TRANSFORM - MOVE OBJECT

David,

Back then, at the change of direction from what you wish (+ upwards), there was no open discussion about the matter in the forum, so most of us only found out after its happening.

It turned out that some had asked for the change (to + downwards), whereas everyone satisfied with the old way and no knowledge of a possible change had no reason to ask for anything, which presumably created the impression that there was a general wish for the change.

There were some exchanges of views afterwards.

As I remember it, the one reason given by those expressly supporting the change of direction was that it would then be the same as in Photoshop (for drawing which might as well have been + upwards), and for InDesign (for writing in lines obviously increasing downwards).

As I remember it, those expressing the wish to be able to keep working with the original + upwards direction had no objection to the opposite wish and therefore proposed the solution of an inbuilt optional direction so it was possible to simply choose the desired direction, and switch between the two.

As I remember it, no one expressly in favour of the change of direction supported the proposal of an optional direction.

As it appears from the link that Ton posted, some of us tried to find ways to change the direction, and Carlos @CarlosCanto created exactly the solution of an optional direction so it was possible to simply choose the desired direction, and switch between the two.

Unfortunately, it remains a solution unknown to almost everyone, only to be revealed when someone asks the obvious question as you just did, and someone knowing the solution tells about it as Ton did.

Until that change, all vector drawing applications had the same direction (+ upwards).

Why? Maybe because most Illustrator users didn't attend school or didn't pay attention during math classes. This has changed a long time ago, but there is a script that can switch the origin to what you want:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/js-change-cs5-ruler-origin-to-bottom-left-like-cs4/m-p/3633733