Illustrator Errors: Fixing the Disappearing Pencil Tool Preview

The Pencil Tool (N) gives users the freedom of its namesake in sketching or drawing out paths. Whether stroked or filled, the objects created with the Pencil Tool can be as freely formed as those in rasterized drawing programs. With the most recent update to Adobe Illustrator CC, tablet users may have found the preview of their pencil strokes to be missing. This article provides an easy fix!

It's one of the most frustrating parts of the new update for me, since I use thePencil Tool quite often while creating illustrated content. As you can see below, there's some major lag happening.

Solution #1: Use a Mouse or Trackpad

The easiest solution is to not use your graphics tablet in conjunction with thePencil Tool. Use a mouse or trackpad on a laptop instead, and you'll find the familiar old pencil preview renders in real time as it did before the 2015 update.

This can cause some pretty shaky drawings, however, and it may not be your cup of tea. If thePencil Tool's smoothing options don't solve that problem for you, then check out the next solution.

Solution #2: Disable GPU Performance

For solution number 2, you'll have to head on over toEdit > Preferences > GPU Performance, and uncheckGPU Performance as seen below.

HitOK and draw as you did before the update took that previous preview away from you (or severely slowed it up).

Know More Solutions?

I hope you found the above solutions helpful in bringing back predictable functionality to a well-loved vector tool. What are some of your go-to solutions for reducing lag while working inAdobe Illustrator? Share them in the comment section below!