That’s exactly why I think this should be an optional preference, not the default behavior.

I completely understand why forcing Key Object mode on every Illustrator user caused problems. Existing workflows shouldn’t be disrupted.

My suggestion is simply to add a preference such as:

“Automatically use the last selected object as the Key Object.”

Users who prefer the current Illustrator workflow can leave it disabled, while users coming from CorelDRAW—or anyone who frequently aligns objects to a reference object—can enable it and save thousands of unnecessary clicks over time.

Regarding the thick key-object outline, I personally wouldn’t find it distracting because it provides useful feedback about which object is acting as the reference. In fact, it would make the automatic behavior even clearer. If needed, its appearance could also be made more subtle.

The goal isn’t to change Illustrator’s workflow for everyone, but to offer an alternative workflow that many professional users would find significantly faster.

In CorelDRAW users are forced to select in order to set a key, if one chooses to use another object, it would require them to deselect and reselect it — two clicks, with Shift held. I think a single click is easier... but sure, if one needs to always to align to an object, these click accumulate.

As noticed below, Ai automatically thinks the topmost object is a *potential* key one; so if anyone select several objects and then presses the Align to Key Object in the Align panel, the topmost object would be highlighted with a thick edge, regardless of the order of selection.

But Ai won’t try to force this mode on a user when a selection is made. It tries to guess between 'Align to Artboard' (like when only one object is selected) and switch it to 'Align to Selection' (when more than one are selected), but not the key mode.
Actually, a while ago the team accidentally made the this mode the default one — https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447/suggestions/40681714
It was a HUGE problem, with 200 reports in week one. It was not bad as it is, the problem was it was forced on us with no way to disable it. Plus Ai has to mark the key object, and the thick edge was distracting for many.

So today this extra click to enable the Key mode is not extra, it’s the one that don’t let workflows mix and ignite and explode.
Good news is that Ai recently added dedicated hotkey slots for these modes we can assign in Keyboard Shortcuts, Menu Commands > Align.
Perhaps later a dedicated mode to allow CorelDRAW-natives some more familiarity (we got the Full Center, yay) can happen too.

@Kürşad, what would you do though with the key edge with this mode enabled? As I said, Ai has to highlight the key (because the method to define the key with a click won’t go away even with the mode enabled). Wouldn’t if be too distracting?

One small interaction in Illustrator slows down one of the most frequently used workflows: object alignment.

Today, after selecting multiple objects, users must click one of them again to define it as the Key Object before using Align commands. While this extra click seems minor, it is repeated hundreds of times every day by designers who constantly align objects.

In practice, the last selected object is almost always the object users intend to align to. It already represents the user’s final selection intent, so requiring an additional click interrupts the flow for no real benefit.

CorelDRAW has used this behavior for many years, where the last selected object automatically becomes the alignment reference. For designers who switch between CorelDRAW and Illustrator, this makes alignment noticeably faster and more intuitive in CorelDRAW.

The new customizable keyboard shortcuts for Align commands in Illustrator are an excellent improvement. However, their full productivity potential is limited because users still need the extra click to define the Key Object.

Suggestion:
Make the last selected object automatically become the Key Object after a multi-selection. This could even be an optional Preference for users who prefer the current behavior.

This would:

* Remove an unnecessary click from one of Illustrator’s most common workflows.
* Better match users’ natural selection intent.
* Make keyboard-driven alignment significantly faster.
* Improve productivity for professional users without changing the Align tools themselves.

Small UX improvements like this have a huge cumulative impact because alignment is performed countless times throughout the day.

Jerry, Ai has a method to align to a key object, defined with a click into one of the selected objects. Its edge becomes thick, and Ai than aligns every other object in the selection to this one.
Does it work for you?

Honestly, I had no idea that was even a possibility. For how long has that been implemented in Illustrator?!

That looks like it would be very helpful in my workflow (thanks!), but it could still be useful in certain situations – like in your suggestion – to be able to change the default behaviour.

Indeed, the topmost object is used by default when you change the option to Align to Key Object in Align panel... But why don't you just click the object you want to use as a key, instead of clicking the button? or is it because the bottommost object is buried underneath other objects and you can’t see it?

Please add an option to the Align Panel to allow the user to change the default behaviour of "Align to Key Object".

Currently, the default Key Object is the topmost object. However, it's very rare that I don't want the complete opposite – ie. to align an object to its underlying container. If users were able to "Align to Key Object (Bottommost)", it would save an enormous amount of time and effort.

I can rarely think of a time when I don't want the object on the furthest back layer being the key object. For the occasional time when you don't want that, you can just do as you do now and click once more to assign the key object.