Expert: Amy - 7/8/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi Amy. I am completely new to this. I am trying to create a jewel case cd layout from a template I downloaded from the web. I was told to use Illustrator, so I downloaded a 30 day trial of CS3.  I'm working on a PC / laptop - Windows XP.  I got the picture for the CD cover loaded, but have not been able to view any of the text that I am entering. I have read the tutorials, watched the web videos and I am clicking in the Text box and entering the text as instructed. I can see in the layer menus what I have typed, but can not see it on the art whatsoever. I can barely see the curser flashing when I start to type, but as I type, the cursor doesn't move. What am I doing wrong??  I have five more pages to create! Or is this part of the price I pay for downloading something for free?? I have spent hours on this and have had no luck. Thanks SO much for your expertise! If you know of another good tutorial site, I'd love to have it.  Yours is great!

ANSWER: hi Jen,

A few possibilites.

1 - You're typing in a text box that's too small for the text being displayed.  Click and drag a new text box with the text tool. Make sure you drag a nice large area to type in. You can always re-size it later.

2 - The type or the leading is too large a font size for the box. Using the Type window (Ctrl+T) and select the type/type area to make sure the font size and leading are normal values. 12 over 14 for example.

3 - The type is the same color as the background... white, for example. Choose a new color for the type using the Color window after you click the type tool.

4 - There's some sort of funky effect on the type. Unlikely. Use the appearance window to see if this is the case. Select your type, open that window, and choose Reduce Art to Basic appearance.

It's Friday, I'm at work and I'm lost in programming land, so my brain's not in Illustrator mode at the moment. Let me know if any of this helps. If it doesn't, we'll try other things!

Amy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Amy, thank you SO much. The problem was that the text I selected wasn't available in.  Oddly enough, the default font that pops up is one that won't show up when you try to type. Enlarging the text box helped me out as well.  I have a new problem.  I have a lot of the art completed, however, when I try to save it, I get an error message stating "Unknown error has occurred".  I've tried saving it as an AI file, a PDF file, exporting as JPEG - they all come back with the same error.  One of the pages did save as an AI file and the rest won't.  Go figure! Now I have 3 files completed and can't save them all.  What should I do? An Illustrator Options box comes up after clicking 'save' and has a 'save as PDF compatable' and 'compress' boxes checked.  I've tried unchecking, etc. Still get the same error message.  Any ideas??  Again, Thanks SO much.  You are very helpful.

Answer
Yikes.

Okay. I guess it's time for you to learn the basic steps to follow whenever Illustrator starts acting weird (problems so soon?!) Now that I'm home and relaxing on the weekend, I realize I should have included this in the first message, too.

1 - Quit Illustrator  (read all the way through this answer first)
2 - Locate all files on your machine with the naming pattern Adobefnt*.lst where * is a number.  Delete them all. They are generated each time you open an Adobe application. They are font lists that the apps read. They will be re-created.
3 - Locate the file on your machine named AIprefs and delete it. It's the preferences file. It, too will be re-created.
4 - Make sure Acrobat isn't running when you are trying to save. Sometimes they conflict. Check your Windows Task list to see if it's running invisibly. Sometimes mine does that when I view a PDF in my browser then close it.

People report that saving as an EPS works when all else fails. So try that, too. Also, change the directory that you're trying to save to... you do want PDF compatible selected, keep that in mind.

Let me know!!!
Amy