Weird smart guides snapping behavior

i've been using cs4 for a little while and i've been noticing some annoying things about smart guides. when i start illustrator everything works fine, the smart guides snap to edges correctly, but as i continue to work with illustrator the smart guides snapping function gets less reliable. my snapping tolerance is 3pt which shouldnt be the problem. as you can see in the attached image, the distance between the edges of the two rectangles is less than 3pts (i'm zoomed in). does this happen to you guys?
thanks for your help!
sergie
Message was edited by: thesergie

oh shoot, i just answered my own question. i was trying to figure out what the heck was going on and i started holding down different modifiers to see what happens (shift, control, alt) and i found something new! wow! i'm so excited!! holding down control when using smart guides gives snapping preference to the edge you are holding with the mouse! i think this should be default, but in any case its good to know it aint broke!
thanks anyways!
sergie

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Smart Guide/Snap to point not working

Hi
I am trying to remove a circular shape from a rectangle in illustrator, the retangles width is 10px and the diameter of the circle is 13px, I centre the circle ontop of the rectangle ( or I appear to) but when I use the Shape mode tool minus front, the circle is no longer centred ( see images)
I have tried switching off smart guides and snap to grid and am still having the same problem.
In the above image you can see once I have divided the 13px circle from the rectangle it has moved off to one side.
Also when I am trying to manually place the circle ( rather than using the centre guides ) I can only move it by a large degree it alway moves further than I move the mouse, could this be because of a pixel grid? I do not think I am using this. ( can see in the above image where I am trying to place the circle and when I let go of the mouse, the grey circle is where it lands
From the 2 images below you can see that there is a 1px difference on either side of the extracted circle I was trying to get centred
I should mention that the 'Align to pixel grid' in the transform menu is inactive when I am trying to do this, as I initially thought that this may be the cause of my problems, but it made no difference

Rebecca,
So why does the minus front tool mess up alignment so much?
No clue. I believe this issue has never been reported.
At a first glance, it really looked like an Align to Pixel Grid issue, and also the fact that it works when both object widths have an odd (or even) number of pixels.
But that is apart from the fact that you stated that it was off. If it were on, Align to Pixel Grid would apply to the circle, to the rectangle, or to both.
Obviously, it is possible to (direct) select each and check. It is also possible to check the Y value of the centre for both in the Transform palette and see that they are actually identical before applying the Pathfinder.
And if on, Align to Pixel Grid should also affect/destroy the Object>Path>Divide Objects Below way. And it should make it impossible to even place both objects centre aligned when one is an odd number of pixels wide and the other is an even number wide.
As the issue is described, it may indicate some Pathfinder>Minus Front malfunctioning.
It may be worth trying some of the following things (you may have tried/done some of them already) and see whether it helps (the following is a general list of things you may try when it is not in a specific file; 3) and 4) are specifically aimed at possibly corrupt preferences):
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 (easy but irreversible);
4) Move the folder with Illy closed (more tedious but also more thorough and reversible);
5) Look through and try out the relevant among the Other options (Item 7) is a list of usual suspects among other applications that may disturb and confuse Illy, other items may also be relevant);
Even more seriously, you may:
6) Uninstall, run the Cleaner Tool if you have CS3/CS4/CS5/CS6, and reinstall.
http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

CS4 Smart Guides; snapping one anchor to another

Just upgraded to CS4, I *really* can't get my head around these Smart Guides.
I've been in the preferences and tried every combination of settings, tell me if this is correct:
If I draw two boxes, grab the anchor point in the corner of one box, and try and drag it to the anchor of the other box, Smart Guides will no longer snap to that anchor.
This is getting super frustrating, thanks for any help if I'm missing something.

Dr Griggs wrote:
Thanks for the video, but you mentioned in it you had to "Hold down Command" to make it work. I found out that was the answer for CS4. It's just super disappointing that there's no toggle for this.
To my understanding, no version of Illustrator before has ever made you do this. So that's great, after upgrading I have an extra button press to my common workflow. Awesome.
Now if you asked me why I would have told you that I had been in the rectangle tool so I was holding don the Command key to switch to the direct selection tool.
It is not necessary to hold down the command key in order for this to work. You can use the direct select tool as well if you have switched to it but I use the command key so that I cn have a different too selected such as the rectangle or pen tool when I am drawing.
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I hope this answers your question. Would you like to see a video? Keep in mind the selection tool would need to have the bounding box hidden or you will resize it if you try to drag a corner.But that would have been the case in any version.

Problem with smart guides in CS5 with converting type object to outlines.

Hi There,
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When you switched to CS5 did you turn on view >> snap to Point
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Any way to temporarily ignore smart guides while using the pen tool?

I'm having a hate and love relationship with Smart Guides. When I want them they're bad; when I don't they're good.
While trying to do some things with the pen tool, I am frequently faced with the smart guides snapping my tool around without my wanting it snapped. I'm not really that good with the pen tool yet, so it's making an uphill climb even harder when they interfere.
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At least up to Illustrator 13, there is a trick or rather a lousy hack that involves the Snap to Grid command and its talent to temporarily disable any Smart Guides functionality. The following has to be prepared in case you're going to execute the hack as an action:
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2. Within the Action set, create a new action. Call it 'Disable Smart Guides', assign an F-key to the action, let's say F3, and hit Enter.
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6. In the Gridline Every text box, enter 0,01 mm. It's the minimum value you can set here.
7. In the Subdivisions text box, enter 1000, the max. value accepted here.
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Snap to? Smart Guides? Not sure what the issue is but it's annoying.

Just made the big step up from CS2 to CS5. Lots of changes as to be expected but otherwise a smooth transition. Nice work Adobe.
One recurring issue has got me baffled and annoyed. It appears to be a snap-to function yet I'm unable to locate the place where it might be disabled.
In my previous version of InDesign resizing window sizes and shapes was a fluid and easy motion. Now it's staggering and akward. The text and picture boxes want to snap on an unseen grid. I understand how this can be a useful function for some kinds of work but it also gets in the way of composing an image.
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Thanks!

There's another new feature, Live Screen Drawing, that's on by default, but for many users it causes real choppiness in moving around on screen. It's at the bottom of the Interface section of the preferences. Try setting it to Delayed. That will allow you to have a live preview when you really want it by clicking, then holding for a moment before you drag, but moving immediately will give you what you are used to in CS2.
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[CS3 - Win] Smart Guides not showing up when Snap To Grid enabled

Has anyone else encountered this bug?
AI CS3 13.02
Smart Guides are turned on, but hovering over items does not show the cyan hints, snapping to anchor points / paths etc does not work. This only occurs when Snap To Grid is enabled. If you then go and turn it off, the Smart Guides start working again as expected.
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Thanks for the reply Mike. Smart Guides work perfectly for me provided Snap to Grid is turned off.
I can see there being a conflict between snapping to grid and smart guides in CS3 - which takes precedence? From a UX perspective, if these two snapping modes are mutually exclusive, there should be at the very least an alert letting you know the other mode is disabled; the menu item should be greyed out. Or if it's truly an either-or situation, then the menu needs to be revised such that both snap to grid and smart guides are within the same submenu, and only one can be selected at a time, toggle with CMD+SHIFT+OPT+U.
T

Illustrator CC Free Transform not Snapping to Guides, No Smart Guides

The Free Transform tool in Illustrator CC won't snap to Guides, and Smart Guides don't seem to work either.
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In CS6, Free Transform with Smart Guides allowed you to snap to paths, points, alignments and guides.
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James,
Depending on the urgency of your plight, you may await some cleverer suggestions, or read on.
When seems to be wrong for no apparent reason, and it is not limited to certain (existing) documents, you may consider the following (you may have tried/done some of them already) and see whether it helps, unless someone comes up with a cleverer suggestion.
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4) Move the folder Other options (follow the link with that name) with Illy closed (more tedious but also more thorough and reversible);
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Even more seriously, you may:
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http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

Temporarily disable snap/smart guides

I saw that there was an old post on this with an elaborate workaround, but I'm hoping there's something new in CS5.
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Can someone please point me to WHERE in the AI CS5 help this is actually documented? I've spent the last 15 minutes scoring the hotkeys, and the "Selecting and arranging objects" portions of the help file and no dice. Is Adobe really just counting on the community to do its dirty work of documenting their software properly. This isn't an MMO folks, where it's "part of the game" to figure out how stuff is done. spend more time on your docs.
Note: I'm not saying it ain't there - I'm saying if it is, it ain't logical or cross-referenced. And god forbid one should try to use your Search feature!

Smart guides and snap to point not working in Adobe Illustrator CC 2014

Hello,
I am having a lot of issues with Illustrator CC 2014 and the Smart Guides. Every time I try and snap one object to another or snap an object to a guide, the object snaps either above or below the guide/object but never snaps correctly. This also happens when I am zoomed in all the way!
I do not have align to pixel grid or snap to grid turned on.

David,
I do not have align to pixel grid or snap to grid turned on
It sounds as if Illy thinks the former.
The following is a general list of things you may try when the issue is not in a specific file (you may have tried/done some of them already); 1) and 2) are the easy ones for temporary strangenesses, and 3) and 4) are specifically aimed at possibly corrupt preferences); 5) is a list in itself, and 6) is the last resort.
1) Close down Illy and open again;
2) Restart the computer (you may do that up to 3 times);
3) Close down Illy and press Ctrl+Alt+Shift/Cmd+Option+Shift during startup (easy but irreversible);
4) Move the folder (follow the link with that name) with Illy closed (more tedious but also more thorough and reversible);
5) Look through and try out the relevant among the Other options (follow the link with that name, Item 7) is a list of usual suspects among other applications that may disturb and confuse Illy, Item 15) applies to CC, CS6, and maybe CS5);
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6) Uninstall, run the Cleaner Tool (if you have CS3/CS4/CS5/CS6/CC), and reinstall.
http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/cscleanertool.html

Smart Guides without the snapping

I would want to see them but without the snapping.
Ben

At least up to Illustrator 13, there is a trick or rather a lousy hack that involves the Snap to Grid command and its talent to temporarily disable any Smart Guides functionality. The following has to be prepared in case you're going to execute the hack as an action:
1. In the Actions Palette, create a new Action set. Call it 'Disable Smart Guides'.
2. Within the Action set, create a new action. Call it 'Disable Smart Guides', assign an F-key to the action, let's say F3, and hit Enter.
3. In the Actions Palette menu, select the Insert Menu Item command and go to View > Snap to Grid
4. Stop recording the action
5. Go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid
6. In the Gridline Every text box, enter 0,01 mm. It's the minimum value you can set here.
7. In the Subdivisions text box, enter 1000, the max. value accepted here.
Now, take any document, turn on Smart Guides, make sure Snap to Grid is turned off, and start drawing a path. Hit F3 and continue drawing the path. Hit F3 again as soon as you need your Smart Guides again.
As you can see, after hitting F3 to enable Snap to Grid, the path will not be interrupted when placing the next point. And as you've got a kind of microscopic Grid settings, Snap to Grid has almost no influence on where the points are placed. In fact, it still snaps, but due to the absurd Grid settings it's rather negligible.
This palpable workaround was originally invented by a young lady located around Edmonton in Canada.

Illustrator CC2014 does snap the Cut tool to path intersections w/ Smart Guides on

This is driving me crazy. Is there something I'm overlooking here or is this (essential) feature missing in CC2014?

Hey Jacob,
This applies to all paths.
You can try it for yourself - just draw two intersecting lines with the Line Segment tool, turn on smart guides, and try to snap Cut to the intersection.
This is kind of driving me crazy because it means to cut lines / objects exactly, I have to draw another shape, snap an anchor to the intersection (at least this works), send it to the back and then snap the Cut tool to the new anchor.

Anyone notice the Smart Guides bug in CS5?

ID CS5 has a Smart Guides bug when resizing frames to match the size of other frames. When releasing the mouse after the Smart Guides pop up showing the sizes are equal the frame size changes. When analyzing this it appears the frame does not resize to where the SmartGuides popped up but where the cursor is located. There is also jumpiness between the position of cursor and where the Smart Guides pop up. This behavior occurs vertically and horizontally. While some jumpiness still exist, it works reliably when frames are aligned. In other words, if a frame is resized to a point where two sides are aligned then the size of the frame does not change when the mouse is released.
I have verified the bug in both Windows and Mac versions of IDCS5.
None of the behavior exist with Smart Guides in ID CS4.
Is anyone else experiencing this behavior?

Thanks for checking Peter.
I am using a laptop, Mac OSX 10.5.8, with ATI Radeon X1600. The issue still existed wtih my Wacom tablet mouse and a Logitech mouse. I also just uninstalled the program and reinstalled it and the issue still existed.
This issue also exists on an iMac with Windows 7 running ID CS5 for Windows.
Are you using a Mac by any chance? The issue does not exist so much when the frames are aligned. So, if you are trying it out and Smart Guides creates a line connecting the two frames you need to move them out of alignment. Also, if your cursor is dead center over the edge of the frame all is ok. What it's really doing is snapping to where the cursor is and not to where the Smart Guides popped up. I'll be really surprised if you're not seeing it with a Mac.

Align / smart guides not working

I am having a super-weird problem. I have a black rectangle that I would like to be exactly the same width as a larger white rectangle. When I try aligning the left edges, it is ever so slightly off. When I turn on smart guides and try to transform the black rectangle to snap to the white rectangle's left edge, the same thing happens -- ever so slightly off.
There are only 3 rectangles in the entire .ai, and I have checked to make sure that snap to pixels / snap to grid are turned off. I have quit and restarted the program.
Any clue why align is being funky, or how to fix it?
Thanks!

It sounds like something is going on with the alignment using the align tool. You could, if need be do it the old fashion way by the numbers. Entering numeric values fo X and Y positions to align exactly. This can be done with copy and paste too.
Wait, you may need to check how your aligning in Preferences.
Are you aligning to Preview Bounds or to the actual vectors?
Or… Vector

Smart Guides- Not that Smart?

Problem: Can't snap a curcle's center to a multi-angled (45 and 90 degree) path
Device and Program details: Illustrator CS6 running on a 2009 iMac (3.06 Ghz Processer and 16 GB RAM)
I've worked with Ai for years but can't remember running into this problem but it seems so simple. When I click, hold and drag center of the circle over the angled path it pretends its not even there. But when I make a sigle straight line, the circle will snap to that path. So my question is, can smart guides even do this (and if so, how) or is this a glitch with the new CS6?
I've experimented with the Smart Guide preferences but nothing seems to work. If you have any feedback please let me know.
Here is a pic of the the object and path I'm trying to snap:

They changed the behavior of Smart Guides with CS5, I think. (Maybe it was CS4) In some circumstances, you need to hold cmd to get it to snap.
If that doesn't work, are there any compound shapes that encircle the area shown? Sometimes they can be an invisible block to clicks and snaps, even though there isn't anything visible...

Weird smart guides snapping behavior

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