Illustrator History Panel...

We need a History Panel in AI.

I understand why some people don't need to use it but it does not mean others won't find it helpful.

Everyone has a different way of working--this is why you can achieve the same result using different methods using different tools in Photoshop or Illustrator etc...

I'm trying to find the History panel in Illustrator.

Clicking 'Undo' (or Cmd + z) a hundred times is not optimal. A history panel has a clearly to be seen usefulness.

I am confused that people are so obsessed with 'non-linear editing' that they cannot see the logic of not wanting to click undo an outrageous number of times.

Has the History panel been added to Illustrator? Please say that it has and tell me where to find it.

The first and only thing I do miss in Ai is a history panel. I just googled for the solution and got here... Everyone who is against of a history panel is a freak. Period. 

A history panel is useful for anyone learning illustrator. If you're watching a tutorial and are told to press a hotkey you can check in history and see what that function is called.

1. Someone here said no one has ever given a valid reason for a history panel.  How about 1 hour wasted Control Z-ing to get back through about 25 actions that each required applying multiple art brushes, drop shadows and effects - about 10-15 seconds for each control Z, and it won't take multiple commands at once.  A history panel would have let me go back several steps at once and save this valuable time in my busy day instead of wasting it in the revision stage of a project that the pesky client can't make up her fricking mind, while other pressing (PAYING) projects are waiting.  This is extremely annoying, and I wouldn't mind what else has to go to make room for a history panel.

great thread, though when searching for "illustrator history panel" one would expect a simple keyboard shortcut or some deep-buried menu item, not a long and complicated thread about a feature that is not there yet... anyway, the reason I signed in (not up, though I might have) is to point out that the History Panel is much more than a quick way to jump many undo states, or quickly compare previous choices, however valid both arguments and uses are. The HP is *visual,* it's like a map, or a trail. It gives you an overview of the time you spent and the actions you performed, and it gives you security, because it's all under your eyes. You might not use it, but it's a different feeling knowing that you have the ability to go back in time, not just going backwards "blindfold" as you do with Ctrl-Z but return to any specific, exact point in time... Considering how little effort it would take to add it (I can't see why it could be difficult), it seems to me that this feature is long overdue.

Still, I'd be very interested to know the historical reasons why AI is different from Photoshop (and most other software) in this respect, I'm sure there were (maybe still are) good reasons for this...?

I have to say that the History Palette is an incredibly needed accessory; I apologize for the redundant and senseless disagreers running around this thread. Apparently the 1960's software crew were released from the zoo and allowed only to post on Adobe's forums from the confines of their cages.

No one on this thread is an Adobe engineer, so to argue against implementing a History Panel, speculating that it would be technically impossible or unfeasable (despite the fact that Flash has an integrated History Panel), is moot in the sense of having no practical relevance, and is not in the least bit helpful, is just a waste of time to read.  And to argue against someone's desire for a History Panel or anything else, for whatever reasons they desire it, is just plain absurd, let alone self-righteous and contentiious.

I used Photoshop and Illustrator equally and find the lack of a History Panel in Ai endlessly frustrating.  Here is the CS6 feature request that I submiited to Adobe at https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform, the link Wade provided:

"A History Panel would be exceedingly useful, the same as in Flash or Photoshop, and for all the same time-saving, workflow-simplifying reasons.  Please incorporate the feature in CS6.  Ai users have been asking for this for years.  I can tell you for sure that if CS6 does NOT have a HP, I won’t upgrade from CS5.  It’s the one feature that would tip it for me.

Because designing is not a clear-cut linear process - ideas come to mind as you go along - I use the History Panel in PS constantly to either backtrack or test out new ideas and compare them to each other; a similar History Panel in Ai would be invaluable. 

It’s not just the list that’s useful to go back 500 steps if necessary with one click instead of 500, or to instantly compare two states that might be 500 steps apart, but I also use New Snapshot to save multiple history states to the top of the panel that I can return to and work on non-linearly (a history options option), and New Document which instantly opens an identical copy of the entire project with layers preserved in a new tab. 

Ai is woefully lacking in features to aid in the testing and quick comparison of ideas within the document.  Aside from the cmd+z limitations, having to endlessly save copies, search for them, open them in new tabs, then switch back and forth between multiple tabs is a grossly inadequate, cumbersome workaround.

Thank you."

I find this whole conversation a little strange. I know it's outdated, but I'd thought I'd throw another comment into the fray. I'm still getting my feet wet with both Photoshop and Illustrator. I don't really understand how non-linear editing is used in Photoshop nor do I think I have ever made use of it. The reason I went looking for a history panel in Illustrator today is for the same reason I use it in Photoshop. Truly, as others have mentioned, any software feature can be measured in lazyness, it is largely a convenience factor. However, the history panel provides one benefit that not amount of Ctrl-Z can.

The history panel is functionallly distinct because it skips directly from any one state in history to another witout steps in between. I frequently use this as a simple means of staging my edits, comparing versions to see if I am happy with the results or not. For example, if I have been selecting a font, and picking and choosing through multiple options, I can review any historical steps and quickly alternate between them. Now of course, I could attain this functionality with other combined efforts, like saving multiple copies of a file, or recreating my steps to queue up the ones I wish to compare. There will always be a question of convenience, and perhaps my usage pattern is a-typical, but I know that I would be positively impacted by its inclusion in this product.

LOL I don't know, Maybe people who are learning the program (like me) would find it useful for instances when they do something they didn't intend to do and have no idea what they did, so don't know how to go back and correct it. And is it always so time saving to just keep hitting cntrl Z over an over, until you finally find your mistake, then have to do everything after that all over again?