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

780 results found

  1. Refine (not revert to previous) zoom to selection

    Now, 'Zoom to selection' zoom AND centers.

    I think that zoom to selection should not center at all by default (and, of course, there should be an option to add centering to zoom). The selected art should stay where it is located in view, until zoom level is big enough so object will go outside current view — only then AI should move view to fit the art.

    And there should be a tick 'Only for zooming in'.

    19 votes
    3 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  2. Improve and allow customize the 'Show' info slot in the bottom bar (next to horizontal scrollbar)

    Show field next to zoom and artboard selectors below work area can now show 5 things:
    current artboard name, which is nowhere else is seen except Artboards palette;
    current Tool, that is usually visible if Tools panel is on;
    current date-time, which is visible in system clock;
    number of undos, which was quite useful when RAM was tiny;
    current profile, which is visible in document header.
    I mean, almost every info available is also available in other place!

    I would like to use this field as something exclusive:
    number of selected objects (nowhere to be seen, only PathScribe plugin can…

    19 votes
    1 comment  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  3. Option to put Properties Panel at the top of the workspace.

    For those of us who find it more convenient for the Properties to be at the top of our workspace, we should be able to click and drag the properties panel into the default space along the top of the window.

    19 votes
    2 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  4. Allow to customize the Contextual Task Bar

    I want to be able to customize the Contextual Task Bar, add the functions I need to the panel (tools, menus, actions, scripts, etc.). Please add a configurator like in the toolbar.

    18 votes
    5 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  5. Effect dialogs need sliders

    Illustrator's stylized filters need a more practical and dynamic UI.

    Currently, stylized effects such as Drop Shadow, Feather, Inner and Outer Glow have an outdated UI and are not dynamic.

    I remember that Gaussian Blur was not in the past either, but Gaussian Blur was updated years ago and these stylized filters were not.

    I believe that these stylized filters deserve a more practical, faster and dynamic way of being adjusted, and I took the liberty of creating a UI suggestion inspired by the current Gaussian Blur UI.

    What do you think, would it be possible?

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

  6. Add an option to hide the Search/Filter field in Layers

    Search/Filter is cool, but some prefer to not have it.
    Other panels allow to choose components: we can pick sections to display in the Character panel, we can show or hide the search field in Swatches, etc.

    However, the panel does not have such an option in its flyout menu.
    Please add one!

    18 votes
    4 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  7. Add Cut At / Connect / Remove Selected Anchor Points commands to 'Object > Path' menu

    In Control panel we have three buttons for a point partial selection:

    1. Remove selected anchor points.
      Does the same as a menu command Object > Path > Remove Anchor Points, and this command can have a hotkey assigned to

    2. Connect selected end points.
      Does the same as a menu command Object > Path > Join, and has a default hotkey. Why Ai uses both 'Join' and 'connect' for the same operation, and also has 'Join' tool, which does a pretty different thing — is an UX mystery.

    3. Cut path at selected anchor points.
      There is NO a menu command for…

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

  8. Customizable splash screen

    Adobe marketing team decides what to display as splash screens. Sometimes the choice is great, and sometimes is not, much more often, to some of us.

    And since the Illustrator splash screen is what we see often, and it obviously influence our thought and mood, we’d like to have options to customize it.

    We can access the image ourselves, all of them are stored along with other version for different resolution screens at
    C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator 2022\Support Files\Contents\Windows\aiccsplash.png (on Windows)
    and packed in the application in Contents\Resources\ (on Macs),
    but this feels like a hack.

    What if we…

    18 votes
    8 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  9. Make title bar of inactive window look different from an active one

    On Windows there is no way to tell Illustrator window in focus from inactive one, even when a corresponding option in OS preferences is on.

    And every time Ai is not in focus you can’t use hotkeys.
    Please make at least something dynamic to tell if the window is in focus! Like it was before. Icon changing color at least.

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

  10. Add 'Release' button for Envelope distort object in Control bar

    Control bar is still the best thing to control various aspects of selected art. You try to transfer some of those to Properties, but 'Release' button (as long as 'Expand') is still nowhere to be found (only deep in menus or on hotkeys, already taken).

    18 votes
    0 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  11. Workspace Management (Update/Save Current Workspace, etc.)

    Please can Adobe implement a proper Workspace Manager in Adobe Illustrator that is identical to Adobe InDesign.

    Currently if you want to replace a Workspace you have to type the name of the Workspace in so that Illustrator asks you if you want to replace it? In Adobe InDesign you can select the Workspace from the drop down so there is no need to type anything in.

    I hope Adobe can make their Workspace Management the same across all their applications.

    18 votes
    5 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  12. Make an option to show points' handles when part of the path is transformed live

    I often modify part of the path or single point with basic tools. For examples, it's quite convenient to select one point and rotate it, if I want to change the angle of it's handles, or scale it, if I want both rotate and scale. Unfortunately, AI hides handles when I drag my selection with a chosen tool. It makes sense in general, but I would like to have an option not to hide it, so I could see where my handles are all the time of transformation.

    18 votes
    0 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  13. Add option to Always update links

    Sometimes I make a lot of changes within linked images. AI always asks if I am to update links, and I'd like to have this dialogue temporarily switched off (but enable it later)

    18 votes
    3 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  14. Add total artboard counter when exporting

    When I export my artboards (with 'Export as'), AI sometimes won't show whole range numbers, but stick to previously entered numbers for this file. This is fine.

    But my problem is I often need to export all artboards, but not first. And I don't remember exactly how much of them I do actually have — this differs from project to project.
    So I have to exit 'Export as' dialogue, go to Artboards palette, see how much artboards are there and return to exporting.

    Why not to show how much artboards I do have inside dialogue window?
    Please see mockup attached.

    18 votes
    0 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  15. Art brushes different weight value

    Well, this is complex one.

    As you know, a lot of people live in metric world.
    It means they use 'cm-mm' instead of 'inches-points'.
    I, for example, have all three major units set to millimeters — general, stroke and type.

    But each time I apply brush to anything, it gets weight '0,353 mm'.
    Yes, it is 1 point. And every time I need to scale my brush twice as normal, I have to type in '*2' in the end of 'Weight' field instead of just typing 2.

    Worse, when I don't remember what weight it has now, but need to…

    18 votes
    0 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  16. Add ability to use PPCM along with PPI, as Photoshop does

    AI is used worldwide. Despite PostScript, based on points, based on inch, being de-facto a standard for most users, many people use metric system.

    English inch, as you know, equals exactly 2.54cm.
    This gives us, metric users, mantra for translating PPI into PPCM: 254ppi=100ppcm

    Since fractional values for resolution are impossible within AI (while Photoshop does!), we have to import via PS or work in scale and are very limited.

    Please, add ability to use PPCM along with PPI, as Photoshop does.

    18 votes
    0 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  17. Remove the window below the artboards that reads "Select an artboard with graphics and try Generative Expand to extend the artboard"

    With whatever update came out, there is now a message that reads "Select an artboard with graphics and try Generative Expand to extend the artboard" on the artboards panel. This limits how many artboards you can see, and I am a person who has files with 40+. I tried using the feature to see if it would get rid of the message, but it still sits there. Please make this message removeable so I can get back to a quicker workflow and see all my artboards without having to scroll precisely. Thank you!

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

  18. Sync the order of Align and Distribute menu commands

    Hey, we now have Object > Distribute commands! No more actions wraps to bind these to hotkeys!

    However, why is the order is swapped? Align menu has Horizontal commands first, but Distribute has them at the bottom, under Vertical.

    One can object it’s just like the Align panel has them, and this is not the legacy behaviour you better keep, really. Please sync these.

    17 votes
    1 comment  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  19. Search for tools by name when editing the toolbar

    When editing the tools that are in the toolbar we are confronted with a big panel full of tools. The recent update that categorizes them and allows for a grid view is very helpful. However, I still find myself scrolling down and up trying to find the particular tool I would like to add to the toolbar because it's so easy to miss it. If there were a little search bar at the top where we could type the name of the tool we are trying to locate to pair down the options it would be a much nicer/quicker experience.

    17 votes
    4 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?

  20. Delete all saved selections

    There is no way to quickly delete all the saved selections (displayed in the bottom of the Select menu, once you saved them via 'Select > Save Selection...').
    You have to do it one by one, which is a torture.

    Also you can’t just right-click a name of it right there in the menu and say 'Delete' — because you have no context menu for top menu items. You do not like context menus in general.

    17 votes
    0 comments  ·  User Interface  ·  Admin →
    How important is this to you?
1 2 3 4 6 8 … 38 39
  • Don't see your idea?

Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests

Categories

Feedback and Knowledge Base

(thinking…)