Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 1/10/2008

Question
Hi, Kevin ...  I am using Illustrator 10.0 on Mac OSX 10.2.8.  I had not
been experiencing any problems until last night, when -- EVERY TIME I
try to use a PATHFINDER tool (like "subtract front"), Illustrator QUITS
("unexpectedly") ... This is a VERY bad thing, as I am in the middle of a
project in which I repeatedly need to use that tool.  I am just about at
wits end, and will appreciate any suggestions you may have.  THANK
YOU!  Pam

Answer
Hi Pamela,

I have checked into this and I am wondering if you had run any software updates or anything else outside of illustrator that may be effecting your application.

I checked on this and most people experiencing problems specifically with pathfinder crashing is due to incompatibilities with their operating software. When I had 10, I used to have these kinds of issues a lot until I upgraded my Mac OS 10.3 (panther).

Try this first though before you throw your mac out the window.

Open Illustrator and make sure that your appearance palette is closed. Once you confirm this, restart illustrator and try running your pathfinder.

This was a problem with other versions of Illustrator and may be part of your issue.

The other common problem is memory. Not enough available RAM can cause Illustrator to crash when using pathfinder on complex objects.

Try these options out and let me know if they work.

Kevin