Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
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4818 results found
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Change the layer an object is located on
If you have a large artboard with multiple objects and layers it is really time consuming to organize your layers when all you can do is drag and drop. I think it would be useful if you could right click on an object and "move to layer" like you can in muse.
4 votesThere is a way – let us know if this works for you.
- Select the object(s).
- Highlight the layer you want the selection to go to.
- Object menu or right-click > Arrange > Send to Current Layer -
Change the Gradient panel back!
The new update ruined the Gradient menu panel. Its terrible, I want to access and save my gradients from the gradient panel not go back and forth between the gradient, swatch and libraries to find my gradients. With every update adobe programs are getting worse and worse. I've working with illustrator and photoshop for 20+ years and I am about ready to start using free software.
3 votes -
Favorites for presets (like swatches and brushes)
First of all, I am really excited about the new textures and brushes released in the latest versions.
It occurred to me that it would be useful to add a "favorite" flag for each of these tools.
This way, a "favorites" folder or filter could be created, making it much faster to locate the resource.
Also, I was wondering if the texture previews could be made even larger, so they can be viewed more quickly.Thanks.
3 votes -
Recent tools section
Add a section in the toolbar that shows the last used 5 or so tools (each with a keyboard shortcut!).
3 votes -
FIND SIMILAR FONTS - Doesn't work. And hasn't since 2018. Mac and Windows
As the title says.
Find similar fonts doesn't work on mac or pc. On any version. Even on freshly installed or brand new system.
This hasn't worked now since 2018. When will this be fixed?
3 votes -
Change pattern colors, possibly with an Expand or Colorize effects
If I have a design that uses a pattern, and I need to have the colors in this pattern to change, I’d have no choice but to create several copies of it and change colors in each one.
It means that if I change a pattern later, I’d have to either change all the copies of the pattern, or repeat the changes in each copy of the original. And surely I can’t utilize global swatches for this, because duplicating one doesn’t work as expected. We don’t have proper variables to use also.
Symbols won’t work in patterns (they get expanded silently if you try to use one by drag-n-drop — https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/51662026), so I can’t utilize them to build pattern copies faster.There are certain hacks...
I can make a black-and-white variant of my pattern and put it in an opacity mask of a shape, as a giant rectangle, to allow me editing the colored shape later.
There’s this great trick — https://x.com/toyotoyo2ro/status/1611781124635910144 — that uses flat front 3D legacy Extrude and the Pathfinder Exclude (you can see how it works in the file attached)... it crops, trims, cleans the pattern much more effectively than a manual expand and further cleaning would sometimes, but the Classic 3D is capricious and can 'hit the RAM roadblock' at any moment.
So...
Perhaps you can make a dedicated Expand effect, that would allow us to expand patterns live? It’d still need to know how Appearance work and how you can arrange attributes and effects...
Or perhaps introduce a colorize effect we can assign to a pattern fill/stroke and force colors — something like this Shift Color effect by Astute graphics allows? — https://docs.astutegraphics.com/phantasm/shift-to-colorIf I have a design that uses a pattern, and I need to have the colors in this pattern to change, I’d have no choice but to create several copies of it and change colors in each one.
It means that if I change a pattern later, I’d have to either change all the copies of the pattern, or repeat the changes in each copy of the original. And surely I can’t utilize global swatches for this, because duplicating one doesn’t work as expected. We don’t have proper variables to use also.
Symbols won’t work in patterns (they get expanded…3 votes -
Managing Plug-ins
Isn't it about time Adobe offered a better solution to enabling and disabling plug-ins? A simple list with enable and disable option would suffice. It would really make debugging a lot quicker. Especially in Illustrator.
3 votes -
Add more space character widths
I would like to see the space characters menu expanded to include the Sixth, Eighth, Quarter, Third.
3 votes -
Synchronize Gradient Angle Across Multiple Objects While Preserving Individual Gradient Colors
I would like to suggest a native Illustrator feature that allows designers to synchronize the angle or direction of gradients across multiple selected objects without replacing each object’s individual gradient colors.
For example:
Red → Orange — 30°
Blue → Cyan — 120°
Green → Yellow — 240°After applying Match Gradient Angle → 30°:
Red → Orange — 30°
Blue → Cyan — 30°
Green → Yellow — 30°The key requirement is that each object keeps its own gradient colors and color stops. Only the gradient angle or direction is synchronized.
This would be especially useful for vector illustration, icon systems, infographics, branding, packaging, UI assets, pattern design, and other complex multi-object artwork where consistent lighting or gradient direction is important.
I would like to suggest a native Illustrator feature that allows designers to synchronize the angle or direction of gradients across multiple selected objects without replacing each object’s individual gradient colors.
For example:
Red → Orange — 30°
Blue → Cyan — 120°
Green → Yellow — 240°After applying Match Gradient Angle → 30°:
Red → Orange — 30°
Blue → Cyan — 30°
Green → Yellow — 30°The key requirement is that each object keeps its own gradient colors and color stops. Only the gradient angle or direction is synchronized.
This would be especially useful for vector…
3 votes -
Randomize options for symbol sprayer
I like to use the symbol sprayer to quickly place a cluster of shapes, but it never looks organic because every symbol is identical. I wish there were settings on the symbol sprayer to randomize the size and rotation of the symbols, similar to settings you might choose when editing a brush in Photoshop or Fresco.
3 votes -
Save a Graphic Style in CC Library with a right-click or from the Graphic Styles panel
It's a huge waste of time to save Graphic Styles as a .ai file when it would be so simple to save Graphic Styles in the CC Library to centralize everything across hundreds of docs.
Having to locate a file and open it and locate the element and select the Graphic Style and drag it from the Appearance Panel to the Graphic Styles window and then saving it to a file is an incredibly long and cumbersome process.
Right-clicking an object and "Save Object Style to CC Library" would allow a user to discard a file if they don't need it anymore but save the Graphic Styles contained quickly and effectively.
It's a huge waste of time to save Graphic Styles as a .ai file when it would be so simple to save Graphic Styles in the CC Library to centralize everything across hundreds of docs.
Having to locate a file and open it and locate the element and select the Graphic Style and drag it from the Appearance Panel to the Graphic Styles window and then saving it to a file is an incredibly long and cumbersome process.
Right-clicking an object and "Save Object Style to CC Library" would allow a user to discard a file if they don't need…
3 votes -
Allow for "New from Template" to remember the last folder used
New from Template directs us to a dedicated folder that is buried deep inside of Ai’s bowels. It probably is handy for Ai to check it, but it’s now comfortable for us to access it to store the files within. Plus, different projects can have different templates, stored in their relative folders, and an option to make the last folder sticky can be helpful.
Original request by Junior Rocha
3 votes -
"Paste Remembers Layers ONE TIME" option
Rarely do I want this feature active more than 1 or 2 times. Honestly, making "one time" the default would be fine with me, but good to have options.
3 votes -
Please add a Search inside of the Cloud Projects folder
Please add a SEARCH INSIDE of the cloud PROJECTS FOLDER, you can search in YOUR FILES but not in Projects???
3 votes -
Show thumbnails in Artboards panel
I would love to be able to see a thumbnail of the artboard in the Artboard panel (similar to how you can for layers) I often have many artboards and would like to move them into a certain orders visually — not just by name.
3 votes -
Double clicking a gradient should open the gradient editor
When a gradient is clicked in the toolbar's Fill Stroke Controls, the Fill turns black, in stead of opening the gradient editor.
Why? It's not of any use, and contra intuitive.Please open the gradient editor whenever a gradient is double clicked.
3 votes -
Rename the 'Typing' history step for auto-bullet conversion to a clearer label (e.g., AutoFormat)
Using Undo to roll back the auto conversion of bullets now works as it should (thanks to this report: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/46954429), but the history step is just called with general 'Typing', and it doesn’t add clarity.
Compare it with something like Microsoft Word, where the step is called 'AutoFormat' — still a broad name, but much easier to spot!
Plus, Word offers to undo the auto-formatting right there in text when typing with a widget... and it offers a way to disable it completely right THERE.
Ai’s solution is rather blunt and cheap and lacks elegancy in this current form. Please make it better.Using Undo to roll back the auto conversion of bullets now works as it should (thanks to this report: http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/46954429), but the history step is just called with general 'Typing', and it doesn’t add clarity.
Compare it with something like Microsoft Word, where the step is called 'AutoFormat' — still a broad name, but much easier to spot!
Plus, Word offers to undo the auto-formatting right there in text when typing with a widget... and it offers a way to disable it completely right THERE.
Ai’s solution is rather blunt and cheap and lacks elegancy in this current form.…3 votes -
Show the consistent color picker dialog both when editing a fill and a swatch
For some reason AI uses different color pickers in similar occasions. I would like to see a unified color picker that has all the best from the other color pickers: HSB and Grayscale and RGB/Hex or CMYK (depending on document color mode).
In the current version double clicking a swatch brings up a completely different interface than double clicking a fill color for example.
I would like to see a color picker that shows all I can possibly need, without having to change systems all the time via a menu. (most of the time, I use HSB and RGB to modify colors, but AI does not offer both in one view.)
Take a look at Cinema 4d's color picker as a starting point, and improve it more to create the Adobe version (and then... put it in all CC apps! :-)
For some reason AI uses different color pickers in similar occasions. I would like to see a unified color picker that has all the best from the other color pickers: HSB and Grayscale and RGB/Hex or CMYK (depending on document color mode).
In the current version double clicking a swatch brings up a completely different interface than double clicking a fill color for example.
I would like to see a color picker that shows all I can possibly need, without having to change systems all the time via a menu. (most of the time, I use HSB and RGB to…
3 votes -
Using new Absolute mode in Transform Each dialog ignores clipping masks
Separate transformations do not affect the mask
3 votes -
Allow Users to Change the Default Save Location Behavior
In other production software, there is a preferences setting that allows users to change whether the program will open the file explorer relative to the current file's save location or to remember where it was last opened to.
This feature is sorely missing from Illustrator and causes me loads of headaches when exporting assets for multiple clients in rapid succession.
To make things worse, if you use the Asset Export window (Export for Screens), the "Export to:" filepath will prepopulate to the last location that that particular file saved to. If you click the folder icon to the right of it, you would expect the file explorer to open in that directory. But it does not. Instead, it opens in the last place Illustrator exported assets to, regardless of the active file.
This is counterintuitive, and I often have to backtrack to find assets that I for sure thought I exported, but turns out they were sent to a seemingly random folder.
Please let us choose whether or not Illustrator will open the file browser relative to the active file's location or whether Illustrator will remember where it last saved a file regardless of active file.In other production software, there is a preferences setting that allows users to change whether the program will open the file explorer relative to the current file's save location or to remember where it was last opened to.
This feature is sorely missing from Illustrator and causes me loads of headaches when exporting assets for multiple clients in rapid succession.
To make things worse, if you use the Asset Export window (Export for Screens), the "Export to:" filepath will prepopulate to the last location that that particular file saved to. If you click the folder icon to the right of…3 votes
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