Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
821 results found
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Bring back Duplicate button in the Contextual Task Bar
It would be very useful to bring back the repeat / duplicate icon in the Contextual Task Bar -- specifically when selecting shapes. Illustrator 2024 had this feature when a shape was selected. The 2025 update removed this feature.
Please bring this back, or allow users to customize the Conceptual Task Bar in the settings.
7 votes -
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
7 votes -
Package and Export for Screens / Assets: Same As Current Document Folder button
In Package dialog I’d like to have a button to change the path to the location of the current document.
BTW, same button is needed in Export for Screens / Assets dialog.
7 votes -
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.
7 votes -
How do we add copy and paste to the right click menu?
How do we add copy and paste to the right click menu?
In almost all Adobe products copy and paste are in the right click menu but I can't find a way to turn them on in Illustrator. How do I get them to show up or even request an update to the program if they aren't in the program for some strange reason. Why would they be left out? Can we also use scripting to add other useful commands to the menu to save time while we work?
7 votesIn case you missed it, latest Ai versions now do have Cut, Copy, Paste (all subcommands) in the context menus.
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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.
7 votes -
Remove restrictions to useable keyboard shortcuts (e.g. Ctrl + Key for non-tools)
It would be great if the restrictions put in place for keyboard shortcuts regarding non-tools could be changed to include single key shortcuts (like tools). There is no valid reason that any of the File/ Edit/ Object/ Type/ Select/ Effect/ View/ Window shortcuts require using the Ctrl key. Indesign does this already just like many non-Adobe programs. It's time to change this.
7 votes -
Feature to export custom Keyboard Shortcuts
Those of us that frequently customize our Key commands and want to easily transfer them to other versions of Illustrator.
7 votes -
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 -
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 -
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 -
The "Align" tool doesn't align
So the align tools is organized like this:
Align Objects:
Vertical alignment tools Horizontal alignment toolsDistribute Objects:
Horizontal distrib. tools Vertical distrib. toolsIt 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 -
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 -
Show list of open files in different menu place / separate panel
The open files are under Window menu, that is a large list to scroll and locate the files. I think it will be better to have an open files menu only for that. Also could be nice to have a button to browse them all, or a different method, like a panel.
6 votes -
There should be a dedicated Object > Dimension menu, with all the commands Properties panel has
With the Dimension tool and dimension objects we got several important commands that deal around not having presets for these: Apply to All and Set as Default.
These commands are available only as buttons, and are not accessible from anywhere else, including Control panel (here is a request about it: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/49010126) and top menu.
In case Properties doesn’t work (as it doesn’t for me) and another case a user just doesn’t like the panel (since it’s still very raw and buggy), we can’t get to these in any other way, and can’t assign a hotkey (since Ai just doesn’t…
6 votes -
Add more icon types in History and stop calling some operations just 'Undo'
We finally got our History panel, hooray, thanks to this request: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/31139326
But it’s been 2 years now, and yet still some operations are called just 'Undo' and have generic 'something from a menu' icon.
Move? Menu icon.
Copy? Menu icon.
Applying an effect? Menu icon.
Creating a repeat? Menu icon.
Deleting a a portion with Shape Builder? Menu icon.
Applying a swatch? Menu icon.
Applying a graphic style? You guess.
These are all quite distinct, yet a generic icon is used.Calling a script? 'Undo' as well, as if Ai doesn’t know about scripts.
I know it’s quite consistent…
6 votes -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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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