Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
59 results found
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Smart Guides: prioritize artboards, respect logical hierarchy
This situation has been frustrating for many, many years:
I'm zoomed out to a level that makes it tricky for AI to understand what I want Smart Guides to snap to.
There are many elements in my doc that could be desired for that snapping, but they are a mix of paths, compound paths, placed media, and artboards. Many of these things are FAR away from the elements I'm trying to snap.
AI either doesn't have any perceived hierarchy or it prioritizes snapping in an obscure way, and it will attempt to snap to those far away things instead of…
2 votes -
We need separate snap options for Artboards vs Objects
Currently, 'Snap to Pixel' affects both the artboards and objects on them.
However, there are some issues with this:
Artboards can snap to .5 pixels. It's VITAL to snap artboards to pixel as the 'Export for Screens' will add extra unwanted pixels otherwise.
Objects can snap to the whole pixel, not the half pixel.
While snap to pixel for artboards is vital for certain features not to break, pixel snapping for objects is not.
The solution? There should be an Artboard snapping option, separate to the one that affects all objects.
1 vote -
Show the exact location where snapping to grid occurs
Snap to Grid is underrated. Illustrator makes everything to make it uncomfortable to use: no constantly available indicator, clashing with Smart Guides, the general lack of customization (https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-feature-requests/suggestions/32403847-make-center-point-visible-while-dragging-art)...
And also it does not give enough feedback on WHERE the moved / transformed object snaps to, to which exact gridlines’ intersection.
Something just happens!
Look at the GIF — this 13.25×13.25 magenta square feels like it’s lagging, also I’m just trying to position it.Look at the second GIF, from Affinity Designer. Can you spot the difference? We can clearly see which point it snaps to, no problem. Well,…
9 votes -
Line and Shape Constraints/Relations
Has probably been said a number of times but I'll add to that. Would love to see illustrator have the ability to add constraints/relations to lines and/or shapes. It's a super helpful tool in other programs and would just make it that much easier to make designs super crisp and perfect looking.
1 vote -
"alternate" Grid by keyboard shortcut
In technical drawings (but not only), sometimes we temporarily need a finer grid (more subdivisions) just for a couple of work steps, after which we return to the original (larger) grid.
It is painful that for this we always have to go and change Illustrator Preferences (back and forth).Feature suggestion:
In Illustrator Preferences make it possible to define two different grid subdivision values: "default" and "alternate".
The "alternate" grid is such that it becomes active immediately when holding a specific keyboard combination (e.g. ALT key) while drawing.
As soon as the keyboard key combination is released, the grid returns…1 vote -
extend the grid interval from 377.7 mm to 1000 mm (or more who cares if it 100,000,000 with 1000 subdivisions?)
to make it easier to use real world dimensions when drawing large artwork in AI I have a document that is a few metres wide and a few metres high.
I want the major grid lines at 1000 mm interval (its a 1 to 1 technical drawing) and subdivisions of 10, so minor grid lines at 100 mm intervals.
I can't, AI has a max grid interval of 377.777777.
Doesn't make sense to limit it in this way. Grid intervals in AutoCAD etc are whatever you want them to be at all.
2 votes -
Snap to guide at one zoom level is perfect at all zoom levels.
After setting up rulers, I want to be able to snap an object to that guide and have it be perfectly aligned to that guide at all zoom levels. So if I align an object to that guide at 50% zoom, I want it to be perfectly snapped when I zoom in at 640000% zoom (or whatever). I’ve wasted so much time over the years and many versions of AI aligning at one zoom level and then zooming in as much as it will go to readjust to a perfect alignment because it didn’t work at the prior zoom level.…
1 vote -
Disable smart guides to some specific object/layer
Hi there,
After using Illustrator for quite some time, I found there has one function I need the most.
Which is to disable smart guides to some specific object/layer.Smart guides are amazing but I found that they won't work well if I had a crazy vector texture background.
When I try to align to the main object I am working on, it will just try to align to background vector textures. Which is not ideal.So I have been thinking, could there have a feature, that disables smart guides to some specific object/layer, like we can lock anything that…
7 votes -
Snap to artboard bounds
Please add /Snap to Artboard bounds (like Photoshop Snap to Document Bounds).
Or repair Smart Guides to prefer Artboard Bounds. It now avoids Artboard Bounds when switched on,
2 votes -
「ガイドにスナップ」を追加して欲しい
階層が複雑なデータを作っているときに「ポイントにスナップ」では自分の意図していない部分にスナップすることがあります。
「ガイドにスナップ」を追加してガイドだけにスナップする様に出来ませんでしょうか。
ご検討をお願いいたします
1 vote -
Show Smart guides when using Curvature Tool
When using the curvature tool to creat a symmetric curve, it would be nice when smart guides (to the center) are shown.
4 votes -
Make smart guides stop working with Ctrl key pressed, as in Photoshop and InDesign
The function of disabling smart guides by pressing the Ctrl key in Photoshop and InDesign, allows you to adjust the position of an object more accurately without having to go to the menu to disable them.
5 votes -
Magic Grid
Hi!
I would like to have a new tool: a kind of semi-elastic placement aid. Our team designs packagings and often has to adapt layouts to new die cuts, so objects often have to be moved, but must not change in size themselves. Sometimes a logo exists in three different sizes, which must be chosen depending on the total height. In addition, they must adhere to minimum distances, which may also not be scaled. However, the design often follows a grid, e.g. a logo must be on the vertical at 5/13 of the total height. So I imagine a kind…
5 votes -
Temporarily disable snapping while dragging objects or anchor points
Currently when you move objects or anchor points while you have Snap to Point and/or Smart Guides turned on it is necessary to stop what you're doing and switch them off then switch them back on again when you've finished moving.
This is very disruptive to workflow. Productivity would be significantly increased if there was a modifier key set to disable all snapping while moving an object or anchor.
Obviously all modifier keys and combinations are currently used up for use before clicking an object or starting a process. However the control key (similar to its function in Photoshop) or…
13 votes -
Make the artboard centre mark smart guide aware for shape reference points
I should be able to drag the rotation reference point to the centre mark of an artboard and that process be simple but it's never accurate enough. A simple fix might be to make smart guides / shape reference points aware of one another so that I can drag / Alt-click near enough to it and Illustrator recognises where I want the reference point to be set to.
2 votes -
Snap to Stroke width option
The addition of the snap-to-glyph functionality that was added to the type tool recently, it could be useful to have the option to snap to the outside width of a stroke (i.e. the where the path would be if a stroke were expanded into a shape), perhaps with a zoom or stroke size threshold to prevent mis-snapping at broader scale.
This could be particularly useful when try to align an object to a path with either a variable width stroke or multiple strokes applied. It would also allow for more precise alignment to the end of open paths that have…
6 votes -
Line relations
In SOLIDWORKS there is a feature to assign lines/shapes a relationship (parallel, perpendicular for straight lines; concentric, cordial for circles; etc.). And one of the most useful is the tangent relationship.
I would like to be able to, with the click of a button, assign a pair of lines/shapes a certain relationship that is persistent and updates all related elements when moved, rotated, etc. This would be similar to the join commant that allows two points to be connected and act as a single piece.
This would speed up a lot of the work I do with icons etc, where…
2 votes -
Make Smart Guides work with Library assets
Precise work with Library assets is difficult/impossible because it's treated differently by Smart Guides/snapping than normal artwork.
- Object Highlighting only shows a Library asset's edge/container, not its contents
- Anchor/Path Labels are not displayed on placed Library assets
- It's not possible to grab/move placed Library assets based on its content's paths or anchors, making it impossible to place precisely
2 votes -
Make Smart Guides work consistently with Symbols
Precise work with Symbols is difficult/impossible because it's treated differently by Smart Guides than normal artwork.
- Anchor/Path Labels are not displayed on Symbol-ized artwork
- It's not possible to grab Symbol-ized artwork by a path segment (only anchors) making precise alignment impossible
2 votes -
Drag and drop objects by specific point of choice.
The Smart Guide function is very helpful and helps with the accuracy and precision we need to handle objects. However, would it be possible for us to have an even more accurate tool? A way to drag and drop using a chosen point within a path to move? This way we wouldn't be bond only by the objects borders.
1 vote
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