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Mordy Golding
Known Participant
May 9, 2001
Question

Got an idea for Illustrator???

  • May 9, 2001
  • 88 replies
  • 56095 views
This forum was set up specifically for users to request features they'd like to see in future versions of Adobe Illustrator.

The truth is, everyone can come up with cool ideas for Illustrator -- whether your an expert, a novice, or anywhere in between. It's an open discussion so feel free to chime in with your ideas!

🙂 Mordy
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    88 replies

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    S
    sigmadog
    Participant
    November 2, 2009

    I've been with Illustrator for about 10 years now, and I don't have any major issues with the program, with one big exception. I upgraded to CS4 Design Premium early in 2009 (to go along with my new Mac Pro with dual Quad-Core Intel Xeons) and have been generally satisfied with Illustrator - I think partly because having used it for so long, I understand its quirks and I generally know how to make it do what I want.

    That said, I most likely will NOT be upgrading any Adobe products in the Design Suite unless and until they become multi-threaded 64-bit apps. This isn't out of spite, or intended as a protest statement. It's simply not worth it for me to upgrade software that doesn't take advantage of the latest in multi-processor computing. Those of us with multi-core processors and 64-bit operating systems (and I think it's safe to say this is probably most of us Illustrator users) deserve an application that takes advantage of the inherent power of our systems. We'd like to use more processors, and more RAM because we have them available. I don't know what the situation is for Windows users, but for Mac, we seem stuck with 32-bit, single processor apps.

    For a long time it was the hardware that lagged behind the software. These days, the case is reversed, and the software needs to pick up the slack. From a work-flow and time-management standpoint, it's no longer worth it to upgrade applications that don't acknowledge and utilize advancements in hardware.

    So please, step up, Adobe.

    S
    Suarez, Atilano
    Participant
    October 29, 2009

    What about getting a "Package for Service Provider", as in FreeHand or, for crying out loud, in InDesign?

    I'm fed with having to do with heavy PDFs...

    C
    cosmic_fridge
    Participating Frequently
    October 20, 2009

    Hi Mordy...

    another major pain inside illustrator is the GUIDES...or should I say SNAP TO GUIDES feature which is not there...

    I understand that when you have smart guides switched on objects do snap to other object & guides...but this is not always the case and can be  a nightmare when there are multiple objects on your artwork...the object you want to snap to the guide just becomes confused with all the other object around it...and seems to start snapping to everything EXCEPT the guide you want it to...

    this is made much worse when trying to snap text or words to a guide...it just does not happen...it's almost like text that is not outlines is invisible to guides in illustrator...

    In freehand text or words have a text or bounding box when not converted to paths.  this allows words that are still text to snap to a guide very easily...

    if you're out there mordy...please help

    please make snapping to guides more reliable, please Introduce paste inside, please make groups more visually obvious (as explained in previous posts), please make shapes & polygons editable after they are drawn, and selecting certain objects without selecting everything the marquee touches would be nice...

    many thanks mordy,

    mark

    B
    bluefire777
    Inspiring
    July 31, 2012

    I find snap to guides does not work consistently as well, when I drag an anchor over another anchor, and the objects are zoomed out, smart guides shows that it is overlapping the other anchor by reading änchor" or path", but when you zoom into that anchor it is not actually on the other one, it  misses it.

    M
    MARKYFRAZ
    Participant
    October 20, 2009

    ....

    S
    Starbrand
    Participant
    October 20, 2009

    Illustrators find and replace does not have a replace tool for paragraph, or a carriage return.  This is a very powerfull feature.

    C
    cosmic_fridge
    Participating Frequently
    October 2, 2009

    It is so frustrating! I want to start using illustrator fully, but like most freehand users migrating to illustrator is just too painful.  I just can't bring myself to leave freehand and all the brilliant little features it offers.

    please adobe, you know how freehand works & what it's good & bad points are as design tool.

    If adobe introduced the following features to future versions of illustrator life would be fantastic, life would be wonderful... I love what I do, I love being a graphic designer...this could all change soon if adobe don’t do something quick!

    • The most important feature of all is the PASTE INSIDE feature! PLEASE adobe introduce this feature to cs5 and you will probably find 99% of freehand users migrate. The way PASTE INSIDE works is far superior to that of clipping masks...being able to PASTE ELEMENTS INSIDE of other shapes which actually retain their appearance is a truly a brilliant feature that must someday be adopted by illustrator.

    • Secondly...when an object or objects are grouped, why can’t the visual way it appears when selected change? In freehand this is done simply by changing many points or a text box into 4 simple points, one in each corner...why should we have to read whether something is grouped or not?

    • Thirdly...SELECTING objects is a very longwinded process in illustrator...if I have many elements on my page and only want to select one or two of these with my marquee...then why does it select everything that it touches (ie page borders, and other objects away from the one you actually want)...It seems I spend half my time de-selecting the things we don’t want selected!

    • Fourthly...SELECTING THROUGH OBJECTS...another fantastic feature freehand offers!...by simply holding down the CONTROL KEY selecting invisible objects or text behind other objects or text is done with the click of your mouse...

    and last but not least...some of the other little things that would be brilliant if introduced into illustrator...drawing and changing the appearance of simple things like stars...being able to visually determine how an object is going to look or how many sides it is going to have before you actually draw is very useful...and then being able to alter it’s appearance once drawn is even better...also on a path could be a lot better...

    PLEASE ADOBE HELP US OUT!

    even one or two of the above features especially PASTE INSIDE would make for a far superior version of ILLUSTRATOR...AND MANY, MANY MORE FREEHAND USERS MIGRATING...and MANY, MANY more enlightened existing illustrator users...

    many thanks,

    mark

    Ozzwoman9
    Ozzwoman9
    Inspiring
    October 2, 2009

    I have never used Freehand, but here are some things I can add that may help you:

    • The most important feature of all is the PASTE INSIDE feature! PLEASE adobe introduce this feature to cs5 and you will probably find 99% of freehand users migrate. The way PASTE INSIDE works is far superior to that of clipping masks...being able to PASTE ELEMENTS INSIDE of other shapes which actually retain their appearance is a truly a brilliant feature that must someday be adopted by illustrator.

    So what happens when you have several images that need to be placed inside a bounding box, does FH do that too or can you only paste one item inside another?

    • Secondly...when an object or objects are grouped, why can’t the visual way it appears when selected change? In freehand this is done simply by changing many points or a text box into 4 simple points, one in each corner...why should we have to read whether something is grouped or not?

    If I understand correctly, you should be using the Direct Selection Tool (white arrow).

    • Thirdly...SELECTING objects is a very longwinded process in illustrator...if I have many elements on my page and only want to select one or two of these with my marquee...then why does it select everything that it touches (ie page borders, and other objects away from the one you actually want)...It seems I spend half my time de-selecting the things we don’t want selected!

    What tool are you using to select objects? You should be using the Selection Tool (solid back arrow). The only way it would select more than one object is if that object is grouped with another object, if you are clicking and dragging the cursor when selecting, or if you are holding down the shift key when selecting more than one object.

    • Fourthly...SELECTING THROUGH OBJECTS...another fantastic feature freehand offers!...by simply holding down the CONTROL KEY selecting invisible objects or text behind other objects or text is done with the click of your mouse...

    A great function, working with layers or locking objects or working with Outline View...and yes I think there is a control key you can use to do what you are asking (selecting object behind), but I can't remember what it is at the moment.

    and last but not least...some of the other little things that would be brilliant if introduced into illustrator...drawing and changing the appearance of simple things like stars...being able to visually determine how an object is going to look or how many sides it is going to have before you actually draw is very useful...and then being able to alter it’s appearance once drawn is even better...also on a path could be a lot better...

    When you use the Star Tool (or may other tools) you can simply select the tool and single click in the document to alter the settings (points, radius, etc), rather then clicking and dragging in the document to create the shape.

    C
    cosmic_fridge
    Participating Frequently
    October 2, 2009

    • The most important feature of all is the PASTE INSIDE feature! PLEASE adobe introduce this feature to cs5 and you will probably find 99% of freehand users migrate. The way PASTE INSIDE works is far superior to that of clipping masks...being able to PASTE ELEMENTS INSIDE of other shapes which actually retain their appearance is a truly a brilliant feature that must someday be adopted by illustrator.

    So what happens when you have several images that need to be placed inside a bounding box, does FH do that too or can you only paste one item inside another?

    In freehand you can draw a shape, any shape...give it a line or not...even give it a gradient fill if you want...then you can select that shape and place as many objects within that shape as you like...and you can do this as many times as you want with different objects at different times...so if you already have two objects within the shape, you can still add more, remove and edit these objects at any time...you don't have to release what's already there if you want to add more objects...the shape that you are pasting all these objects inside of even retains it's original appearence...you don't have to duplicate it in any way...it's just the shape you are pasting inside of (whatever it looks like) and the objects you want within in it...if you've never used it...you don't know what your missing...it's quick, efficient and helps designing layouts where objects bleed out of shapes much easier...

    • Secondly...when an object or objects are grouped, why can’t the visual way it appears when selected change? In freehand this is done simply by changing many points or a text box into 4 simple points, one in each corner...why should we have to read whether something is grouped or not?

    If I understand correctly, you should be using the Direct Selection Tool (white arrow).

    No, I understand all about the selection tools and what they do within illustrator...what I mean is...in illustrator you can't tell if something is grouped just by looking at it...if I have 5 objects in cs4 and they are grouped together, when you select that group they still appear the same (a mass of lines and points) and unless you read where it says group in the top left hand corner of the document you can't tell the difference between 5 objects that are grouped together and 5 objects that are not grouped but all just selected at the same time...in freehand when you group objects together it visually appears as one group i.e the 5 objects appear to become one, just by simplifying  the way it appears...the individual shape of each object is no longer highlighted...it just becomes highligted as one big group...I must go now! I will reply to your other answer on selection tomorrow...as I need to explain further what I mean...thanks ozzwomen

    • Thirdly...SELECTING objects is a very longwinded process in illustrator...if I have many elements on my page and only want to select one or two of these with my marquee...then why does it select everything that it touches (ie page borders, and other objects away from the one you actually want)...It seems I spend half my time de-selecting the things we don’t want selected!

    What tool are you using to select objects? You should be using the Selection Tool (solid back arrow). The only way it would select more than one object is if that object is grouped with another object, if you are clicking and dragging the cursor when selecting, or if you are holding down the shift key when selecting more than one object.

    • Fourthly...SELECTING THROUGH OBJECTS...another fantastic feature freehand offers!...by simply holding down the CONTROL KEY selecting invisible objects or text behind other objects or text is done with the click of your mouse...

    A great function, working with layers or locking objects or working with Outline View...and yes I think there is a control key you can use to do what you are asking (selecting object behind), but I can't remember what it is at the moment.

    and last but not least...some of the other little things that would be brilliant if introduced into illustrator...drawing and changing the appearance of simple things like stars...being able to visually determine how an object is going to look or how many sides it is going to have before you actually draw is very useful...and then being able to alter it’s appearance once drawn is even better...also on a path could be a lot better...

    When you use the Star Tool (or may other tools) you can simply select the tool and single click in the document to alter the settings (points, radius, etc), rather then clicking and dragging in the document to create the shape.

    yes I understand that, but you can't alter it's appearance or add sides etc to it once you have clicked ok and it's on the page...it is no longer editable once it is drawn.

    A
    Anonymous
    September 15, 2009

    Can you please improve the save for web and devices function so that the directory location used in a previous execution of this feature is maintained. I have lost count of the number of times i've had to trawl through directories to get back to the directory i want to save an image in.

    Thanks,

    eamonn

    Rene Andritsch
    Community Expert
    Rene AndritschCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 15, 2009

    Please add the feature InDesign already has: angles of rotated objects are stored.

    Not so in Illustrator:

    See also thread ... http://forums.adobe.com/thread/492174?tstart=0

    Thank you!

      Dina Bellini
      Dina Bellini
      Participant
      July 30, 2009

      Oh, one more Mordy.

      Not to compare Corel Draw again but, Corel offers a feature when selecting anchor points that only selects completed shapes and not all the surrounding points. It's hard to explain but it somehow knows to select certain points even though your selection area is larger. For example, in Illustrator, you would have to hold Shift and click on each anchor point to get your exact selection. Thanks Mordy.

      I just saw that this post is pretty old but hopefully it's still open for comments. 

      A
      Anonymous
      July 17, 2009

      Hi to all, first of all.


      It took me some time to calm down and post a constructive message on the topic of Adobe Illustrator and needed improvements...


      I've been using Photoshop and Dreamweaver for a long time now, and I'm very happy with the usability and quality of both products, it's a credit to Adobe, but Adobe Illustrator... I don't know where to start... I use CS4 version (??? newest one and still so unusable...), and can't simply figure out was this product made as a joke or something... It's not the power of the product and what you can do with it (saw many tutorials and the results are always just breath-taking), the problem is those tiny annoying things that you must break your back to do (e.g. gradients and color picking... Oh sweet Jesus H. Christ and the gradients...). In Photoshop those actions are so easily done and intelligently implemented, but as we all know Photoshop has it's limits and for vector graphics you must use some other tool. So I installed Adobe's Illustrator thinking it would meet the same quality standards like other Adobe products, just to be hardly disappointed... After two days of trying to pass those annoying functionality complications I just uninstalled it, said no thanks to commercial use (thank God for trial period) and installed Corel Draw.


      I hope that CS5 version will fix those little quirks (i bet that this could be fixed in very short time (I'm also a computer programmer so I know some about those things)) and I'll sure check it out when it comes out


      Until then there is no other choice than using alternatives to Illustrator.


      Best regards,

      Stjepan, and for the end my list of feature request I accumulated in just two days of testing:


      1. Gradient color picker

      2. Color picker always reverts back to CMYK although I changed it to RGB

      3. Simplify swatch adding and editing

      4. Gradient color picker

      5. Gradient color picker

      M
      Markocheese
      Participant
      July 24, 2009

      There is a gradient color picker available in the gradient pallette Just click on the swatch you want to change and shift click on some color in your artwork (you can even sample colors from photos), or you can alt-click on a swatch of your choice. It's just not available while using the gradient tool itself, but the gradient tool is so new so I'm sure they'll revise it.

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