Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
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- Why is this valuable to you?
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646 results found
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Make Acrobat FreeText Comments Appear in Illustrator PDF Files
When working with marked-up PDFs that contain FreeText annotations (comments), these are clearly visible in Acrobat Pro, but they completely disappear when opening the file in Adobe Illustrator.
Illustrator only reads the main page content, not annotations. Please consider adding a feature in Acrobat that converts FreeText comments into actual text objects within the PDF so they appear in Illustrator, can be outlined, and printed properly.
This would help designers and prepress professionals working on packaging, branding, and production workflows.
Thanks!2 votes -
Maintain Word style
When I paste an italicized Word font into the Illustrator, it becomes plain text.
I'd like to see Adobe improve this feature so that you can "copy and paste" while maintaining Word's italics and other styles.
1 vote -
Unify point tangent, angle\length\direction
Short rationales:
Point Angle - I need a way to control the exact angle of point handles to unify them across a design. Currently the only way to control the angle is to constrain it to vertical, horizontal, or 45 degree angles.Point Handle Length\Direction - If you grab a point handle and make it a different length or direction than the handle on the other side of a point, there is currently no way to re-unify them besides re-drawing the curve.
There is also no also no way to scale handle length along the direction or angle you’ve already…7 votes -
Add advanced toolbar customization – icon direction, shape, and layout
I’m a long-time Illustrator user, and I’d love to see more customization options for the toolbar.
Specifically, please consider allowing:
1. Icon direction control (e.g., flipping the Pen Tool from "/" to "\")
2. Alternate icon shapes (simple, minimal, or text-based modes)
3. Full customization of toolbar layout, size, and colors
4. Save/load toolbar presets for different workflowsThis would help users with visual sensitivities or those who prefer ergonomic workspaces. It can also enhance accessibility for neurodivergent users. Thank you!
2 votes -
Fix fonts in the symbol library
When a custom-made symbol uses a font, the symbol is expanded and the fonts are eventually outlined, the fonts still show in the “Find Font” menu even know there is no editable text in the document.
1 vote -
fix the Layers palette; modernize it.
The layers Palette in Illustrator Predates most Design apps out there. Because of that, many of its behaviors are critically out dated and in great need of a top - bottom update.
some critical things to fix:
1. Selection tracking should be unified. Selecting in the Layers palette should ALSO select the elements in the document. Throw away the confusing 2nd step there.naming. make it more flexible. IE: add built in options for the renaming that occurs when you copy a Layer. Add the ability to rename selected layers with one text entry. Add to that, a simple Scripting…
3 votes -
Marking already-placed images after import
Having Illustrator flag placed images (by small icon or turning the text to italics?) under the "File > Place" pop-up window when using LIST mode (by Illustrator finding duplicates comparing in the Links pallete) helping the user keep track when a large number of images need to be placed.
Right now if I have 50 images to place I have to use memory of where I was placing each or compare links pallete to finder window as a list to check at the end.
2 votes -
Add 16px and 20px to the font-size drop down
With base rem being 16px, 16px has become the standard for readable text on a website. It would be good UX to have more base 4 standard font-sizes in the font-size select drop down.
7px, 9px, 11px and 21px are essentially useless to me but they have a seat in the dropdown, you could easily replace/swap a couple of them out for 16px and 20px. I don't know many designers, printers, or developers that use odd pixel sized fonts.
2 votes -
Remove (customize) tiny shadow behind artboards
I've noticed this for years... whenever I create a new document in Illustrator--no matter the size or mode and without any bleed settings, the artboard has a tiny grey "drop shadow" behind the artboard. See ATTACHED. It does not affect art and never prints, but more times than I can count I've found myself zooming in and attempting to select/delete it, thinking I left some sort of unwanted element behind while I was working. Or I see the faint "border" and think my graphic elements aren't fully aligned to the page edge, when the actually are.
5 votesToday artboards have only a tiny 1px border, black for the active one and gray for others.
If you wish to be able to customize these — upvote this request, please: Allow to change color & width of border / edges for artboards (all and active)
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Move & Scale by small decrease/increment of mouse wheel in properties
The idea is that when i use CTRL + Mouse Wheel to scale or move in properties any object or text the numbers are something like Y: 550.624 px when doing this they change to Y: 550.7 px i would like to be able it changes at small phase Y: 550.625 px or Y: 550.63 px so there will be 2 additional increments. Else i have to type this numbers manually.
I would assign them to some keyboard numbers like hold 1, 2 or 3 + mouse wheel for each increment.2 votes -
make select all artwork on layer, selecting different layers, etc actionable things
I do a lot of repetitive artwork when designing things for laser cutters where I could really benefit from actions. I have a ton of them set up for photoshop which can turn a 5 minute process into a 5 second one because when you select a layer or part, photoshop writes that you selected "layer 0" or whatever the name is. Illustrator is not the same way. If I have 8 layers and they are all named 1 - 8 and I select artwork from layer 1, copy it, select layer 8, and paste in place I can do…
3 votes -
Make permanent artboard captions displayed on top when using Artboard Tool / mode
In Ai 2026 (build 30) a new option was presented, 'Show Artboard name on canvas', in Preferences > Selection & Anchor Display, enabled by default, following this request:
Provide an option for making artboard names / numbers visible on the artboard (like when editing artboards), https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/40405873While it’s great and all, these new subtle captions replace the old 'label' ones we used to get when enabling Artboard tool / mode... and these new captions are rendered BELOW the artwork, even when I specifically want to deal with artboards, not artwork.
These should appear on top when using Artboard Tool, and…3 votes -
please add extended wordcount
I need to count the number of words in a complicated diagram with a lot of text boxes.
Grant proposals require a maximum number of words and they also count the number of words in graphs and illustrations. So please just tell me how many words are in a document so I don't have to select and copy paste hundreds of words out of textboxes into a wordcounter (or Indesign). That would be great in the future. This is tw also not possible in Indesign because you need to select the text to get a count, whereas I need…
1 vote -
Allow to change default settings for 3D and Materials effect
Can we please change the default settings on 3D effect to not apply anything or allow us to change the default. It takes forever to load on every project just to open it up for a simple bevel to be applied. Many times my app just crashes just opening up the window just from applying whatever the default setting is doing to the text I selected. My computer is far beyond the specs that it says the program requires until I need to open this tool on anything.
4 votes -
Magic Grid
Hi!
I would like to have a new tool: a kind of semi-elastic placement aid. Our team designs packagings and often has to adapt layouts to new die cuts, so objects often have to be moved, but must not change in size themselves. Sometimes a logo exists in three different sizes, which must be chosen depending on the total height. In addition, they must adhere to minimum distances, which may also not be scaled. However, the design often follows a grid, e.g. a logo must be on the vertical at 5/13 of the total height. So I imagine a kind…
5 votes -
Please restore "Lettering" in the Trace presets
I cannot match prior documents with the new advanced settings.
I trace documents of text to be made into glass etchings and the previous "Lettering" preset in CS 5.5. Illustrator was perfect but the new sliders don't produce results as clean as previously.1 vote -
Make it possible to actually open Cloud Docs....
The idea of cloud docs is wonderful, but the reality is intensely frustrating.
File created in the studio; a simple text logo. Retun home need to make a change. Impossible to open.
"Make file available offline" Done. Still impossible to open.
Identical version of Illustrator on both Macs. Multiple occurrences. It has happened in reverse too
Workaround > Store files on a disk. Transfer manually. (Not what Adobe want to hear!)
I should add that this a a regular problem on PS too, so a broader Creative Cloud, issue. Oh and the internet connection is Gigabit, so not a speed…
2 votes -
Control panel like that of Indesign
I've always liked Indesign, especially its control panel top bar.
I was wondering but is it not possible to have a control bar in Illustrator like the one in Indesign?
- bigger
- With More controls
- Dynamics
- By inserting quick links to many features that Illustrator makes available to us but every time you have to go and get them from the menus / submenus and you never remember where to go.
guy:
- object / path / path path
- object / path / offset
- object / path / add points
- object / weave
-…2 votes -
1 vote
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Knobs.
Just more knobs. There should be a knob next to every input that takes an angle value. The Scribble effect has one. The Gradient palette doesn't. The Transform palette has one but it could use another one along with a couple of text input boxes as an option to move an object a specified distance along a particular angle instead of moving it in X and Y. The angle value in the transform section of Properties doesn't have a knob. Scatter brush options have two horizontal sliders and no knobs. Put a knob next to each of those sliders.
Go…
4 votes
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