Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
141 results found
-
MAKE. THE. HANDLER. BIGGER
make that tiny little ANCHOR and HANDLER bigger. I'm tired of failing to click that tiny rectangle every single second. PLEASE. I BEG YOU
1 voteThe size of handles can be changed in Preferences > Selection & Anchor Display, using the Size slider.
As for the selection tolerance for these — the problem with it is known and reported in a separate bug report: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/20358952-selection-tolerance-for-selecting-handles
Please vote if you want to get it fixed.
-
Measurements are not working correctly
If you want to make a new path with 100mm x 100 mm in dimensions and and do that via the transform palette then the path shows an incorrect size (100,013 mm x 100,009 mm) but only if the path has an outline. If there is just a colour filling then the measurement is correct.
That should be corrected quickly.OS X 10.15.6, Illustrator 24.2.3
1 voteThere's an option 'Used Preview Bounds' for that in Preferences, which toggles the behavior. When it’s on, Illustrator includes stroke weight into dimensions, and does not when it’s off.
-
Crop command embedding linked images
I would be thankful if linked images remain linked (instead of being embedded after using the crop command). I would like to believe that this can be made possible. This is the normal behaviour in other graphic design software.
1 voteIf you want to keep a cropped image as a live linked image, you should Clip it instead. Press the Mask button (in Control or Properties panel) and Ai will create and select a rectangular path with the same dimensions. Transform this path with any tool you like or with the bounding box, and the image inside will remain unembedded.
Crop command, on the other hand, is intended specifically for 'physical' cropping, and since Ai won’t edit the original placed image, it gets embedded and then cropped.
Just use the method you need.
Please comment back if it works for you.
-
Sticky swatches, patterns, gradients, brushes and symbols.
I get so very tired of having to re-create what I've made or added earlier, or find the original file that contains things I've created earlier. It's starting from zero every time I open a new file.
It would be so nice to have things I added to panels be there for the next file.
1 voteThere are several options to make resources sticky.
1. Save your swatches/brushes/etc. library as user defined one on a disk, using the dedicated panel’s menu. Open each then from same menu in User Defined sub-folder. When the separate palette appears, mark is as Persistent in this panel’s menu, This will make these palettes stick after Illustrator relaunches.
2. You can locate document profiles (Print.ai, Web.ai, etc.) on your machine (in New Document Profiles folder), edit their predefined presets, and resave them. This will make every new document based on these profile to have your resources.
3. Save a current document with the resources as a template, and later call them File > New from template. This will fixate the artboards settings though, unlike method 2.
But be careful with methods, because Ai can reset document profiles when updates.
-
Object position should be able to be locked.
When aligning multiple objects to each other, all of them translates. There's no option to make one fixed (position locked) and then align all the other object to that fixed one. E.g. a content to a box object.
1 voteThanks for the response Endre.
-
Rounded corners on crop tool
When crop tool is selected, add the live corners option to crop rounded corners or circles. Please and thank you.
1 voteThere is an intended way to do it.
Once your image is cropped, you can do Object > Clipping Mask > Make and Ai will create and select a rectangular clipping mask for your image.
Then you have to convert it to a live shape, with Object > Shape > Convert to Shape.
Then you can round its corners in Transform panel, typing in a value in one of the Corner Radius fields (if they are linked) in the Rectangle Properties section.
All of these can be recorded as an action and applied later with a click in Actions panel or a hotkey.
Please test how it works for you and comment back.
-
Transform options with clickable arrows all the time
Is there a way to always have the transform options like this (see "Transform with arrows.png" attachment) with clickable up and down arrows? The feature disappears unless you are grouping one or more objects (see "Transform no arrows.png" attachment).
1 voteIt’s not about arrows. It’s because for some object Distribute commands are displayed and they takes the space Transform controls would take instead. What you can do is to press Control panel menu (rightmost button with three stripes) and untick Align and/or Distribute controls to make sure that Transform will always visible. Also, for now this is the only way, Illustrator doesn’t allow to change the order of controls for Control panel :(
-
knife tool with bezier curves like pen tool
I like the idea of the knife tool and I try to use it. It is worthless because it has no control.. If it used bezier curves or like the Photoshop polygon tool that would be awesome.
1 voteWhile the Knife tools definitely lacks precision, there is a way you can use any path as a cutting path, the same way the Knife does.
Draw a path over the objects you want to cut, select it and use Object > Path > Divide Objects Below.
Please comments back if it works or doesn’t work for you.
-
Search filed is focused by itself
Every time I go back into Illustrator, the current version, my cursor automatically appears in the search area in the upper right hand corner. This was never the case in the past. This is problematic because, when I go back into Illustrator, I may want to select a tool or paste an object and unless I click on the artboard first, it pastes into the search window. Just one more simple glitchy thing that SLOWS DOWN WORKFLOW!
1 voteIn the latest release this search filed is gone, and it now has a button instead. Most probably it does solve the problem. Please comment back if it does not.
-
1 vote
Yo can change global units in Preferences > Units with no document open.
-
make one layer from more layers like in photoshop
Hello, I would really like it if different layers could be used to create one layer, just like in photoshop.
(so if you work with a lot of layers, and you repeat the design on the same page, or want to create a pattern, this doesn't work)
I very much hope that this will be possible in the future1 voteYou can do that using Layers panel’s menu (a hamburger icon in top right corner). Select layers you need and choose one of three available commands: Merge Selected, Flatten Artwork, Collect in New Layer.
Also, you can operate with a selection of object on canvas. Select object you need there, focus a layer you want you objects to be in and apply Object > Arrange > Send to Current Layer.
Finally you can drag a square marker of a selected objects in Layers to another layer to move them.
Please comment on how it works for you.
-
Crop Image tool
With the Crop image tool, it would be nice if the initial crop bounds were to the exact size of the selected image. Right now when you select an image to crop, it creates a random selection, that requires more work than if the crop selected the outer bounds of the image instead of a small selection.
1 voteEric, this behaviour is regulated in Preferences > General > Enable Content Aware Defaults.
Notice that checking this off will also disable auto-placing of color stops in Freeform Gradients and of, pins in Puppet Warp.
If you want to be able to regulate these separately, perhaps you might want to vote for this request:
-
Ability to set line width based on the angle of the line
I'd like to be able to set the line width based on the angle of the line, so if the line width is 10 pt on horizontal lines, and you set it so it's 90% of that on vertical lines, it automatically sets it to 95% on 45 degree lines etc.
In the example image you'd just have to draw a circle, set it to a 10 pt line and then set the thickest point (vertical) to 400% of the thinnest part (the horizontal).
The controls for this would be simple, all you need to be able to do is…
1 voteThis effect can be achieved with Calligraphy brushes. Set one up in Brushes panel, use angle 0, change the size to be the thickest weight you want, and use the roundness value to change it at thinner horizontal parts. If you want 4x difference, set it to 25% of the set size. Done — apply it to any path you want.
-
Allow Eyedropper tool to copy/apply different things
Guys, the Eyedropper is an incredibly important tool, whether or not it's "****" by virtue of its age. You haven't updated it in, what, decades? Among the things that it is incapable of copying are:
- multiple strokes
- stroke profiles
- transparency
- blend modes
- graphic styles
Those are extremely common usages/needs. And that's off the top of my head, I'm sure there are many more. Obviously there's no reason this tool shouldn't be able to copy these things! Almost every aesthetic effect that gets added to AI should be reflected in that tool's pickup abilities. Please make this happen already.
1 voteThe Eyedropper tool can work in two modes: basic and extended: basic picks/applies only colors and text. extended allows you operate chosen appearance attributes.
If you open the tool’s options (by doube-clicking the tool button or hitting Enter while it’s picked), you’ll see that you can check/uncheck two top ‘Appearance’ options and customize attributes to be processed.
This is not intuitive, but very powerful once you get the concept.
-
Fix the help search function
Help used to work fine but since illustrator 18 cc the help function always takes much longer to load (5/10 seconds every time I type a singl letter). Make a short cut to type in help, as seen on c4d, would speed up workflow considerably
1 voteThe Help option is completely reworked in recent versions, into the Discover panel. It’s rather fast now. If you have feedback on it — please comment.
-
view Anchor Points
View Anchor Points selection under the view tab. I'd like to see Anchor Points anytime I click on an object if I have this view selected, not just a barely there blue line that is hard to tell what is clicked as it currently is when you select Show Edges under the view tab.
1 voteYou can enable this with 'Show Anchor Points in Selection Tool and Shape Tool' option in Preferences > Selection & Anchor Preview
-
Allow the existing file to remain active when using "Save as"
When working in AI in a native file format, then saving as a different file format (ie PDF), the new file format is now the active file. In InDesign and PS, when you "Save as," your new file is saved in a folder but you are still able to continue working on your native ID or PSD file. I wish Illustrator would work this way, too. Or am I missing something in settings to fix this?
1 voteUse 'Save a copy' command instead of 'Save as', it does exactly what you want.
-
Allow calligraphic strokes for default fill/stroke
I regularly use a calligraphic stroke in my work. It would be good if a calligraphic stroke could be applied to the default fill/stroke settings via the Graphic Styles panel. This would save a lot of time in my daily workflow.
1 voteYou can reassign the default graphic style by Alt/Opt+dragging the path with the calligraphic brush applied to it over it [Default] style.
-
Layer clipping mask (a bit like a paste-inside on steroids!)
I'd like to be able to convert a shape into a layer clipping mask which would then allow sub-layers to be created/converted so that they only remain visible within in the shape's boundary and would subsequently honour any sub-layer effects applied therein.
Why?
Well at the moment I have to expand any paths with effects applied to layers so that any effect is captured inside the clipping mask. This results in a destructive edit to my artwork and file duplication so that I can revert to the previous editable state when I need to make any changes.
Background:
I regularly…1 voteAs Scott Falkner says in comments, you can clip a whole layer if you select a path you want to use as a mask, then open the Layers panel and select Make Clipping Mask from the flyout menu.
-
Add a setting for "Solid" in the leading field of the type panel
Illustrator defaults to "Auto" in regards to leading - about 120% of the point size of the type. When using display faces, I often find I set type a lot tighter - usually around the same leading as the point size. It would be really helpful if there were a setting for that in the type panel, so that as I change the point size of the type (say from 24 pts to 72 pts) the leading would also change automatically from 24 pts to 72 pts - just as it would from one size to another when the leading…
1 voteWe can change the value Illustrator uses as 'auto' in Justification dialog, which you can access via the Paragraph panel’s menu. Change 'Auto Leading' to 100% to get what you want.
If you want this setting to be applied to all new text objects, you should open Paragraph Styled panel, and edit the [Normal Paragraph Style].
If you want this to be applied to every new document you make, you should learn about editing document profile files Illustrator uses as core templates. Just don’t forget to backup these.
- Don't see your idea?