User Guide Cancel

Fix GPU performance issues

Search
Illustrator

Illustrator

Open on web
  1. Illustrator User Guide
  2. Get to know Illustrator
    1. Introduction to Illustrator
      1. What's new in Illustrator
      2. Latest performance enhancements
      3. Illustrator release notes
      4. Work with Illustrator (Beta)
      5. Common questions
      6. Illustrator system requirements
      7. Illustrator for Apple silicon
      8. GPU performance
    2. Workspace
      1. Workspace basics
      2. Create documents
      3. Learn faster with the Illustrator Discover panel
      4. Accelerate workflows using the Contextual Task Bar
      5. Toolbar
      6. Default keyboard shortcuts
      7. Customize keyboard shortcuts
      8. Introduction to artboards
      9. Manage artboards
      10. Customize the workspace
      11. Properties panel
      12. Set preferences
      13. Touch Workspace
      14. Microsoft Surface Dial support in Illustrator
      15. Undo edits and manage design history
      16. Rotate view
      17. Rulers, grids, and guides
      18. Accessibility in Illustrator
      19. View artwork
      20. Use the Touch Bar with Illustrator
      21. Files and templates
    3. Tools in Illustrator
      1. Tools at a glance
      2. Select tools
        1. Selection
        2. Direct Selection
        3. Group Selection
        4. Magic Wand
        5. Lasso
        6. Artboard
      3. Navigate tools
        1. Hand
        2. Rotate View
        3. Zoom
      4. Paint tools
        1. Gradient
        2. Mesh
        3. Shape Builder
      5. Text tools
        1. Type
        2. Type on a Path
        3. Vertical Type
      6. Draw tools
        1. Pen
        2. Add Anchor Point
        3. Delete Anchor Point
        4. Anchor Point
        5. Curvature
        6. Line Segment
        7. Rectangle
        8. Rounded Rectangle
        9. Ellipse
        10. Polygon
        11. Star
        12. Paintbrush
        13. Blob Brush
        14. Pencil
        15. Shaper
        16. Slice
      7. Modify tools
        1. Rotate
        2. Reflect
        3. Scale
        4. Shear
        5. Width
        6. Free Transform
        7. Eyedropper
        8. Blend
        9. Eraser
        10. Scissors
        11. Dimension
    4. Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
      1. Illustrator generative AI FAQs
      2. Generate scenes, subjects, and icons using text prompts
      3. Generate vector patterns using text prompts
      4. Generate vector shape fills using text prompts
      5. Generate graphics to expand artwork and fill the bleed area
      6. Recolor your artwork using text prompts
    5. Quick actions
      1. Retro text
      2. Neon glow text
      3. Old school text
      4. Recolor
      5. Convert sketch to vector
  3. Illustrator on the iPad
    1. Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
      1. Illustrator on the iPad overview
      2. Illustrator on the iPad FAQs
      3. System requirements | Illustrator on the iPad
      4. What you can or cannot do on Illustrator on the iPad
    2. Workspace
      1. Illustrator on the iPad workspace
      2. Touch shortcuts and gestures
      3. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the iPad
      4. Manage your app settings
    3. Documents
      1. Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
      2. Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
    4. Select and arrange objects
      1. Create repeat objects
      2. Blend objects
    5. Drawing
      1. Draw and edit paths
      2. Draw and edit shapes
    6. Type
      1. Work with type and fonts
      2. Create text designs along a path
      3. Add your own fonts
    7. Work with images
      1. Vectorize raster images
    8. Color
      1. Apply colors and gradients
  4. Cloud documents
    1. Basics
      1. Work with Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Share and collaborate on Illustrator cloud documents
      3. Share documents for review
      4. Upgrade cloud storage for Adobe Illustrator
      5. Illustrator cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Troubleshooting
      1. Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Troubleshoot Illustrator cloud documents issues
  5. Add and edit content
    1. Drawing
      1. Drawing basics
      2. Edit paths
      3. Draw pixel-perfect art
      4. Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
      5. Draw simple lines and shapes
      6. Draw rectangular and polar grids
      7. Draw and edit flares
      8. Trace images
      9. Simplify a path
      10. Symbolism tools and symbol sets
      11. Adjust path segments
      12. Design a flower in 5 easy steps
      13. Create and edit a perspective grid
      14. Draw and modify objects on a perspective grid
      15. Use objects as symbols for repeat use
      16. Draw pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
    2. Measurement
      1. Measure distance and area
      2. Measure and plot dimensions
    3. 3D objects and materials
      1. About 3D effects in Illustrator
      2. Create 3D graphics
      3. Map artwork over 3D objects
      4. Create 3D Text
      5. Create 3D objects
    4. Color
      1. About color
      2. Select colors
      3. Use and create swatches
      4. Adjust colors
      5. Use the Adobe Color Themes panel
      6. Color groups (harmonies)
      7. Color Themes panel
      8. Recolor your artwork
    5. Painting
      1. About painting
      2. Paint with fills and strokes
      3. Live Paint groups
      4. Gradients
      5. Brushes
      6. Transparency and blending modes
      7. Apply stroke on an object
      8. Create and edit patterns
      9. Meshes
      10. Patterns
    6. Select and arrange objects
      1. Select objects
      2. Layers
      3. Expand, group, and ungroup objects
      4. Move, align, and distribute objects
      5. Align, arrange, and move objects on a path
      6. Snap objects to glyph
      7. Snap objects to Japanese glyph
      8. Stack objects    
      9. Lock, hide, and delete objects
      10. Copy and duplicate objects
      11. Rotate and reflect objects
      12. Intertwine objects
      13. Create realistic mockups
    7. Reshape objects
      1. Crop images
      2. Transform objects
      3. Combine objects
      4. Cut, divide, and trim objects
      5. Puppet Warp
      6. Scale, shear, and distort objects
      7. Blend objects
      8. Reshape using envelopes
      9. Reshape objects with effects
      10. Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools
      11. Work with Live Corners
      12. Enhanced reshape workflows with touch support
      13. Edit clipping masks
      14. Live shapes
      15. Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
      16. Global editing
    8. Type
      1. Add text and work with type objects
      2. Add basic formatting to text
      3. FAQs on fonts in Illustrator
      4. Fonts and typography
      5. Create type on a path
      6. Create bulleted and numbered lists
      7. Manage text area
      8. Add advanced formatting to text
      9. Format paragraphs
      10. Character and paragraph styles
      11. Special characters
      12. Tabs
      13. Scale and rotate type
      14. Line and character spacing
      15. Hyphenation and line breaks
      16. Spelling and language dictionaries
      17. Format Asian characters
      18. Arabic and Hebrew type
      19. Composers for Asian scripts
      20. Reflow Viewer
      21. Preview, add, or replace missing fonts
      22. Import and export text
      23. Identify the fonts used in images and outlined text
      24. Creative typography designs
      25. Create text designs with blend objects
      26. Create a text poster using Image Trace
    9. Create special effects
      1. Work with effects
      2. Graphic styles
      3. Appearance attributes
      4. Create sketches and mosaics
      5. Drop shadows, glows, and feathering
      6. Summary of effects
    10. Web graphics
      1. Best practices for creating web graphics
      2. Graphs
      3. SVG
      4. Slices and image maps
  6. Import, export, and save
    1. Import
      1. Place multiple files
      2. Manage linked and embedded files
      3. Links information
      4. Unembed images
      5. Import artwork from Photoshop
      6. Import bitmap images
      7. Import Adobe PDF files
      8. Import EPS, DCS, and AutoCAD files
    2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator 
      1. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
    3. Save and export
      1. Save artwork
      2. Export artwork
      3. Create Adobe PDF files
      4. Adobe PDF options
      5. Use Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
      6. Collect assets and export in batches
      7. Package files
      8. Extract CSS | Illustrator CC
      9. Document info panel
  7. Printing
    1. Prepare for printing
      1. Set up documents for printing
      2. Change the page size and orientation
      3. Specify crop marks for trimming or aligning
      4. Get started with large canvas
    2. Printing
      1. Overprint
      2. Print with color management
      3. PostScript printing
      4. Print presets
      5. Printer's marks and bleeds
      6. Print and save transparent artwork
      7. Trapping
      8. Print color separations
      9. Print gradients, meshes, and color blends
      10. White Overprint
  8. Automate tasks
    1. Data merge using the Variables panel
    2. Automation with scripts
    3. Automation with actions
  9. Troubleshooting 
    1. Fixed issues
    2. Known issues
    3. Crash issues
    4. Recover files after crash
    5. Repair damaged documents
    6. Safe mode
    7. File issues
    8. Supported file formats
    9. GPU device driver issues
    10. GPU performance issues
    11. Wacom device issues
    12. DLL file issues
    13. Memory issues
    14. Preferences file issues
    15. Font issues
    16. Printer issues
    17. Media issues
    18. Missing plugin issues
    19. Share crash report with Adobe
    20. Unable to apply effects in Illustrator
    21. Improve Illustrator performance

Is your Illustrator crashing or your rendered artwork appears jagged or you receive an error messaging indicating that GPU features are unavailable? Try these solutions.

Do this first: Update your GPU card device drivers.

See this troubleshooting article on updating device drivers: Illustrator GPU Performance | Driver Updates. Most GPU card issues are resolved when device drivers are updated to the latest versions.

Solutions

Solution 1: Start with a clean preferences file

  1. Close Illustrator, if it is running.
  2. Depending on which OS you use, navigate to the path:
    macOS: /Users/<user>/Library/Preferences/
    Windows: Windows +R > input %appdata%>Adobe
  3. Rename the preferences folder:
    macOS: Rename the folder Illustrator <Version> Settings to Illustrator <Version> Settings_old
    Windows: Rename the folder Adobe Illustrator <Version> Settings to Adobe Illustrator <Version> Settings_old
  4. Restart Illustrator and check if GPU Performance features are working as expected.

Solution 2: Fix GPU performance issues in a document

Possible causes: Illustrator may encounter an object or artwork in the document that causes the GPU to stop working for the document.

Solution: 

  • Click View > GPU Preview
  • Save the document and then close and reopen it.

Does the error persist? Send us the sample file to investigate further. 

Solution 3: Ensure that your on-board GPU card is the default for all display activities

Cause: With laptops that have an on-board graphics card (integrated GPU) and an additional (add-on GPU), users are reporting that Adobe Illustrator does not pick the available add-on GPU. Illustrator defaults to the integrated GPU. When launched, Adobe Illustrator uses the same hardware that drives the laptop’s display. If your add-on GPU is not rendering the laptop’s display, Illustrator will use the integrated GPU.

Possible solutions: When you have an add-on GPU, to use GPU Performance features in Illustrator, ensure that the add-on GPU powers all the display-related functionality on your laptop.

  • Using your BIOS settings, ensure that the add-on GPU is used by default. Disable the on-board GPU, if possible.
  • In your Operating System settings, ensure that the add-on GPU is used as the default to drive all display functionality. For example, for NVIDIA GPUs, you can use the NVIDIA Control Panel to set a global option that ensures the default GPU used for all display functionality uses the NVIDIA hardware.
  • Use hardware device manager software to disable the on-board GPU. This causes the computer to default to the add-on GPU.

Important consideration: Using the add-on GPU device causes power consumption to rise and significantly reduce battery life while operating on battery power. This will reduce the period of time available for the laptop to function before needing to find a power source.

No luck? Help us investigate

Press Cmd/Ctrl + E to switch to working in CPU Preview mode so that you can continue using Illustrator. However, do send an email to Adobe (sharewithai@adobe.com) to troubleshoot further.

Get help faster and easier

New user?

Quick links

View all your plans Manage your plans
View quick links
Hide quick links

Legal Notices    |    Online Privacy Policy