Expert: Amy - 7/27/2005

Question
Illustrator 10
Mac G4
OS X

HEllo Amy, I was looking through google to find an aswer to why the swatch libraries do not show up in Illustrator. I found the response you gave to "Peter" on August of last year. But I'm not sure how to do all these things you mention as alternatives.

My "Swatch Libraries" don't show up. When I go to "window" and pull down to "swatch library" there is nothing to choose from.

I have not installed anything new. I have just not worked on the MAC that often lately.

Should I reinstall Illustrator? Is that going to hurt my existing files?

HELP!

Patricia Mazuera

Answer
Hi Patricia,

Yep, the most common cause of missing swatches in Illustrator for the Mac is a corrupt font somewhere in your tons of fonts.

Do one or both of the following (taken in part from Adobe's knowledgebase).

Solution 1

1. Quit Illustrator.
2. Search for and delete all files named AdobeFnt05.lst.
3. Start Illustrator. (Illustrator creates new AdobeFnt05.lst files.)


Solution 2 - Troubleshoot damaged fonts:


If you use a font management utility:
1. Quit Illustrator.
2. Disable your font management utility.
3. Start Illustrator, and see if the swatch libraries appear.
4. If the libraries reappear, reenable the font management control panel and use it to troubleshoot for damaged fonts. Turn all fonts off first, then turn them on 10 at a time, restarting Illustrator after each group of ten until the swatches go missing again. Throw out the bad font when you find it.

If the libraries do not appear when you disable you rfont management utility or you do not have a font management utility, you will need to disable fonts this way:

1. Quit Illustrator.
2. Move all the fonts in the following folders to a temporary folder you create on the desktop:

        -- Library: Fonts
        -- Library: Application Support: Adobe: Fonts
        -- Users: [user name]: Library: Fonts
        -- System Folder: Fonts (Mac OS 9.x)

Notes: Don't move fonts in the System: Library: Fonts folder; it contains fonts that Mac OS X requires.

3. Restart the computer and Illustrator

4. If the libraries reappear, great!  Quit Illustrator, move a group of ten fonts from the temporary folder back to their original folder and restart Illustrator.

Note: Move the fonts back in alphabetical order - it's easier to keep track of them. Or do it like me and dump them all into a temporary folder and move them back as you need them during the course of a few weeks time. Do you really need that Christmas Symbols font right now???  =)

5. If the libraries still appear (good).  Quit Illustrator and move ten more fonts back to their original folders. Continue this until the libraries go missing again.

Using this method, you can determine which font is causing the problem, and delete it.

I hope for you that Solution 1 solves the problem - Solution 2 is a PAIN but it's a fact of font life, unfortunately.

Cheers!
Amy