted you already tried removing plist files I'm not certain if Wade's boilerplate post will be of much help. it might since there are other items located in the preference folder beyond the plist file, but I doubt it.

             

            I've never seen the behavior you describe. You might try posting what exact OS you are using. I can guess it's a Mac. PCs don't use .plist do they?

             

            You might explore using a different user account and trying it, or boot into Safe Mode (hold shift while booting system) and see if the problem persists. This will rule out the user account OS or third party items.

             

            I'd speculate that it may be related to third party software or perhaps simply due to a mistaken double click shortcut toggle..... but I'm basically guessing.

            • 3. Re: Problem with giving a shape a color fill (cs4 & cs5)
              thatsimmonsman Community Member

              This installation is on Mac OSX 10.5.6 which May be the cause as I've had other issues with the 10.5.6 update. I'm an Apple Technician so I had tried all the break fix scenario's both of you mentioned above.

               

              Deleting the plist's, settings folder and anything I could find that seemed related that would auto recreate itself after deletion and still nothing was working. Which is what led me to here.

               

              I hadn't tried the login to another user (thanks for reminding me). When I logged out of my user instead of login into another user I accidentally just logged back into mine (force of habit). I opened Illustrator for the heck of it and the problem was fixed. So now I know I don't have to completely restart.

               

              My beef is if logging out fixes the problem that would point me to a preference or setting that is being reset by the logout-login. I'm still so lost this doesn't make sense.

               

              As I said before I've already tried completely removing the CS4 & 5 Suites. I mean completely. Using the adobe uninstaller and then scouring the machine for any remnant alone preference or application support data and removing it. Then just installing CS5 alone.

               

              Thanks for the help guy but any other ideas. Does Adobe only provide paid support for these situations? Any idea are helpful thank you so much for the feedback

              • 4. Re: Problem with giving a shape a color fill (cs4 & cs5)
                Wade_Zimmerman Community Member

                Try the new user that would suggest, if it does not happen in the new user, that this is a corruption occurring somewhere else in your users account preferences folder or cache file and not just an illustrator corruption.

                 

                That is there is another application or font that you are using the=at when used is writing a code that opens a door that to illustrators prefernces looks like it is Illustrators preferences, Illustrator reads it and think it says fill false.

                 

                Finding that preference or cache file might be tricky and you might have to do it the old way like halfing.

                 

                But if it is another application that can run on the new user account and you use it then it will show up again.

                 

                The only thing I know that might do this is Outline view but you would have no fill no matter what. So it could be getting a code to see this as outline preview.

                 

                But that would be strange5…oh wait a second, I think we have seen this problem before a long time ago.

                 

                Now to remember what caused it and why it would be happening to CS 4 and 5.

                 

                Probably a different cause but I think we have once seen this problem before. I know that is not helpful info but…

                • 5. Re: Problem with giving a shape a color fill (cs4 & cs5)
                  judith@NASA Community Member

                  I was having a similar problem and finally determined that I was set in outline view. I could see the colors on the layers but not on the artboard. I threw out preferences and clicked between RGB and CMYK. I could not turn it off.

                   

                  Finally, I clicked on menu: View>Preview and the problem went away. Thanks, Thatsimmonsman!