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Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests

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65 results found

  1. Select more than one layer at once

    Okay if you have more than one layer...let's say 50 and I need to select 20 of them. Why can't someone select them with a single click instead of selecting every single layer? With shift selected I can mark more than one but they aren't selected. Same thing for sublayers and so on.

    301 votes

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    69 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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    Hi Everyone, This feature has been available since August 2020 release (version 24.3). Please update to the latest release using Creative Cloud desktop App: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/creative-cloud/help/creative-cloud-updates.html Thank you for all the feedback.


    You can now select multiple layers in Layers panel. Click the bars (they get highlighted blue) if you want to operate layers and not their content (e.g. to drag to reorder) or click their markers to select their content — circle (target ones) or square (selection ones) next to them. There is no real difference which to pick, but if you want to select a range of layers, using Shift, use target markers.

  2. Add Folders in Layers panel

    Given that Photoshop can group layers into folders, Illustrator should have the same capacity to bring the experience closer together.

    It would allow for greater flexibility when editing artwork.

    86 votes

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    32 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  3. Implement quick filter in Layers panel

    On large documents designers very often give names to objects in document structure for improve navigation in structure. But now there are no way to quickly find object by name in document, except custom scripts.

    For solve this problem please implement quick filter input field in Layers panel interface, for quickly search objects by part of his name (like filter in Fonts list).

    Even if designer don't add names, via this filter we will can quick find all curves, all rectangles, all circles, all curves, all guides, etc, so it will be very useful.

    81 votes

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    18 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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    Hi Everyone,

    This functionality is available in our latest release build – 27.6.1. 


    The new functionality allows searching layers by name using the searchbar in the layers panel. The users can also apply filters based on layer properties (locked, hidden etc) or objects properties (effects, text etc.). This will help to quickly find layers/objects for large documents (having multiple layers).


    Read more about this - https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/using/whats-new/2023-5.html#search-and-filter


    Thank you for all the feedback.

  4. Grouping / linking objects from different layers

    Hi Illustrator ! It would be great if there’s a feature to group objects and not have them in the same layer. Many instances I want to be able to resize/multiple select different objects (frim different layers) at the same time without having to select each of them individually everytime.

    78 votes

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    29 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  5. Release to Layers should inherit custom names from original objects

    When I Release to Layers, all of the objects within that layer are renamed to "Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3" etc. and I'd love to be able to have the new layers be named the same as when they were objects.

    45 votes

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    16 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  6. 40 votes

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    6 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  7. Allow to set custom default layer colors, with options

    In 2017 we asked to allow to customize colors for layers, so that edges drawn for object didn’t burn our eyes out: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/31535431

    In 2020 Illustrator team removed yellow color from the default 5th color for new layers, shifting the order, but never did anything with cyan, gray, black...

    We need an ability to set up our own order for these colors.

    We need to be able to store these as presets, so we can switch these.

    We need a way to make a certain order preferred in a template or a document profile.

    We need an ability to remap…

    35 votes

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    8 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  8. 34 votes

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    5 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  9. Create a layer from a selection or an artboard

    Have the ability in Layers palette to create "New layer from selection" or "New layer from artboard"

    29 votes

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    16 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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    An indented way to achieve this now is to create a simple action.

    1. Create an action

    2. Select some art

    3. Create a new Layer with a button in the Layers panel

    4. Object > Arrange > Send to Current Layer

    5. End recording

    Actions are great for automating various routines we have in Illustrator, and this is just one of them. If you think it still should be a native operation instead (or an action to be included in standard Actions pack) — please vote and comment.

  10. Auto Layout, Grid layout & Padding

    Auto layout is a property you can add to shapes and many things, to create designs that grow to fill or shrink to fit, and reflow as their contents change.

    Also can add padding and margin , this help us when we design C.V., Menu, branding guideline & ...ect

    Grid layout easly and helpfully.

    18 votes

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    5 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  11. Turn a layer highlight into an object selection

    It's often simpler to highlight entries in the layers panel than it is to select the objects on the artboard.

    e.g. you could just click the first and shift-click the last in order to hightlight many consecutive layers.

    It would be really efficient if those highlighted objects could then be turned into a selection on the artboard (for transforming the elements or whatnot).

    16 votes

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    2 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  12. Lock/hide artboard

    Artboards may contain different objects from different layers... There is no easy way to lock/hide/select all the layers on specific artboard.
    It will be a nice Idea to lock/hide/select all layers/objects based on the artboard.
    I wish I can do these operation in artboard panel and this feature may lead me to ask why not to Filter Layers by artboard in the Layers panel?!!

    13 votes

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    1 comment  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  13. Keyboard shortcut to hide/show selected layer / object

    Option to assign a keyboard shortcut for hide/show selected layer / object. Currently you have to click on the eye icon, which is pretty cumbersome. (for eg Photoshop has this feature, I think).

    (I'm on a project where you need to trace this huge sketch with ready made elements and so toggle layer visibility is a fast way to see how things are aligning.) Cheers!

    13 votes

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    3 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  14. Delete unused empty layers

    Would love to have the possibility to delete unused layers in Illustrator (like you can delete unused colors very quickly).

    e.g. when you have 100 layers and only 10 layers have objects on them, but you don't want to delete every layer manually

    12 votes

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    1 comment  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  15. Select objects in Layers panel by dragging through items (or target or selection markers) with a modifier held

    In older versions of Illustrator you could go to the layer panel and Cmd/Ctrl drag on the circle icons to select multiple objects really fast. Would love to have this back as it wasn't replaced with anything else and a lot of times I need to select objects on the layer panel and not the canvas.

    11 votes

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    4 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  16. Allow to show contents (unfurl) of compound paths in Layers

    Illustrator treats a compound path as a single entity, no matter how many singular paths it has inside.

    Layers panel does not display '>' next to the name of it, and does not allow to unfurl the item to see what it has inside.

    It makes sense in a way, since the order of items does not matter (it is for a Compound Shapes, where it matters a lot, with e.g. 'Minus Front').

    At the same time, we can still select a subpath of a compound path with the Group Selection tool, and use Object > Arrange commands (even though…

    8 votes

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    0 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  17. Bulk re-naming of layers

    Allow users to select multiple layers and re-name them all at once. I prep layered files all the time for use in AE and often have layers that are all the same type (eg: box).

    The user could shift-select the layers, then right-click and select "Re-name layers". Perhaps there could be an extra option (checkbox) to automatically number them, based on the order in which they were selected.

    Alternately, you could add a keyboard modifier - so if they re-name a layer by double-clicking it, then if they hit Shift-Return, it would activate the name of the next layer down…

    8 votes

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    3 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  18. Paste in multiple (all / selected) layers

    I'd like to paste on multiple layers simultaneously - e.g. copy something, select certain layers, Ctrl + Alt + V pastes it on all selected layers -> that would be helpful for multi-language files.

    7 votes

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    2 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  19. Holding Control key and clicking on a New Layer icon should create a new layer below, as in Photoshop

    Originally mentioned by Mohammed Amjed Khan Abro here: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/41107321

    Layers Panel.
    Holding or pressing the Control key and clicking on a new layer icon in Photoshop to creates a new layer below all the layers if no layer is selected, if a layer is selected then you do the same action will create a new layer below the selected layer which really makes sense.
    The same thing would be very comfortable in Illustrator if that feature would be added in the Layers and Appearance Panel.

    6 votes

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    1 comment  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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  20. Sort layers and objects in alphabetical order

    Allow to re-order content in Layers in alphabetical order

    5 votes

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    7 comments  ·  Layers  ·  Admin →
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