Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
- or
1467 results found
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Zig Zag effect Ridges per Path option
Illustrator allows us to set ridges per segment when applying a live Zig Zag effect.
Cool, we can use it creatively... sometimes... in very rare occasions...But most of times we need the frequency to be uniform for the whole path, like Roughen does.
We can’t use a brush to do it really, and we can’t make Ai to re-divide a path into segments of equal length (a cool request on its own, but it won’t solve the problem anyway... but I ahve to mention the PathScribe plugin allows this).There is this cool Random Zig Zag script that that…
4 votes -
Please turn the eyedropper into a cursor for multiple text formatting
Indesign allows you to drag over multiple words within a text box, or over various different places to apply a text attribute with the eyedropper tool. ie, the eyedropper when hovered over the text actually becomes like a cursor, so you can just swipe over the text to apply the attribute. Please can Illustrator have this same feature. Otherwise we have to use the cursor to locate the word, then shift+arrow right to highlight it, then click to apply. It's a bit annoying and time-wasting. The eye-dropper turning into a cursor when hovering over text is much more useful.
16 votes -
Better reflect tool functionality with option to add multiple instances similar to Macromedia Freehand.
Illustrator needs a better reflect tool that can add multiple instances. The way Freehand's reflect/rotate tool worked was IMO optional because it gave a live preview of the outcome and worked intuitively.
I know that similar thing can be done in effects -> transform, but you need many more steps to achieve the same result, often not knowing what to expect visually before you get the result.
5 votes -
Add an ON/OFF toggle button in the Artboards panel to enable/disable “Paste on Selected Artboards”
Since Illustrator 29.6, Paste in Front / Paste in Back / Paste in Place now pastes to all currently selected artboards. While this is a useful feature, it introduces a hidden prerequisite — the artboard selection state — that causes unexpected behavior in everyday workflows.
Problems
- When zoomed in, other artboards move off-screen, making their selection state visually undetectable. The only way to check which artboards are selected is to open the Artboards panel — an extra step that interrupts the workflow every time before pasting.
- If multiple artboards are unintentionally left selected (e.g., after using the Artboard tool), paste…
25 votes -
Circles in Illustrator are not accurate
The circles in Illustrator are flawed and here's why.
I discovered a major bug in Illustrator CC. The circles in Illustrator are not accurate. This is the case regardless of whether you use the ellipse tool or the arc tool. Make a circle. Check the dimensions to make sure it's accurate. Draw a radius line at 0º. Copy it 3 times and rotate the copies 90º,180º and 270º. When all of the copied lines are put on the center of the circle, they all touch the inner edge of the circle perfectly. However, Copy the 0º line and rotate it…16 votes -
NEW PERSPECTIVE TOOL
Make perspective tool with curves like cylinder so that designers can easily drag drop their design to bend them easily . Sorry if Iam wrong.
2 votesSabarirajan, please elaborate on this.
Can you draw a mockup? Even a crude one can help to understand the exact idea you have.
Recent versions of Illustrator have new 3D and Materials tools, which allow to create bent cylinders and other shapes. Please comment back.
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Keep edit Intertwine editable after pressing Ctrl+z
When Ctrl+z is pressed to undo an intertwine, the whole object is unselected as an intertwine and cannot be edited as an intertwine, without pressing edit in the intertwine menu.
This does not occur in other tools like live paint, after pressing Ctrl+z, the object remains selected as a live paint object and remains editable.
If possible, please add this feature.
This is valuable to me, because it speeds up my workflow, as it makes Illustrator more consistent.
3 votesAn Intertwine object no longer gets deselected when you undo an operation, and now behaves more like Live Paint. Please reply if it does not match your expectations.
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Shape Eraser Tool
similar to eraser tool in clip studio paint vector layer, you just click to delete a shape / path / compound path, or sweep the tool to delete multiple adjacent shapes.
Currently I have to click and delete to trim these lines, which are expanded brush strokes, really time consuming process.2 votes -
Scale pattern not object
I was on the Ai help desk with Nikhail, and he told me to write to you - I do surface pattern design and you are supposed to be able to use the shortcut of S and ~ to scale pattern and not an object. But it pulls up the Pen tool for me. We reinstalled latest CC and he worked on it for a long time to no avail. HELP! Otherwise you have to go through like ten steps to transform pattern and not object, everyone else in my class seems to be successful -…
2 votes -
Make Select Art button more evident
I periodically see designers, with serious (albeit cheerful) faces, boldly clicking the 'round button' in Layers to 'select everything on the layer.'
And while the button indeed 'selects' everything on a layer, it also selects the layer itself — targets it really, for applying a layer-specific appearance.
Take a look at this GIF attached.
If I select Layer 2 (with the green squares) like this, and then apply the Round Corners effect, all the new squares in the layer will have round corners.
Sure, everything is visible in the Appearance palette.
Sure, everything is written in the pop-up hints.The…
7 votes -
Select same, with multiple selectable attributes and customisations
When using the Select Same feature we need a lot more options, like all objects with the same transparency effect AND opacity AND tint AND line weight etc, that can be selected from a list of attributes. Same sort of list as the options list for the Eyedropper Tool (see screenshot).
It should be split into sections that allow vectors graphics selections as above, but also things like selecting all linked items that are the same file AND the same size AND rotation AND opacity.
Selecting all text in a certain colour, font, size, style so they can…
19 votes -
Improve Trim Mark Settings When Exporting PDFs
Posted using Illustrator 2025 (29.4)
In the Japanese printing industry, it is common practice to require both corner crop marks and center crop marks when exporting PDFs.
Currently, in Illustrator’s PDF export settings, enabling the “Trim Marks” option only adds corner marks. To include center crop marks, users must also check the “Registration Marks” option, which results in registration marks being added as well.
However, these registration marks are generally disliked and considered unnecessary in Japanese print workflows. There needs to be an option to add only corner and center crop marks without registration marks.
InDesign allows users to…
21 votes -
Fix annoying save bug after adjusting UI preferences
I just encountered an annoying save bug that caused me to lose 90 minutes of work in Illustrator. Here is the sequence of events:
• I opened an existing document in AI, with the intention of changing it and saving as something else.
• I opened preferences and made a minor UI adjustment (tweaked the size of my tool bar).
• Dialog #1 stated that changes will not occur until you restart AI. Would you like to restart? Yes/No.
• I selected YES (without thinking), under the assumption that I would be given the option to 'save as.'
•…
2 votes -
Gradient Tool Needs Custom Angle Increment Option
There should be an option to define the angle increment that you want Shift to lock to when creating or modifying a gradient. Such as 15 degree increments (0º, 15º, 30º...). Come on Adobe!
6 votes -
Distortion tool like the feature in Photoshop
Could you please add a distortion feature in Illustrator, such as the one in Photoshop, for clipping mask objects and linked images? I know that Illustrator already has one called 'envelope distort' but I find it difficult to use.
5 votes -
Enhanced Shape Builder Tool
Something that would be enormously helpful and prevent a lot of unnecessary backtracking would be expanding on the capabilities of the shape builder tool in three key ways, though if any are possible, the first one would be most helpful.
Allow the use of the shapebuilder tool on objects contained in a mask.
Allow the shape builder tool to operate on an object outside of a mask using objects inside a mask
Allow for selective use of shape builder tool on specific objects in a group without ungrouping.
2 votes -
Where is Project Lincoln?
I notice that there isn't even an option to comment on the ridiculously archaic graphic tool in Illustrator that hasn't been updated, as much as I can remember, since the early 2000s.
WHERE IS PROJECT LINCOLN? Why is this such a black box for Adobe? Why do you not address this AT ALL?! I don't know if you've been paying attention, but there is a LOT of data going around these days and we could USE SOME @#$%ING HELP!
UPDATE THE GRAPHING FUNCTION!!!!
14 votes -
Bring back menu highlighting feature in 'HELP' menu
Please bring back menu highlighting feature for Illustrator and Photoshop! In previous versions, you could type a word in the HELP dropdown (i.e. "offset path in Ai"), and the menu where the item is located would drop down and highlight the item. This is very useful because designers sometimes remember the name of a feature, but not where it is located. Also for learning it is very useful.
2 votesDiscover panel now highlights the location for all commands you search for with it. Call it with Help > Illustrator Help or with F1 hotkey.
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Allow Symbol Instances to update during master symbol editing
When making patterns or complex design based on instanced symbols it's vital to see how the seams between repeated symbols update. It would be good to see all instances (in view) update as you're editing a "master", and for the alignment tools to take the other instances into account so you can make pieces align with each other across a grid. Today the instances will only update AFTER you're done editing and it makes for a lot of going back and forth.
3 votes -
Hitting Escape while creating a shape, an artboard, while using Rotate, Scale, etc., doesn't cancel the process
When we marquee a selection and hit Escape — it gets canceled.
When we hit Escape while dragging out a guide — it gets canceled.
Dragging out a brush on the canvas — works.
Dragging out a swatch to drop it on a gradient or the canvas — works.
Dragging the appearance form the Appearance panel — works.
...and many other casesEscape does NOT work for these cases:
1. Creating a shape, an artboard, an area text
2. Rotating, scaling, shearing, free transforming...
3. Setting up the width with the Width tool
4. Setting up the gradient with the…11 votes
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