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Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests

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811 results found

  1. Layers Panel: Layers Name Available Width

    I like my Layers Panel thumbnails to be large, like really large, larger than 'Large' for sure, so that i can easily see what's going on. I also like to name my layers briefly but accurately for the same reason. I don't have a big, wide screen however, so for me every tiny width saving matters. And here i come to the thing that infuriates me: why does Illustrator already trim layers names when there is still plenty room for them to be displayed in full?

    7 votes

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  2. Scrollable Panels and Tools

    I want to be able to scroll panel and tool windows.

    Panels:
    I want to keep my most-used panels open in a scrollable sidebar rather than having to expand and collapse them. Generally speaking, expanding a tool collapses another. This leads to unnecessary clicks and movement. Unless I choose to collapse a panel, it should remain open — respect my intention! I expect panels to remain in the same place I left them, not shift up or down according to which panel was opened last.

    Tools:
    On a small screen, the single-column toolbar gets cut off by the application frame,…

    7 votes

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  3. Since you're not maintaining Illustrator, open-source it.

    Year after year, we ask for simple but glaring deficiencies to be fixed. But NOTHING is fixed.

    Top example: There's no way to force Illustrator to select ONLY the objects that are FULLY ENCLOSED by the selection rectangle. I don't know of any other vector-art program that lacks this feature, and some even use it by default.

    Yes, we've reported this problem. Yes, we voted for the feature request. Year after year after year.

    I bought Affinity Designer because I consider Illustrator unusable with this defect. And that's after years of running Corel Draw in a VM to, again, avoid…

    7 votes

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  4. The "Align" tool doesn't align

    So the align tools is organized like this:

    Align Objects:
    Vertical alignment tools Horizontal alignment tools

    Distribute Objects:
    Horizontal distrib. tools Vertical distrib. tools

    It confuses me each time. Why aren't the vertical tools both on the left, and both the horizontal tools on the right? Each time I use it I have to stop for a second and think about it before jumping horizontally to the tool I actually want. Please put the vertical alignment and distribution tools on the left, and the horizontal alignment and distribution tools on the right!

    7 votes

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  5. Voice activated commands

    What if all your basic commands could be said aloud? For example:
    "File, save, export, save for web, jpg, 72 dpi, save, save to X folder..." or "select same fill color and stroke color, change to PMS246, object ungroup, select tool, select Layer 1, add 2 point white outline"

    Why would this be cool?

    I am the worst at remembering short keys or using short keys and I'm sure not the only one. When software gets updated, sometimes things get moved in menus and that can be frustrating. I can say the commands faster than I can point, click or…

    7 votes

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  6. Allow to customize color of text used by Distance Guides

    Recently Illustrator received Distance Guides (can be disabled in Preferences > Smart Guides > Invoke Distance Guides), thanks to this request: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/34302196 (it uses Opt/Alt, not Cmd/Ctrl)

    For some reason the color of text in these is black — while the lines use the one set for object guides (magenta by default today). It makes it very hard to see when working with dark designs.

    Dimension Tool uses magenta color for the same text... I think it should be either magenta as well, or a separate option should be used to set the color.

    6 votes

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  7. Stop covering the document tabs with expanded docked panels

    If I dock panels to sides of the application frame, expanding the ones from the top panel groups will cover the document tabs, like the GIF shows.
    In a situation when it’s important to know what is the current document (they can differ slightly) this is especially irritating.

    Please nudge them down a bit!

    6 votes

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  8. Escape should cancel an execution of a script / plugin

    If we run a script or a plugin operation and the execution of it takes a long time, there is no real way to abort it other than killing the whole Ai process completely (since there is no dedicated one). This can loose us data, and saving each time before running a script or a plugin is paranoid and is hardly a solution.

    We need to be able to hit Escape when a script or a plugin makes Ai freeze and expect for it to be stopped, perhaps with a confirmation.

    6 votes

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  9. Add buttons in a tool panel to directly remove fill or stroke without a need to focus one

    LHS toolbox Stroke/Fill helpful feature
    At the bottom of the LHS Toolbox, have an x inside the stroke coloured square to remove a stroke instead of going to colour swatch box.

    6 votes

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  10. Display Color Mode and Resolution (PPI) for a selected image in both Info and Properties panels

    Currently only the Control panel (which Ai team decided to hide for new users with their training-wheels Essentials workspace) shows a resolution and a color mode for a selected image, and Links (but only when expanded, which again is not the default).

    Properties shows nothing, despite the name.
    Same goes for Info panel.
    Make these better.

    Originally requested by Junior Rocha

    6 votes

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  11. I want to control how many pop-ups I see.

    I'm just trying to work, Adobe, but all the pop-ups are driving me mad! The tool tips are fine, but to be working away and be bombarded with this pop-up telling me to share my work and then another asking if I know how to do such-and-such.... I discover new features on my own whenever the app is updated, and if I want to find out anything else, I know how to do that. I don't need constant reminding. Please, please please, Adobe, please let this be a preference setting that can be turned off.

    6 votes

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  12. Edit Original Link Image in contextual menu

    It would be a lot less clicks if one could right-click an image file and have "edit image" be in the contextual menu. Currently, click the object, go to links palette, click on the little pencil icon... photoshop launches... Kind of labor intensive...

    6 votes

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  13. Properties Panel and Graph Type Options

    Please add Graph Type options directly in Properties panel when a graph is selected and include a preview checkbox.

    6 votes

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  14. Ability to change canvas color

    Ability to change background behind art board to any greyscale that works for old tired eyes, independent of the interface setting. I prefer a dark interface with a white art board but a light gray background.

    6 votes

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  15. UI Scaling for displays smaller than 1920 x 1080

    Hello, I would like to have UI scaling for smaller Macs that do not have or meet the resolution listed (i.e. 1920 x 1080).

    I am on a 13" MacBook Pro M1 and it is difficult to see my toolbars at its current size and don't have a solution to improve it. This feature would aide in stronger accessibility to those who have vision impairment or challenges. Thank you for considering this change.

    6 votes

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  16. Double clicking a Gradient Fill should open the Gradient Editor

    Double clicking a Gradient Fill should open the Gradient Editor instead of the plain color picker.

    6 votes

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  17. Give us the option to pin a file or template to the home screen of Illustrator and photoshop.

    I work with a file where I have saved many shadow effects and icons. I have to open a lot of files during the day and at the end of the day the Ai file gets bumped to the bottom or out of the home screen. The next day I have to look it up again and I feel it would be easier if I just could pin it to the home screen so it doesn't get bumped down or disappears completely of the home screen.

    6 votes

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  18. Right click on a transform to copy/paste position/angle/widht&height of objects separately

    I would love it if I could copy the position etc. from one object to another without having to copy paste each property individually.

    6 votes

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  19. Preferences User Interface UI Scaling: Drop down menu list needs to scale too.

    Drop down menu text is too small/light to tell if an item is unavailable (grayed out) I thought if I increased the UI Scaling the dropdown menu items would also appear larger.

    6 votes

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  20. Improve Symbol Workflows

    1. Today the defaults always persist for new symbols - i.e. if you want your symbols to be Static you need to select this option manually from a dropdown every single time you create a symbol. If the Symbol Options dialog simply remembered the previous choice it would be super helpful.

    2. Today you can drag a linked image into the symbols palette, name your symbol, configure your symbol choices, then click OK - only then is an error shown that 'a symbol definition cannot contain a linked image'. It would be way more helpful to provide this feedback on the drag…

    6 votes

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