Skip to content

Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests

← Adobe Illustrator

When entering a new feature request, please provide:

  1. Description
  2. Why is this valuable to you?

How can we improve Illustrator (desktop)? Vote or share a new idea — one request per entry, please.

(thinking…)

Enter your idea and we'll search to see if someone has already suggested it.

If a similar idea already exists, you can support and comment on it.

If it doesn't exist, you can post your idea so others can support it.

Enter your idea and we'll search to see if someone has already suggested it.

  • Hot ideas
  • Top ideas
  • New ideas
  • My feedback

549 results found

  1. Put all Blend options and commands into one dialog / panel

    Blend Tool > Blend Options Panel stinks, nothing personal.
    I use the Blend tool. A lot. When I start a blend, the Properties Panel helpfully tells me that I have a Blend. Thanks for that. But I still have to go to Object > Blend > Blend Options to get any options for the Blend tool. What if the Blend tool options would magically appear in the Properties panel while I'm using that tool?

    Also, the Blend Options panel will not let me make any changes to the blend other than Spacing or Orientation. How about putting the other Blend…

    18 votes
    11 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  2. Free transform reference point should affect resize too not just rotation (as PS)

    When I change the reference point I use it mostly for resize, not rotation. But in Illustrator this has no effect. I believe it should happen while using Alt+resize as that wouldn't change the default. Alt would only change the position of the resized object if the reference point is moved from the middle.
    I feel this would be natural to have and I'm really surprised this is not part of the free transform implementation. Photoshop and even Animate works like this! (Animate is erroneous with Alt+drag, but you don't need to hold that there)

    18 votes
    1 comment  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  3. Allow us to set up the default and stepped Dimension Line Offset for the Dimension tool

    When we Opt/Alt-click the object or just click a segment, Ai creates a dimension with some predefined distance between the object and the dimension line.
    We can’t control it (plus we can’t choose which sides to use for Opt/Alt mode anymore, unlike in early Betas).

    Also, we need to be able to hold a modifier while creating a dimension to constrain this offset to a set parameter, in a stepped manner, — something third-party plugins like BPT Pro and CADtools can do.

    17 votes
    2 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  4. Add Fit to Artboard option to Rectangle Tool

    In the current situation, enter the size of the Rectangle by writing numbers or drawing it manually

    My suggestion is to add a feature inside the Rectangle box (Fit to artboard)

    I think this feature will save a lot of time

    For clarification, see the attachment

    17 votes
    8 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  5. Split blends

    It would be nice if Ai could allow to split a blend in a step defined, effectively creating two merged blends — something that CorelDraw was able to do for years.

    17 votes
    3 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  6. Extend path tool

    I make carpets, and I alway need min. 10 cm extra design for fitting or if the carpet shrinkts in production. For Illustrator artwork, I need to extend all paths, smoothly or naturally outside the border of the design, without changing the existing design.

    What I'd like is the bezier extension as shown in this clip from Vector Scribe plugin:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlriFIrSoDU

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlriFIrSoDU

    17 votes
    10 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  7. Add a way to quickly access Smart Delete Point command

    The way the deleting of a point with a curvature kept works now is pretty hidden and unannounced. I see nothing about this in Help (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/editing-paths.html). There is no hint in the Current Tool field at the bottom of the screen, no cursor feedback, no label, no nothing.

    I do now remember exactly where I learnt about it though. Anubhav Rohatg told about it in a session with Taniya Vij (https://youtu.be/odch54arInA?t=944), saying that they have no time to polish it (and more than a year after it’s still not), and this 'principal scientist' basically intended this…

    16 votes
    1 comment  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  8. Spring Loaded tools

    Over in Photoshop, it's possible to hold the single-letter shortcut for activating a tool, and to then release the key to return to your previously-used tool.

    In many ways, this is not useful in Illustrator, but in several, it's invaluable. The Zoom tool, in particular--I'd like to be able to hold Z, adjust the zoom, and release Z to be back on the selection tool (or whatever i was previously using).

    The Hand tool already works this way: Take out a tool like Selection (v), and then hold spacebar to get the Hand tool. Drag the canvas around, then release…

    16 votes
    3 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  9. More precision with the Knife Tool

    I'd like to see more adjustment options for the knife tool. Something like the pencil tools option of Tolerances: Fidelity and Smoothness. It sure would help with more precision when I cut and ink my manga characters. Rather than go in after I make a cut and have to move a lot of anchor points and handles around by hand to get the precision I was after in the first place.

    I hope you can understand what I'm texting about here and I hope you take this issue up and include it in a future feature update. Oh yea, and…

    16 votes
    8 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  10. Live preview of gradient (while dragging)

    Whenever I'm using the gradient tool I wonder why I can never see the appearance of the gradient while dragging it. resulting in having to tweak it at least a couple of times before I'm content.

    16 votes
    4 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?
    Resolved (Comments Open)  ·  AdminEgor Chistyakov (Admin, Adobe Illustrator) responded

    Illustrator now displays the appearance of the gradient interactively when you drag it, but only when GPU preview is on.

    Make sure it is on in Preferences > Performance > GPU Performance, that you View > Preview on CPU / GPU Preview is correctly toggled, and that you are not using Overprint Preview.


    If the issue still persists with all these checked — please comment back.

  11. Star live shape, with on-canvas controls, better tool

    Better Star tool, with side widgets to change the number of points, the rays’ length, etc.
    Possibility to re-edit anytime the number of points in a star.
    Also, the possibility to adjust the thickness of the star "arms".
    (like Freehand was doing long time ago...)

    16 votes
    8 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?
    Completed (Comments Open)  ·  AdminSaurav Agrawal (Admin, Adobe Illustrator) responded

    Star is now a live shape and available in the all the public builds starting from V 28.3.0.

    You can now customise your star in any way you like; may it be changing the no of sides, corner angles, or even the corner radius. 

    Please try it out and let us know what y'all think !

  12. Anchor point smart delete

    Deleting an anchor point by default break up the shape of the stroke.
    What about smart delete, that automatically adjust nearest handles to save the shape of the stroke.
    I dream about it from the cs3 version :)

    16 votes
    7 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  13. Cursor and path feedback for Scissors

    We have to guess if we cut a path at all and if we hit the right path.
    No highlight (OK, using Smart Guides helps, but Smart Guides does nothing if you also have Snap to Grid enabled!), no cursor change.

    It’s 2022, right? Clouds, integrations, Stock sales directly in files... Scissors are still used with a blindfold, in a dark room, in a midnight.

    Also vote for this related issue:
    https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests/suggestions/36111436-make-pen-and-scissors-tools-prioritize-editing-to — Make Pen and Scissors tools prioritize editing to a selected path

    15 votes
    0 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  14. Pan tool wrap

    When you pan with the mouse button/wheel held down, the panning stops when the cursor reaches the monitor edges. This forces user to release mouse, move it all the way back and re-grab it.
    In some other editors you can continue to move the pointer and it will 'wrap' around your monitor, going from the opposite side of it, until released.

    Basically you can pan until you reach the end of your table.

    This mode will help those who have to work at scale and pan without unzooming. Please, add it!

    15 votes
    1 comment  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  15. Curve length, area, perimeter measurements for Dimension tool

    We need a way to measure the length of a line regardless of shape, but at minimum we need a way to measure a basic curved line. It would be especially helpful if we could use the measure tool or some time-saving variant to tell if a curve has the desired length. While we can do a workaround now using the Document Info panel, having to isolate lines in order to do so can get really cumbersome and tedious.

    15 votes
    11 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?
    Under Review  ·  AdminEgor Chistyakov (Admin, Adobe Illustrator) responded

    The team has started working on this request. As a first step they want to understand the requirements correctly and build the right feature set based on the feedback gathered.

    If you are willing to discuss area calculation in a call session, block a time slot here: https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/c1b7ecea1cbd42a2a7068cfeb7861bdd@adobe.com/meetingtype/Fn8tXNebh0eyv4xTnvQ-3Q2?anonymous&ep=mlink

  16. Display Measurement Labels when Snap to Grid is on

    We can enable Measurement Labels in Preferences > Smart guides, to display a drawn line’s length, or width/height for shapes, or distance for moved objects.

    Cool.
    But once you enable Snap to Grid, labels stop being displayed.
    I get it, Smart Guides stop work in terms of snapping and actual guides rendering, but why ditch labels? We still draw and move, and it’s maybe even more important with snapping on!

    14 votes
    0 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  17. 3D visualization of art

    Ability to visualize the art on a 3D model.
    Ability to make basic adjustments to 3D attribute.

    14 votes
    10 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  18. Support architectural standards for arrow styles for Dimension tool

    When the arrow style #21 is written on a drawing, it is marked inside the dimension extension line. International architectural drawing standards require that the mark be placed at the intersection of the extension line and the dimension line. Please improve this.

    13 votes
    1 comment  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  19. Dimension tool improvements

    The dimension tool is a really helpful thing but some improvements would be appreciated.

    • As stated in other posts, please include the possibility to add user defined scalings, including decimal numbers like 1:1.5 and other ones, like 1:15.

    • According to ISO standards, the dimension text should sit above the lines, as viewed from the right. This would be a great option, because at this moment I don't use this tool regularly because of this.

    • When dimensions are too small, there should be an option to move the text away, either to the right or the left. Of course this can…

    13 votes
    2 comments  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  20. Allow to define circle pie angles in percent, with snapping options

    We can create pie angles in degrees, but there are cases when we rather more interested in percentage — pie charts.
    Sure, we know math, and can multiple 360° by 0.7 to get 70%, and Ai supports this in its fields...
    ...but what about the tool? How about an ability to create these directly on canvas — with the snapping to a defined value, like 5% or maybe even 3.5%?

    13 votes
    1 comment  ·  Tools  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?
1 3 5 … 27 28
  • Don't see your idea?

Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests

Categories

Feedback and Knowledge Base

(thinking…)