Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests
When entering a new feature request, please provide:
- Description
- Why is this valuable to you?
- or
4663 results found
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Turn a layer highlight into an object selection
It's often simpler to highlight entries in the layers panel than it is to select the objects on the artboard.
e.g. you could just click the first and shift-click the last in order to hightlight many consecutive layers.
It would be really efficient if those highlighted objects could then be turned into a selection on the artboard (for transforming the elements or whatnot).
16 votes -
Star live shape, with on-canvas controls, better tool
Better Star tool, with side widgets to change the number of points, the rays’ length, etc.
Possibility to re-edit anytime the number of points in a star.
Also, the possibility to adjust the thickness of the star "arms".
(like Freehand was doing long time ago...)16 votesStar is now a live shape and available in the all the public builds starting from V 28.3.0.
You can now customise your star in any way you like; may it be changing the no of sides, corner angles, or even the corner radius.
Please try it out and let us know what y'all think !
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"Divide objects below" with a group
"Divide objects below" (what I call "cookie cutting") with multiple objects that are from a group, all at once . If I want to cut a pattern (let's say, giraffe spots) out of a shape located below, I should be able to divide the object without having to do it for each individual spot. If the spots are already grouped together to form a pattern, that pattern should be able to divide all at once.
16 votes -
Master page
It would be great if Illustrator had a master page like InDesign.
For us who design more then one page for client proofs.16 votes -
Add Search in Preferences
Incorporate a Search function to provide the user the ability to quickly locate a specific preference (refer to Apple's System Preferences Search capability.)
Please also make Preferences user-friendly — http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/42476344
15 votesBeta 29.7.0.60 introduces Search field in Preferences.
Now we can jump to the found option quickly by typing a name or a part of it.
Please try to update and test if it suits you (be careful though, this build also introduces many WIP change to the snapping system!) — and comment back if you have important notes.
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Make Snapshots for History panel
I'd like to be able to TAKE SNAPSHOT
Then a History panel would show each snapshot, rather than hundreds of moves and tweaks.
A undo/redo shortcut modifier to step back or forward through snapshots.
A trash can on the history panel to remove a snapshot.15 votes -
A hotkey to switch gradient types, Linear/Radial/Freeform
Shift + > and Shift + < are not taken.
We’d assigned them ourselves, but guess what — you forgot to expose these in Keyboard Shortcuts. As 90% of all other commands and buttons we have in panels. But hey, we introduce new features... finish old ones already.
15 votes -
Rename linked file
If I want to rename a file which is linked to a file (for whatever reason), I have to perform a humiliating process: find a link in Explorer, rename it, return to Ai, wait until it finds out the file is missing, search for the file in a dialog.
When this would be so much faster just to right-click the file (on canvas or in Links panel) and do 'Rename linked file'.
And please consider the other similar request about renaming an embedded image:
https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests/suggestions/47013226-rename-embedded-image15 votes -
Cursor and path feedback for Scissors
We have to guess if we cut a path at all and if we hit the right path.
No highlight (OK, using Smart Guides helps, but Smart Guides does nothing if you also have Snap to Grid enabled!), no cursor change.It’s 2022, right? Clouds, integrations, Stock sales directly in files... Scissors are still used with a blindfold, in a dark room, in a midnight.
Also vote for this related issue:
https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests/suggestions/36111436-make-pen-and-scissors-tools-prioritize-editing-to — Make Pen and Scissors tools prioritize editing to a selected path15 votes -
Make Appearance work for Type objects
More specifically, with type objects, the Appearance palette just says 'Characters', without reflecting the current stroke and fill state of the object. New stroke and fill have to be added to make the Appearance palette useful.
15 votes -
Please allow "ACTIONS" menu to record the SCALE in EXPORT SCREENS dialog for Artboards
Please allow "ACTIONS" menu to record the SCALE in the EXPORT SCREENS dialog for Artboards. I'd love to be able to record ALL the frequent filetypes and associated sizes for each asset and deliver an ACTION to my entire TEAM that makes this efficient for our everyday usage.
15 votes -
Pan tool wrap
When you pan with the mouse button/wheel held down, the panning stops when the cursor reaches the monitor edges. This forces user to release mouse, move it all the way back and re-grab it.
In some other editors you can continue to move the pointer and it will 'wrap' around your monitor, going from the opposite side of it, until released.Basically you can pan until you reach the end of your table.
This mode will help those who have to work at scale and pan without unzooming. Please, add it!
15 votes -
Tie a child shape to parent shape to keep it aligned to parent when resized
Hi everyone,
I posted this as a question in the Illustrator forum (here's the original thread https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/set-shapes-as-child-and-parent-objects-for-dynamic-box-designs/m-p/11688904?page=1#M256580) and was suggested to submit this as a feature request here.
I design boxes in Illustrator for precise cutting in my Silhouette machine. The main problem I encounter with is when I make a box which its shapes are all perfectly aligned, but I then find that I need to tweak its interior size. When I'm doing so I have to re-align all the different pieces of the box shapes such as the spines, wings, etc, since there's no option to tie a shape to another shape as parent and child behavior which exists in 3d design programs.
As a workaround I'm currently making groups of the shapes I want to be keep intact, and after tweaking the interior shape size I then re-align these groups to the edges of the interior they were previously aligned to.
To describe it better I made 3 screenshots:
- The first is the original design of the box.
- The second is what happens when I resize the interior size of the front of the box, which makes it to overlap its child shapes.
- The third is what I'm after - when resizing a parent shape I want all child shapes to move in distance along with it, without changing their sizes. As for the child shapes that become shorter and need to be resizes to fit to the parent's new size, that is done manually. Keep in mind that a child shape is also a parent shape of another child shape as seen in the screenshots. So if a child shape is resized then its own child shapes should also move in distance along with it.
The arrows in the screenshots comes to describe what is a child object and what is a parent object. The base of each arrow is a child object and where it ends is its parent object.
Having an option to make child and parent behavior would make things much easier when tweaking a design. Or, having a built-in engine to make box designs that has more features specifically for box design would be even better. That engine could automatically adjust the child shapes height/width where a parent shape size is changed. Or even a material thickness preset that calculates the extra size of material needed in mm/cm for the bending of each flap of the box, which is added between the shapes automatically like a "safe zone".
There are external solution plugins for Illustrator like Esko, but I'd really like if Illustrator would have a built-in feature for box designs without paying for additional plugins. I'm still using my CS6 version since its a permanent license which I prefer better over subscription plans, and I am quite aware that if my feature is picked up for development then it would be implemented in the CC version and not CS6. Yet if that feature will be made then I'll re-consider the CC plans.
Thanks!
Hi everyone,
I posted this as a question in the Illustrator forum (here's the original thread https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/set-shapes-as-child-and-parent-objects-for-dynamic-box-designs/m-p/11688904?page=1#M256580) and was suggested to submit this as a feature request here.
I design boxes in Illustrator for precise cutting in my Silhouette machine. The main problem I encounter with is when I make a box which its shapes are all perfectly aligned, but I then find that I need to tweak its interior size. When I'm doing so I have to re-align all the different pieces of the box shapes such as the spines, wings, etc, since there's no option to tie…
15 votes -
Curve length, area, perimeter measurements for Dimension tool
We need a way to measure the length of a line regardless of shape, but at minimum we need a way to measure a basic curved line. It would be especially helpful if we could use the measure tool or some time-saving variant to tell if a curve has the desired length. While we can do a workaround now using the Document Info panel, having to isolate lines in order to do so can get really cumbersome and tedious.
15 votesThe team has started working on this request. As a first step they want to understand the requirements correctly and build the right feature set based on the feedback gathered.
If you are willing to discuss area calculation in a call session, block a time slot here: https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/c1b7ecea1cbd42a2a7068cfeb7861bdd@adobe.com/meetingtype/Fn8tXNebh0eyv4xTnvQ-3Q2?anonymous&ep=mlink
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RAL Swatch Library
RAL Swatch library. We don’t need this for print or screen, but it is necessary to mark a plastic or metal with RAL colour when documentation is sent to manufacturing. Do something about it.
15 votes -
Add DXF/DWG Export To Increased Canvas Size In Illustrator 24.2 (and later)
Would it be possible to add DXF/DWG as an export option for the new expanded max canvas size (Illustrator, 24.2 and forward). The increased canvas size is wonderful, however as someone who will move to-scale sketches from Illustrator into a 3D modeling program, not having DXF/DWG exports at the new max size makes the use of the new canvas size somewhat limited.
15 votes -
Path-to-path collision snapping
It would be incredibly useful to have, for example, two circles snap to each other not only at the anchor points but also at any point along the paths. This would help a lot when using Shape Builder tool, because at the moment most of the time you either get a tiny gap between the shapes (then the Shape Builder tool doesn't work), or the shapes overlap (then the Shape Builder tool leaves unnecessary anchor points which you have to meticulously fix).
15 votes -
Allow Warp Effects to distort linear gradient
When you turn on distorting linear gradients (Object > Envelope Distort > Envelope options: Distort Linear Gradients Fill), AI still won't do it when you use Warp Effects (Effect > Warp). This should be fixed.
I'd even extend this option to treat other gradients types, not only linear.
15 votes -
Make Isolate work for components of a compound paths/shapes
Ai allows you to isolate a single path within document structure, but it only applies to groups. If you want to isolate a part of the compound path/shape — you won't be able to do it.
I fully understand that this requires Ai to decide what to do with art that is created at this isolation level, especially not ordinary paths: type, mesh, brushes... But this can be checked, both creation and pasting and dragging.
Speaking of compound shapes it would also mean that the boolean result will change.
Still, a very welcome feature.15 votes -
Duplicate File
Like in Photoshop, I'd like an option in Illustrator to duplicate the entire file, opening the duplicate in a new tab.
15 votes
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