Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
4775 results found
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Make Illustrator inform users about the live shape nature of the path used for area type and provide associated controls for it
Currently, when we use a live rectangle as a path for an area type, it secretly stays live shape inside, and it allows us to scale the object with the round corners honored. If we round corners for a rectangle-looking path (not live shape), corners will get stretched.
However, there is no way to distinguish these two cases with UI, or to convert a rectangular path used for the area type into live rectangle shape, or to have shape-sepcific controls.
Please refer to the discussion in comments for the details.
This request is based on the original declined bug report…
8 votes -
Please add an ability to align points using the Align panel
Please add an ability to align individual points using the Align panel. This has always been an option, but it seems to have been removed.
8 votes -
Add an option to allow to snap to and by linked art, a similar one to Snap to Glyphs option
Could it be possible to get some help to align to a graphic imported? Something like "Snap to Glyph"?
It could help a lot to work precisely, without "embedding" the placed artwork...Originally by Jean-Michel Le Goff
8 votes -
Add an option to customize the strikethrough or underlined text
How is it possible that there are still no options to customize the strikethrough or underlined text???
On the internet I found posts and requests dating back even 10 years ago??? O.O8 votes -
True customizable drawing 'angles' for all tools when using SHIFT key (for Pen, Pencil, Brush, Move)
This is severely lacking in Illustrator and has been developed by Affinity Designer with workarounds (that do not work in a suitably fluid way) by Astute Graphics for Illustrator.
Best case scenario something is implemented like Affinity Designer in which 'constraint angles' are replaced by ‘Grid and Snapping Axis’ you are able to set and save presets of angle settings.
These axis are set and then can be activated as a constraint on your current tool by holding shift.
Smart guides provides this in a VERY limited way right now, the UI is very rudimentary for a setting that is…
8 votes -
Pencil and Brush Tools 'Pulled String' Smoothing / Stabilization
I've been using Illustrator for a long time now and one of the things that have bugged me over the years is the fact that there's no brush stroke stabilization like the Pulled String Mode in Photoshop or the Rope Brush in Affinity Designer. Ai has evolved so much over the years and it's been used to create freehand vector art since day one, so I cannot understand why this function hasn't been developed yet as of 2024.
Path Smooth or Fidelity are definitely two options to smooth out lines, but that's done once the path has been created. Stabilization,…
8 votes -
Make Shadow bounds for 3D and Materials to auto-match the actual shadow bounds
Please eliminate the shadow bounds for 3D objects, or make it infinite, or at least something more generous than 400%: 4000% perhaps? 40,000%
8 votes -
Dimension Tool Ungroup to edit
To be able to ungroup the dimension, created with the dimension tool so it can be edited. The only way I have found how to edit it is expand appearance. And that duplicates it a number of times so you need to delete the duplicates first.
8 votesRecent builds offer a native way to hide units in live dimensions, so there is no need to expand these to hide them manually or use the Find and Replace hack anymore
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Image trace on multiple objects at once
Image Trace option should work on multiple objects at once.
8 votes -
Generate Proper Filenames and Layer Names Instead of Untitled-1 and Layer-1
We need Generate Name button for saving a file depending on its content, format and target project folder. Also layers could be named properly.
Also it seems obvious that, besides generating a new name, the system could also use information from the document's presets, such as the document type (e.g., web, phone, book, etc.), document size (e.g., A4, 291x210mm, 1920x1080px, etc.), and colour and bit depth (e.g., CMYK, RGB, LAB, 8-bit, 16-bit, etc.).
8 votes -
Rotate with arrow keys. Hold R to turn nudge in to rotate.
I love being able to nudge the selected object with the arrow keys, I want a modifyer key that allows rotation in the same way. example: R key + arrow key rotates. Left and right arrows might be one degree increments. Up/ down could be 15 degree - which quickly gets people to the super common angles 30, 45, 60
8 votes -
Clip to Artboard (similar to Figma, XD, Photoshop)
Can we please get a "Clip to artboard" Option in Illustrator, acting similar to the one to be found in XD or Figma? This would help a lot when working with multiple style frame inside one document.
8 votes -
Add menu items and tools to custom panels
I find I frequently got to Menu/Object/Path/Offset Path or Menu/Object/Path/Outline Stroke along with Envelope distort and Expand.
It would be great to have these functions available as Clickable Tools that I could add to a Toolbar.
8 votes -
Treat all objects as filled for selection tools (like in Corel Draw)
Corel Draw has an option, 'Treat all objects as filled', which allows select objects with no fills with just a click inside. While it’s 'not the Ai way' — this can be useful in some cases.
Just make sure it works properly in the Outline view( that is does not get applied at all).8 votes -
Make Layers show which operation a compound shape uses, like 'Compound Shape (Subtract)'
Compound shapes have 4 different modes, and sometimes it’s important to be able to see which one is used when you work with the resulting shapes in Layers — especially if you nest shapes in several layers.. But at the moment Illustrator just display all of them as just 'Compound Shape'.
Compare these two structures:
Compound Shape
...> Compound Shape
......> Rectangle
......> Ellipse
...> Compound Shape
......> Rectangle
......> EllipseCompound Shape (Unite)
...> Compound Shape (Subtract)
......> Rectangle
......> Ellipse
...> Compound Shape (Intersect)
......> Rectangle
......> EllipseDon’t you agree the one at the bottom is easier…
8 votes -
Add option in Preferences > File Handing to remove or “do not append” the word “copy” in the filename when saving a copy
Please add an option in Preferences > File Handing to remove or “do not append” the word “copy” in the filename when saving a copy. This feature is not an option in Illustrator but it is a feature in Photoshop that saves a lot of time compared to manually removing it every time.
8 votes -
[UXP, ExtendScript] API access to Link Info
Idea: to provide simple script API access to placed image information as displayed in the Link Info section of the Links Panel. Especially pixel dimensions, PPI, scale and rotation. Currently there are no simple ways to get this information via script.
Note: if too late for ExtendScript, please consider this while implementing UXP.
I posted this here because this information is something I have wanted for my own scripts, and we get quite a few questions about this on the user forum, too, so it seems like a considerable lack at the moment.
8 votes -
As introduced in Photoshop the Warp option for Cylinder should be in illustrator
It will be much easier to use the warp on a cylinder in vector art, it was introduced in Photoshop. If I’m working on a design in Adobe illustrator and want to warp some text or a label on a bottle
why not stay in vector art, instead of using photoshop?8 votesThere is a way to do the same exact distortion in Illustrator, using a free MeshTormentor plugin (please see the full instruction in the comments).
However, an easier native way to do it is still welcome (as the general improvements over mesh distortion capabilities) — so please keep voting for this if you want it to happen.
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Add performance scripting options
Currently the options to increase scripting performance are limited. Please add ...
- the ability to process documents without openingen them visually. The documents should remain hidden during processing
- an option to disable screen redraw
- an option to minimize the application windowThese scripting options would be useful ...
8 votes -
Mesh tool hold and drag
When we click a shape with the Mesh tool, a node gets immediately applied to the shape/mesh, a new row and a column get instantly inserted. If I keep holding the mouse button / pen, it won’t help me anymore to position my node precisely. So the insertion should not happen immediately on a mouse click, but on a mouse release, drawing all the possible results while the button / pen is held down.
8 votes
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