Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
196 results found
-
Remove (customize) tiny shadow behind artboards
I've noticed this for years... whenever I create a new document in Illustrator--no matter the size or mode and without any bleed settings, the artboard has a tiny grey "drop shadow" behind the artboard. See ATTACHED. It does not affect art and never prints, but more times than I can count I've found myself zooming in and attempting to select/delete it, thinking I left some sort of unwanted element behind while I was working. Or I see the faint "border" and think my graphic elements aren't fully aligned to the page edge, when the actually are.
5 votesToday artboards have only a tiny 1px border, black for the active one and gray for others.
If you wish to be able to customize these — upvote this request, please: Allow to change color & width of border / edges for artboards (all and active)
-
Feature to Adjust (Increase or Decrease) Space between Words
Please add a new feature to adjust the space between words that we can increase or decrease the gap between words.
2 votesYou can do this by opening Justification dialog in Paragraph panel menu, and tweaking the Word Spacing values, Desired and Maximum (Maximum must be equal or larger than Desired). Works both for Point and Area Type texts.
-
Masked object within a masked object?
Is it possible to put a masked object (with clip) inside another mask? When I do this - the masked object within gets its clipped path released.
1 voteOne can apply a new opacity mask to an object that already has it, if you group this object first — then apply a mask to this container. However, if your object is a single group already, Illustrator won’t allow you to create another group (for obvious reason, to prevent an accidental 'group wrapping'). You can workaround it if you group it with a dummy object and delete it after, or use a free Group Anyway script: https://onthehead.com/ais/group003/ -
Bring back menu highlighting feature in 'HELP' menu
Please bring back menu highlighting feature for Illustrator and Photoshop! In previous versions, you could type a word in the HELP dropdown (i.e. "offset path in Ai"), and the menu where the item is located would drop down and highlight the item. This is very useful because designers sometimes remember the name of a feature, but not where it is located. Also for learning it is very useful.
2 votesDiscover panel now highlights the location for all commands you search for with it. Call it with Help > Illustrator Help or with F1 hotkey.
-
Auto-activate Adobe Fonts
Can there be a preference to always auto-activate Adobe fonts without a dialog box?
2 votes -
Flip artboard dimensions/orientation
Many versions ago, there used to be a little arrow next to the artboard dimensions that would switch the width and height values. Meaning, if I had 8.5x11, I could hit the button to change the dimensions to 11x8.5. Where did it go?
2 votesYou can change an artboard’s orientation by clicking a corresponding album or portrait button in the Control panel. For some reason there is not one in Properties, so please add your votes if you want to have it there
-
Unlimited artboards for storyboarding to scale
Storyboarding at 1920x1080 and I can only get 48 artboards. My computer can easily handle more. Why the limit - more please.
1 voteIf you need to have a larger canvas, you can force Illustrator to enable the 'large canvas mode' by entering the size larger than 227 in (or 16383 px). Ai will warn you the scaling mode gets enabled. Commit and change the size of your artboard to 1920×1080. Done, you now have a larger canvas (actually it means it’s scaled internally and you loose one fractional space, but for storyboarding it’s just fine).
Read more about this here:
https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/large-sized-artwork.html
-
ペンツールのカーソルについて
ペンツールのカーソルが大きすぎて、使いづらいと感じています。
カーソルを自由に選べるようにならないでしょうか…？
（CS5のカーソルが使いやすかったです）1 voteCan be changed in Preferences > General > Use Precise cursors.
Also it can be easily switched on the fly with a press of Caps Lock — and this is the common reason for it to change. -
Movie Clip symbol?
When a Symbol is created, it defaults to 'Movie Clip'.
Is that a legacy from the Flash era?1 voteAs per the comment, it is still used in Animate.
-
Dynamic Swatch
It would be awesome to link colors used in multiple places to a parent color swatch. When wanting to change every instance of a specific hex value you could make the change once and have them all update (similar feature in InDesign, I believe?)
1 voteYou can make a swatch global to achieve this
-
Unlock individual items
Please add the ability to unlock individual items (instead of having to unlock all, then relock all but the one you need). We've been working around this for years, so when I noticed it was available in XD, I thought I'd ask for it to available in Illustrator
2 votesIllustrator allows to unlock individual objects on canvas, if you enable 'Select and Unlock object on Canvas' option in Preferences, Selection & Anchor Display section.
Also, you can right click on the spot that has your locked object, choose Unlock and then this item by its name, without enabling that option.
-
Vector Importing for Library Assets
I would like the option to be able to import vector CC Library Assets as live vectors (rather than as a link) in Illustrator.
This is a vector editing software.....and the asset I'm grabbing from the library to bring in as a vector asset (and probably originally built in Illustrator).....why can't I have an alternate means (ex. Shift+Drag for import = import as live vector art) to be able to bring the asset in as an editable piece of art?
1 voteYou can right-click on the asset you want to place as live vector and choose ‘Place Copy’ command to do that.
-
Option to auto-sharp an anchor point when using the pen tool.
By default when making a anchor point with the pen tool it gives you a curve anchor(2 direction handles). I request that we have the option to make it a sharp anchor(1 direction handle).
Currently in order to make a sharp anchor you have to go back and select the anchor again. This is a slow method if you only draw in sharp anchors. By having this new option it will be lot faster and easier to draw in this style.
3 votesYou can do that by holding Alt right after you click the first point with the Pen tool and releasing it after you finish dragging the handle out. This creates legitimate corner point with one hadle.
-
Allow for graphics placed from CC Library to be expanded and converted to curves
Right now, when you place a vector from the CC Library, you can't use it as if it were a vector created on the spot. This hinders speed of creation and prevents 2 crucial things:
- You can't change colors of the vector without editing the original CC item
- You can't use it with pathfinder for a print job for example (imagine you want to cut a shape out of PVC or something). Right now, to do this, you must double click the library item, copy and paste it on your document.
Altough it might not seem much work, if, for…
2 votesYou can drag an asset with the Alt/Opt key held to embed it instead of placing.
However, please note a PDF-copy of an asset is used, and not the original artwork you had imported into a Library, which means the embedded copy can have extra clipping masks and expanded effects.
-
1 vote
Custom keyboard shortcuts can be added manually with Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts: Tools / Menu commands
-
Send proof to customer
We proof every item to customers before printing. It would be great if there was a tool to send a proof that could be approved through all common design programs. Giving the customer the ability to submit for changes and do a final approval before the job goes to print.
3 votesRecent versions of Illustrator have an ability to Share for Review.
This command, accessible from the File menu, generates a link you can send to customer to proof the project. Read more about it here: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/share-documents-for-review.html
-
Select all the value at once
Is it possible when clicking on a value such the shape, dimensions or text height etc. to select all the value so it can be replaced faster. Right now I have to delete the values number by number or select all with Ctrl-A then delete.
It would be appreciated if you have the option to select all when clicking on it.
It will save a lot of time.
Thank you1 vote -
Stretching objects
A stretch function allows to e.g. move a door in a wall. The door is moved, one wall is enlarged and the other wall is shortened. This is done by drawing a box through the walls and around the door, and then by moving the selection. Object that are completely within the selection are moved. Object that cross the selection box are stretched.
2 votesSelect points needed with the Direct Selection tool and move them altogether.
-
An ability to size and line space text based on a capital curved letter "C", "O" or "S"
I create a lot of graphics for signage using Illustrator and most depend on actual sizing and spacing of the text. If I put 12" letters and convert to outlines the text is is really 25% smaller. So I either have to outline the text and lose editability or I have to eyeball a clipping mask to the curve letter and resize the clipping mask to the correct size.
1 voteFont Hight Options (can be toggled in the Character panel’s flyout menu) now allow to set the size of the font exactly based on the calculated size of capital glyphs (along with other options).
Read more about it here.
-
Keyboard shortcut to invoke the search box under the Help menu
I swear there used to be a keyboard shortcut to do this. Given the relative complexity of Illustrator, I rely on search to locate less frequently performed actions. I currently navigate by mouse up to the Help menu (which automatically gives the Search field focus), where I type in the first few characters of the action I wish to perform (results are refined as I type in more characters); this way, I can simply select the action I want right from the Help menu. It would be great if I could forego the mouse entirely and invoke that Help menu…
1 voteYou definitely can assign a hotkey for Discover, using Keyboard Shortcuts dialog, in Menu Commands.
The problem though it’s named as 'Illustrator Help' there, not 'Discover'. By default it uses F1.
- Don't see your idea?