Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
179 results found
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puppet pen tool
it is missing in adobe 2017, how to get it.
1 voteThe only wayt to get the Puppet Warp tool is to upgrade at least to October 2017 version or newer. The tool is hidden in the Basic toolbox, and is located in Free Transform tool group in Advanced toolbox. Switch these in Window > Toolbars menu.
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correct measurements
In the attached screen shot you can see that the height of each of these objects, when looking at the blue illustrator guidelines, is measured the same but in reality, as is clearly obvious from the stroke attached to one of them, they are not the same size. One of them is clearly bigger in size due to the stroke. This discrepancy is very and constantly confusing when trying to work in precision measurements. Please could you fix so the stoked object calculates the stroke outer edge as additional width, as that is what it is. Thanks James
3 votesThere's an option 'Used Preview Bounds' for that in Preferences, which toggles the behavior. When it’s on, Illustrator includes stroke weight into dimensions, and does not when it’s off.
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Button to reveal a Layer on "Layer window"
Is there a possibility to create a right-clic option to "reveal on Layer window" from any object? Sometimes when I receive some .ai files, everything is un-organized and must travel over layers and layers... This option is in After Effects and is very helpful.
Thanks for reading!2 votesYou can do this now with the Locate Object button in the bottom of the Layers panel.
However, this is not an automatic thing. If you wish to have an option for it to be automatic, vote here: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-feature-requests/suggestions/39104935-automatic-locate-object
If you want to be able to assign a hotkey to it without wrapping it into an action, vote here: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-feature-requests/suggestions/34798945-add-keyboard-shortcut-for-locate-object-button-in
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Image skew potential
Image skew option like photoshop. Here we have to make envelope distort.
1 voteThe intended way to do this in Illustrator is to use a dedicated Shear Tool (nested in the Scale tool group in the tool panel) or a Free Transform tool.
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Open New File with Limited Color Palette
Include an option in the New File dialogue box to open a file with only black and white color swatches. Currently, new files open with a large palette of useless color swatches, and it's a time waster to have to delete all those colors each time to have a clean and functional palette.
0 votesYou can set your own document profiles that have only what you need.
Trash all swatches, styles, brushes and resave this new document as a default profile (in a separate folder first), add your own, and then copy the file over existing one (or add a new). Access the folder by clicking Browse option in Profile dropdown in the extended New Document dialog window.
Just remember to backup these files, because Ai overwrites defaults each update! -
Measurements are not working correctly
If you want to make a new path with 100mm x 100 mm in dimensions and and do that via the transform palette then the path shows an incorrect size (100,013 mm x 100,009 mm) but only if the path has an outline. If there is just a colour filling then the measurement is correct.
That should be corrected quickly.OS X 10.15.6, Illustrator 24.2.3
1 voteThere's an option 'Used Preview Bounds' for that in Preferences, which toggles the behavior. When it’s on, Illustrator includes stroke weight into dimensions, and does not when it’s off.
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Feature Tours and Tips pop up windows keep showing up even after selecting "Skip Tours"
Turn them off. So annoying and get in the way or work.
147 votes -
Crop command embedding linked images
I would be thankful if linked images remain linked (instead of being embedded after using the crop command). I would like to believe that this can be made possible. This is the normal behaviour in other graphic design software.
1 voteIf you want to keep a cropped image as a live linked image, you should Clip it instead. Press the Mask button (in Control or Properties panel) and Ai will create and select a rectangular path with the same dimensions. Transform this path with any tool you like or with the bounding box, and the image inside will remain unembedded.
Crop command, on the other hand, is intended specifically for 'physical' cropping, and since Ai won’t edit the original placed image, it gets embedded and then cropped.
Just use the method you need.
Please comment back if it works for you.
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Transform options with clickable arrows all the time
Is there a way to always have the transform options like this (see "Transform with arrows.png" attachment) with clickable up and down arrows? The feature disappears unless you are grouping one or more objects (see "Transform no arrows.png" attachment).
1 voteIt’s not about arrows. It’s because for some object Distribute commands are displayed and they takes the space Transform controls would take instead. What you can do is to press Control panel menu (rightmost button with three stripes) and untick Align and/or Distribute controls to make sure that Transform will always visible. Also, for now this is the only way, Illustrator doesn’t allow to change the order of controls for Control panel :(
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Sticky swatches, patterns, gradients, brushes and symbols.
I get so very tired of having to re-create what I've made or added earlier, or find the original file that contains things I've created earlier. It's starting from zero every time I open a new file.
It would be so nice to have things I added to panels be there for the next file.
1 voteThere are several options to make resources sticky.
1. Save your swatches/brushes/etc. library as user defined one on a disk, using the dedicated panel’s menu. Open each then from same menu in User Defined sub-folder. When the separate palette appears, mark is as Persistent in this panel’s menu, This will make these palettes stick after Illustrator relaunches.
2. You can locate document profiles (Print.ai, Web.ai, etc.) on your machine (in New Document Profiles folder), edit their predefined presets, and resave them. This will make every new document based on these profile to have your resources.
3. Save a current document with the resources as a template, and later call them File > New from template. This will fixate the artboards settings though, unlike method 2.
But be careful with methods, because Ai can reset document profiles when updates.
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Ignore Groups and Clipping Masks
I lost about a Year of My Life double-clicking on objects within a group, inside of clipping masks. A less repetitive and MUCH faster way would be an option to "Ignore Groups and Clipping Masks" (i.e holding some key while clicking).
The option would temporarily (select-wise) treat grouped and clipped objects as normal objects, allowing direct click on an object through a clipping mask and ignoring groups. An "If you can see it, you can click on it!" approach for instant color and other adjustments.
This alone would speed up the workflow and, combined with wireframe view, it would be…
3 votes -
Chinese text hyphenation alignment for punctuation marks in Illustrator text box
Punctuation marks justified alignment on textbox.
Need to automate the text alignment in the textbox for Chinese characters.
Because it is very time consuming to do manual kerning for each characters reiteratively, whenever there is amendment to the text in the box.15 votesAs per the comment within, this can be resolved like this:
1. In Preferences > Type > enable Show East Asian Options
2. In Paragraph panel choose Avoid Head and Tail, Strict
Please comment back if it works or not for you.
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Object position should be able to be locked.
When aligning multiple objects to each other, all of them translates. There's no option to make one fixed (position locked) and then align all the other object to that fixed one. E.g. a content to a box object.
1 voteThanks for the response Endre.
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Rounded corners on crop tool
When crop tool is selected, add the live corners option to crop rounded corners or circles. Please and thank you.
1 voteThere is an intended way to do it.
Once your image is cropped, you can do Object > Clipping Mask > Make and Ai will create and select a rectangular clipping mask for your image.
Then you have to convert it to a live shape, with Object > Shape > Convert to Shape.
Then you can round its corners in Transform panel, typing in a value in one of the Corner Radius fields (if they are linked) in the Rectangle Properties section.
All of these can be recorded as an action and applied later with a click in Actions panel or a hotkey.
Please test how it works for you and comment back.
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We need, again, Custom Bevels in 3D-Extrude & Bevel, please!
Illustrator used to have the ability to create customer Bevel profiles ( in the Bevels.ai file in /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator 23/en_US/Symbols ). HOWEVER, the feature is now gone! Please give us the option to create custom Bevels, again! Thank you.
Last year, 2018, I created a object and gave it a 3D custom bevel, and now I can do nothing with that object. Whenever I try to do something with it Illustrator crashes. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I tried creating a custom Bevel again. There is no way to create a custom Bevel! When I…
8 votes -
Overprint simulation on image file exports (JPEG for example)
I think that it would add great value when Illustrator exports to image file the option to add overprint simulation, in the same way as InDesign easily does.
I would add great benefit to our jobs and would simplify some steps (not going to InDesign just to do that).9 votesIllustrator respects the overprint when exporting raster files. Please follow the instructions in comments and reply back if it does not work for you.
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1 vote
Yo can change global units in Preferences > Units with no document open.
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Knife tool with Bezier curves like Pen tool
I like the idea of the Knife tool and I try to use it. It is worthless because it has no control... If it used Bezier curves or like the Photoshop's Polygon tool that would be awesome.
1 voteWhile the Knife tools definitely lacks precision (and there is a request about it), but there is a way you can use any path as a cutting path, the same way the Knife does.
Draw a path over the objects you want to cut, select it and use Object > Path > Divide Objects Below.
Please comments back if it works or doesn’t work for you.
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Find approximate/closest Pantone from a process color
If you choose a color from the color picker in Photoshop, it will show you the nearest equivalent in the Pantone library.
3 votesYou can do it for a single color. Open the Recolor Artwork dialog (full one), then limit the color to a desired Pantone palette, by pressing the button at the bottom that says ‘None’ and choosing the book you need.
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Option for object size to take priority over corner radius
When resizing an object, corner radius should be automatically reduced to accommodate the new size rather than blocking the change until you manually reduce the corner radius
(toggle in the options?)1 voteThere is an option to toggle this behavior, in Preferences > General > Scale Corners. You can also tick it in the Transform panel.
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