Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
4735 results found
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A Node View mode for the Appearance panel, and a complete revamp of what it can do
I feel like I have a lot of things I want changed about the Appearance palette that cannot be done in the form of a one-dimensional list of effects.
I'd like to suggest something inspired by the "node view" in programs like Blender or Toon Boom or Unreal. Give me a 2d canvas upon which I can arrange strokes, fills, and effects, and let me plug them into each other in complex ways. Let me control exactly when a brush is applied to a stroke by moving its effect around. Let me dynamically generate an opacity mask for an entire…
3 votes -
Retain original, unexpanded art for pattern swatches.
"This pattern contains active content (symbols, effects, etc, it's a long list) that must be expanded to create a swatch. If you edit the pattern again, the expanded content will no longer be active."
There's a lot of clever, well-paid people at Adobe. I bet someone there can figure out how to store the original pattern art along with the expanded pattern art, and edit the former rather than the latter when I double-click on the pattern swatch. I have workarounds for this but they are tedious and annoying ones.
Also I would like to thank whoever wrote the dialogue…
2 votes -
Toggling left click mode
Can we have a toggle feature that controls left-click on and off by just clicking once for activation and once again for deactivation? I think it would be a cool idea to add this as an option because it would allow a default trackpad to be a more accessible tool for longer drawing projects (ie. blob brush work) without exhausting your fingers. Makes the overall program more accessible, too. I would rather be clicking once than holding and dragging my finger on the trackpad. I got the idea from video games that have toggle buttons for lots of monotonous tasks.
1 vote -
Increase number of recent files
Please increase the maximum number of recent files from 30 to 50 or 100 like Photoshop (both in Home Screen and File > Recent).
Original idea by Junior Rocha
9 votes -
Double-click with Direct Selection to enter Isolation mode.
You can only enter Isolation mode by double-clicking with the Selection tool. Why doesn't the Direct Selection tool work for this? Or the Group Selection tool, for that matter? Was there ever even an explicit design decision made that only the Selection tool should be able to do this?
I do the vast majority of my selecting with the Direct Selection tool, and about 50% of the time when I want to isolate something I just try double-clicking on it with the arrow-shaped tool I'm currently using, and grumble because it doesn't work, and hit the hotkey for the unloved…
2 votes -
Allow more modeling options for 3D extrusions
Give us more extrusion options. It's crazy that you can make a cylinder, but no possible way to make cuts through. I have attached examples to where I made the type of structure I'd need in Blender. In AI you can create a cylinder but no way to make holes through the structure. You can do this with an extruded rectangle but not cylindrical objects.
2 votes -
X e Y muito proximo de L e A
as lacunas dos controladores de posição ficam muito proximos dos controladores de dimensão e por diversas vezes isso confunde o uso.
2 votes -
Allow to Move All objects and adjust their Spacing from both ends in Objects on Path
Objects on Path construct has several on-canvas widgets, allowing us to quickly eyeball some parameters interactively.
One of these is the starting position of the array along the path.
If the length of the array is shorter then the path, we can grab the rhombus marker and move all the objects together along, keeping the gaps.Another one is Space widget, which is located above the construct.
We can grab and make all the gaps shorter or longer at once.For some reason both treat the array as directional.
We need an ability to be able to move the array…
9 votes -
Support wildcard characters in Find & Replace
My only wish for the text Find & Replace would be able to use wildcard characters. That was such a great option in the TexEdit (not TextEdit) word processor and I have yet to find something similar for the Mac.
5 votes -
Don’t require hitting Find before Replace All becomes active in Find and Replace dialog
Illustrator’s Find and Replace dialog is bad.
One of the issues is that we can’t immediately Replace All after we enter text. We have to press Find first.Why? If it’s nothing to replace — replace nothing (and perhaps show a message, preferably a shy one, not a clunky modal dialog).
6 votes -
Do not select both the clipping mask and the clipped contents with Select All while in isolation
When we isolate a clipping group, it’s like we are jumping in a whole in a canvas and start dealing with what’s behind it. Whatever we move while inside isolated, would be visible through the hole.
So when we say Select All while being isolated, we usually don’t mean 'Select the stuff behind the hole and the hole itself' — it’s about clipped content only. Otherwise why isolate in the first place?
Select contents only first and and the clipping mask to the selection only when Select All is called again, if the clipped content is fully selected already. Display…
6 votes -
Escape should cancel an execution of a script / plugin
If we run a script or a plugin operation and the execution of it takes a long time, there is no real way to abort it other than killing the whole Ai process completely (since there is no dedicated one). This can loose us data, and saving each time before running a script or a plugin is paranoid and is hardly a solution.
We need to be able to hit Escape when a script or a plugin makes Ai freeze and expect for it to be stopped, perhaps with a confirmation.
6 votes -
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 -
Objects on Path needs an ability to keep orientation of objects relative to page/path, similar to blends
Objects on Path needs more options and in its current setup is very limited in its usefulness. This tool feels like it's still in beta. Whilst it's good at doing the one thing it's designed to do, it's missing a lot of useful capabilities.
What's missing is the ability to keep the baseline of the objects i.e., keeping the objects horizontal. What it needs are the same options as Type on a Path (Rainbow, Skew, 3D Ribbon, Stair Step, Gravity).
Other two requests are:
1. Allow to nudge or rotate individual elements along the path for Objects on Path — …9 votes -
Allow to set text format for CMYK values and other data in Swatch Info objects
The data for CMYK values in cards inside of Swatch Info is formatted with commas.
I’d like to have the ability to customize it: spaces, hyphens, as C100 M50 Y0 K0, etc.3 votes -
Allow to convert a live blend into Objects on Path
Blends are cool to when you need to create intermediate objects or colors, but these sucks when you need to create a uniform distribution — Ai stupidly uses’ the spine’s curvature to control both the spine’s curvature AND the distribution (requested to get improved here: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/32403880)
But now we have Objects on Path, which can’t provide any other distribution except uniform one (yet, we hope).
But, as usual, two similar functions remain completely separated and non-ingedrated (we saw this before with Repeat Grid and pattern, and there is a request to allow conversion of one into another here: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/45233863…8 votes -
Allow to use custom user templates for Swatch Info objects
Swatch Info is OK (if completed!), but there is not enough customization currently.
Take a look what an awesome ColorList script by Katja Bjerrum offers: https://productivista.com/make-a-list-of-colors-from-your-selection/ — we can set our own shapes before making a color legend.
We could have done it semi-automatically after creating a Swatch Info, with Global Edit, to replace all chips with a custom shape... but for some reason these rectangles are immune to Global Edit (as it often happens, new features get loosely integrated with existing functions...)This actually also includes text parameters, but perhaps it’s a separate request... Sure, the font is the…
3 votes -
Allow to quickly enable or disable all Text Options for cards in Swatch Info objects
Text cards for Swatch Info objects can have a lot of items displayed.
I found that I either need all of these or none often. The only way to choose between these two major modes is to patiently toggle each one manually.
...meanwhile in Asset Export we can easily choose to use All or No Artboards with dedicated buttons. Perhaps there should be a way to do the same thing here?
It should be allowed both when creating and when editing a Swatch Info object.3 votes -
Free Transform Tool - Free Perspective & Free Distort should be there own tools with short cut.
Free Perspective & Free Distort should be there own tools with shortcuts (or that we can make custom shortcuts for), or a way to quickly filter through by hitting a key to get to the option needed (ie you hit E to bring up free transform, then hit E to select alt options like Free Perspective & Free Distort) having to scroll over to a tiny panel to select which I want to use is time that could be saved. I know the panel floats, but having to open Free Transform then move the panel near what I need, then…
1 vote -
Visual Undo Ghosting, Similar to onion skin's in animation.
Have an option to show the last so many undo's as visual similar to onion skinning in animation.
1 vote
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