Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
4699 results found
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Please make an easier way to export a seamless pattern tile from Illustrator
Please please can you make an easier way to save or export a seamless pattern tile - at the moment it is difficult to extract a tile from a complex pattern to use in Photoshop etc. Many people buy stock vector patterns to use in Photoshop and it would save a lot of time to get them easily from Illustrator to Photoshop.
8 votes -
Object, Expand — Should be in the right click context menu. Also, the operation should be more robust.
Object, Expand — Should be in the right click context menu. Also, the operation should be more robust. I expand things all the time.
I almost always want compound paths instead of groups of compound paths. So, "Outlining Text" is really just redundant and still no option for compound path from the operation. AI should influence people to be more efficient. An unnecessary amount of objects is unnecessary, especially with AI's ability to quickly isolate objects.
8 votes -
Recolor multiple layers panel layers at the same time
In Photoshop, you can select multiple layers, and add a color marker at the same time to all of them. I often use the colors of layers in Illustrator for UI and packaging design to separate visually which layers are finished (green), and which ones I still need to work on (red). But I have to double click each layer one by one in order to change the color.
8 votesYep, there is a way to change the color of edges for a selection of layers — 'Options for Selection' command in the Layers panel’s flyout menu.
But perhaps the original poster meant colored backgrounds to mark layers? Like Photoshop allows to and like we can do with actions in button mode?
If yes — please make a separate request about this.
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Export selected only
Would like to see an "EXPORT SELECTED ONLY" option, so that you can export just a selection of items from a file with many elements. Really a pain to have to copy the items I want to export, and paste them into a new file in order to export them.
8 votesThere is File > Export Selection command in Illustrator now, that adds a selection as an asset into Asset Export panel and opens Export for Screens dialog immediately.
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Paste from Powerpoint
I used to paste graphics/text from Powerpoint into Illustrator with no issues. Now with CC, only text in Times will paste without corruption into symbols. Is there a way around converting the font before copying?
8 votes -
Smart Guides and Snap To Grid mutually exclusive - please support both
"Smart Guides" and "Snap to Grid" are currently mutually exclusive which is very troublesome. I don't see the immediate connection, even if I want to have my objects snap to a grid I'd still liket to use Smart Guides, especially for creating Squares, Circles and the like.
8 votesBeta build now offers a way to have these two work together. This is still WIP and the team really needs your feedback on how it works.
Please try it — Beta builds are available for your Creative Cloud Desktop app and can be installed together with general builds (the only problem would be default file association — OS can’t tell Beta form GA apart).
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The "new update" popup message is gross
A. Add a "don't show this again" checkbox because I don't want to be reminded later nor do I want to update on anything but my own terms.
B. Add a space between the period and "Know more..."
C. Choose a different call to action that isn't "Know more" because what?
D. Actually just don't show popups for anything. I pay you to draw vector lines and that's about it.
8 votes -
Less controls for selections, which scale and round corners instead of select and drag
A new handle and selection system was introduced, which included rounded corners, scale, and rotation options. Some of this was a good feature, until it wasn't. I desire a preference for turning off most handle options because with them on, I'm unable to select-option drag copy, or move elements unless I zoom in 1000 percent. The rotate and modifier keeps getting in my way and it's driving me nuts. Selecting and moving objects shouldn't be this frustrating.
8 votes -
Have an 'Expand' button in the Image Trace panel
It's a pretty crazy change to remove it...
Why have it tucked away in the menus ?!8 votes -
Blob brush in touch mode
I work with a Wacom mobilestudiopro and I really like the touch mode but the blob brush is not accessible in this mode. It will be really helpful if you can add this brush. Thanks a lot
8 votes -
Why cant a save as a pdf with the option so scale down?
Why cant a save as a pdf with the option so scale down?
if you are working on a shop design and you have the art-board at full size (5666) or whatever it is. I cant save it as a .PDF because its out of range and I cant see a option to scale it down. and we cant print as a PDF anymore...... why are you making proofing so hard?8 votes -
Swap names for Reflect commands
Transform / reflect / horizontal-vertical
function is incorrect
8 votes -
Selection panel - supercharged customisable selection options
- A new Select panel.
*User-defined search permeameters with logical operators, and access to all relevant properties and object types in the document object model. Ability to extend and refine a search by multiple parameters.
*User-defined labels for objects, with which users can create their own custom searches (eg. ”figure”, ”house”, “red team”, “platform” etc.).
This would make me A Happy(er) Bunny.
8 votes -
Numerate / Numbering / Sequential numbers / Number sequence / Auto-serialize
As a function of the transform tool, or perhaps a tool in it's own right, a feature to numerate copies in sequence and/or apply fully scanning bar or QR codes. E.g. raffle tickets, concert tickets, coupons, vouchers, etc.
This would be invaluable as a time-saving measure, and allow an artist/designer to keep something like tickets completely in-house. I've been working with Illustrator for 15 years, and to my knowledge there's no feature that does anything like this. When I design concert or raffle tickets I have to use a 3rd party vendor, pretty much just for the bar code and…
8 votes -
Please bring back the slider for the gradient angle adjustment!!!
There used to be a slider for the angle adjustment of gradients. It was great because I didn't have to know the angle or the direction in numbers, (which designers are notoriously bad at, by the way) I could freely adjust the angle based on how it looked. The way it is now, with a textbook and a dropdown menu, is so much more work and SO FRUSTRATING. I don't want to have to type in increments and figure out if I need to make it a negative angle.
PLEASE GIVE ME THE SLIDER BACK!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!
Maia8 votes -
Layout for Swatch Info should allow to set grid, not only a row or a column
Creation dialog for Swatch Info object currently allows to choose between having it as a row or a column... great, when you have 5. Not great if there are 20 — it’s either a stupid long row, or a stupid tall column.
Add another value there to wrap these, to form a grid!
Make sure you also allow to set the layout order properly, like the Rearrange All Artboards dialog uses (RTL is a thing).7 votes -
Force swatches when directly opening an image
When we drag-n-drop / open an image into Illustrator, a new document is created with an artboard created to fit the image (when possible), and the image is put there.
The Swatches panel in this case is empty (as well as Brushes, Symbols, Graphics Styles).
While it makes sense (image have no presets stored within), for some users it’s extremely irritating — they treat this workflow as a way to quickly create a new document based on an image, with the fitting document profile used (even though if they have no idea about document profiles — thanks to the modern…
7 votes -
Add a slider to the History panel to quickly review the states of the document
If we want to go back to a certain history state of the current document , we can scroll the History panel and click each step item, guessing the time, judging by the names of these, the scrollbar position (limited by the capped amount of steps)...
It’s a guesswork in most cases, since some steps still have generic names (like always 'Move' and not 'Move Point', 'Move Handle', 'Move Segment', 'Move Path', 'Move Group'...)Can I just grab a slider and scrub with it, seeing all the previous states rendered on canvas — and fast? Today Ai sometimes takes too…
7 votes -
Learn to link / place .ai files saved without PDF compatibility (PGF only)
I know, why would you. A PDF-layer is basically a composite flattened layer Ai writes into an .ai document, and just reads it when the file is placed: in Photoshop, in InDesign. Handy, yeah?
Not really. Saving a document without the compatibility is so much faster. The non-compatible files are so much lighter (especially with heavy raster links used within). OK, Ps and InD can’t read PGF (Progressive Graphics Format, the one that’s native for Ai)... but Ai can.
Why not reading linked .ai docs as they are and THEN keep it’s PDF representation within the destination file, if it…
7 votes -
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
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