Ai2025 - The Pencil tool has become unusable again! There's no accuracy—it’s too smooth!!!

[ncic]

I’m here to post about the same issue I did in 2014.
The Pencil tool has become unusable once again! It’s smoothing too much, even on the maximum accuracy setting (left first slider tick).

Back in 2014, when Adobe rewrote the Pencil tool, you removed the previous numeric settings and replaced them with four ticks. All of them were too smooth and took too much control over the path, leading to imprecise bubbly and smooth drawings.

I made a post about this back then, and Adobe was super nice to respond by adding a fifth lowest left tick with the previous lowest accurate settings, which I’ve been using for nearly 20 years now: "fidelity[0.5px], smoothness[0%]".
Here is the post I made in 2014:
PLEASE PLEASE adobe. The new pencil tool has become unusuble to me

Now, after the 2025 update, the pencil tool once again is smoothing too much, even on the lowest accuracy setting. This is making mine and my colleagues work impossible because the tool doesn’t generate enough anchor points to create the detailed and organic edge illustrations we need. Not everyone is looking to draw smooth, bubbly shapes!

This is crucial in an free hand drawn operation such as the pencil tool because anchor points act as the resolution of the path, determining the type of edges you want to express in your drawings. The character of the edge is essential for the final look.

Why shouldn't we have more control over the path resolution, allowing for higher values? Currently, Illustrator seems to be leaning towards reducing the resolution of our paths, limiting our creative control leaning towards more smooth bubbly or geometric style.

Inkscape is fantastic in this regard as it doesn't limit the resolution the artist gets to add to the path. It has a numeric setting where you can set what you need. Unfortunately inkscape falls short on other aspects of the freehand pencil drawing process, for instance you can't redraw over and over again and sculpt your path with the pencil tool as you can in illustrator.

With this post I’m requesting:

(1) To fix the bug and bring back the ability to generate more anchor points on the path for accuracty on the lowest tick with "fidelity[0.5px], smoothness[0%]"

(2) I'm also making an additional feature request for the ability to add even more anchor points than that by adding an even lower sixth tick that generates even more anchor points, with a setting like "fidelity[0.2px], smoothness[0%]"

Alternatively, and idealy, please bring back the numeric values like you had before that allow us to set the path resolution more precisely, similar to how Inkscape still handles it.

This won’t slow down the application in any significant way—today's machines can handle it. I've pushed Illustrator to its limits for many years, and higher resolution paths have never been an issue. There's no reason to hold back on giving users more control over the paths and the style of their illustrations.

I would love to assist in testing it out.

Please Adobe.

Thanks

MacBook Pro Apple M1 Max PRO 64GB RAM.
macOS Sonoma 14.7 (23H124)

Here follows some comparisons of anchor point generation to show the bug and the feature request on the bottom:

(Please click the images to see the anchor point amount better, thanks)

BUG IMG 1:1

BUG IMG 1:2

BUG IMG 2:1

BUG IMG 2:2

BUG IMG 3:1

BUG IMG 3:2

ADDITIONAL FEATURE REQUEST IMG 4:1:

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @ncic,

Thank you for your detailed feedback on the Pencil tool. We’ve shared your concerns and feature requests with the product team, and they are actively investigating the issue. We understand how crucial precise control over anchor points is for your work, and we appreciate your patience.

If there are any updates or further improvements, we’ll make sure to keep you informed. Thank you again for your insights and for helping us improve Illustrator!

Best,

Anshul Saini

[Charlotte30323497h0fi]

We are having the same problem and it's our primary tool we use for our job! will have to change software if it doesn't improve

[Monika Gause]

Please vote for the Uservoice report, which has been linked in this thread.

You will get notified of the progress

[mhdw5543585]

The only best solution for now is to subscribe to AstuteGraphics for their suite of plugins for Illustrator and use the DynamicSketch tool they have.  Way better than Adobe's now ruined pencil tool, lot more options as well.

[ncic]

Thank you, @mhdw5543585 @, for the suggestion.

Unfortunately, DynamicSketch isn't a viable option for us because of two reasons:

1) DynamicSketch is the opposite of what we’re requesting with the Pencil tool fix.
DynamicSketch is designed to control the path by reducing anchor points even further and smoothing the path so that the user can draw smooth and even shapes swiftly with less effort. This might work well for those who need that but for those who dont, its giving very little control over the path and its expression and thus produces a stylized undesirable outcome. That being said, if I’m mistaken, please feel free to share your settings in Dynamic Sketch that allow for many anchor points and no smoothing of strokes that produce an torn like uneven edge as in my BUG IMG 3:1 "organic" or "organic + high resolution path".

(2) Depending on plugins for essential drawing functionality in an illustration program isn’t a sustainable solution for us.

From our perspective, the only option for now is to avoid updating and stick with the last version of 2024, before the Pencil tools undesired bug/change got introduced. This wont work forever of course. At some point down the road one must update their software for a number of reasons.

Cheers and thank you for your engagement sir.
Please consider to upvote this topic in hopes of Adobe seeing it and taking action as soon as possible.

[mhdw5543585]

in the Dynamic Sketch panel set everything to 0 and the pull-down menu to None…With this setting I'm able to get very accurate curves, small & big, points and all… 

[ncic]

Thank you for sharing your settings and input!

However, I’m afraid what you're aiming for is the opposite of what this thread is addressing. If you compare the images, you’ll see the difference between what we’re after and what DynamicSketch is producing.

This discussion isn't about generating “accurate curves” in the way you're describing. Here, "accuracy" refers to precisely capturing the movement of the hand and converting it into anchor points. The more anchor points that are generated based on the hand’s movement, the more accurately the path reflects what the user actually drew.

In this case, the curve is defined by recording users every step of the hand movement, as well as the quality and expression of the edge—just like a real pencil. It does minimal calculations for you, or at least as few as possible in a digital environment.

DynamicSketch is designed to do the opposite of what we’re discussing here. What DynamicSketch does is calculate and generate a few anchor points, averaging out the hand's movement,and fills in gaps to create a smoother curve. This is exactly what we don’t want, and it’s the issue we’re raising in this thread— with the current bug the Pencil tool has moved in that same direction, losing the ability to generate enough anchor points for precise hand-drawn accuracy.

Please don't take this as dismissing your concerns for your needs! What you’re looking for, an "accurate curve," might also be broken, but I wouldn’t know since it’s not something I regularly use in the Pencil tool. I just want to make sure Adobe clearly understands what I’m requesting in this thread.

That being said, your input has contributed to a thoughtful and pleasant discussion, allowing us to explore the different needs we all have. I truly appreciate that.

Let’s hope we all get the solutions we need.

Thanks again

[aa51256026]

When I installed illustrator 2025 the pencil tool was horrible, buggy, unreliable. At its most detailed setting long round lines were like 2 points. It wasnt closing the lines at all. Illustrator 2025 is focused on ai and other aspects are horribe I think. I reinstalled Illustrator 2024. (I have astute graphics plugin but dynamic scetch is not good as pencil)

[Dag Hov]

Hello, I have the same problem. I updated to 2025 version on Tuesday evening, and was stupid enough to select "remove older versions/keep settings". So far three working days have been ruined by a defect drawing tool:-( The paths will not close, and the paths are smooth regardless of accuracy settings. I am sure  you will understand that this is really bad coming from an official update. Please rectify this asap, and let me be informed immediately after this issue has been solved. In the meantime I guess I'll have to try to find an older version.

Regards Dag Hov

[creative_loyalty7364]

Having this exact issue when trying to smooth out bumps for custom typography, overly smooth and completely disfigured from the original. There is no actual change in the intensity if you adjust the rudimentary slider to "accurate" aka less smooth. Rather than only adjusting the area where I am using the tool, it also adjusts everything around it rather than the target area, making it a ridiculously flimsy and unhelpful tool. Really disappointed if this was a mandated change or a mistake in the update but Adobe needs to do better.

[ncic]

I have and update here for everyone looking and hoping for this to be resolved.
I have a parallel thread going on with Adobe over at their uservoice forum where Im talking to the engineers.

Here it is:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/48973289-ai2025...

They are aware of the issue and want to help resolve it.
There was a suggestion to reset the illustrator preferences and that it would put the pencil tool accuracy back as before. While it does bring some improvements unfortunately it's not quite doing it all the way that is needed to restore accuracy fully.
I'm going to paste my post and extensive research here too just to explain and spread awareness

I’m on:

MacBook Pro Apple M1 Max PRO 64GB RAM.

macOS Sonoma 14.7 (23H124)

Illustrator 2025 version 29.0.0

Illustrator 2024 version 28.7.1

Wacom Intuos Pro Medium

I managed to properly reset my preferences this time, and while I did notice some changes in anchor point generation on the accuracy setting, the core issue still persists. 

Initially, I was glad to see some improvement, but after closer analysis, it became clear that the problem remains—it’s just more subtle now and requires a more granular explanation.

I’m including a recording from both before the preferences reset because other users seem to have the same problem and you can see what that issue looks like.

That recording im calling “pencilTool-PRE-PreferencesReset.mp4”

The recording after the preference reset is called “pencilTool-POST-PreferencesReset.mp4” which is the more relevant clip from now on and here follows an explanation.

As someone who has used the Pencil tool heavily on a daily basis at its most accurate setting for almost two decades, I can immediately tell when something is off.

After resetting the preferences, it may seem like the anchor point generation is back to normal, but it’s not. While it's closer to how it used to be, it’s still not close enough.

See my recording in the “pencilTool-POST-PreferencesReset.mp4” clip and you will see what I mean when i say there is a difference in the point generation.

I've also conducted extensive testing several times under the same settings and same conditions, and you can see in my charts how much anchor point generation has changed when comparing Illustrator 2014 (v28.7.1) to the 2025 (v29.0) version. Even after the preferences reset on the first accuracy tick.

There’s a 35-40% difference in the number of anchor points generated for the same object, under the same settings and conditions.

Please study my six charts in the image called “pencilTool-pointDifference-POST-PreferenceReset.png” of the point generation difference.

(1) My hope is that we can fix this to get back to where it was and even better, as it’s still not the same as it used to be.

Let's have a call and talk about it. I've mailed Rama the Engineering Manager and suggested a time for a call.

(2) Additional notes. Im also hoping for further improvement on this accuracy aspect. When the similar issue occurred in 2014 when the Pencil tool was rewritten, and Adobe was great about addressing it back then. 

While there was a fix made it wasn’t perfect, it was close enough than for me to further push it here in the forum. Unfortunately, this time it feels even further from what it used to be and feels wonky to draw with for someone who is used to the accurate pencil tool.

The "0.5px fidelity, 0% smoothing" setting was originally my suggestion for the first accuracy tick on the slider in the pencil tool options back in 2014 as this was the lowest value you could set it too when it had the numeric pencil tool options, however, this setting is just about adequate for accuracy but there is need for improvement for us who need more accuracy and more point generation. That’s why I’m also requesting an additional tick on the slider, closer to "0.2px fidelity, 0% smoothing." See my feature suggested screenshot in my previous posts and my examples that show closer to inkscapes amount of point generation.

I hope you’ll consider this and give the Pencil tool the attention and features it deserves for more accurately tracking the hand movement. I’m happy to assist further in any possible way.

[Ingrid Lill]

I just noticed that. It applies to the brush tool, too. I need it to be accurate! Please change it back to how it was for the past many years. This is urgent. 

[Monika Gause]

If you are experiencing this, please vote for the bug report linked in this thread. You will then get notified of what's happening. The engineers do not read this forum.

[ATTeam]

Same. Having to draw anchors with the pen right now and it's super time consuming...ugh. Wish I didn't update.

[Halyna ilv]

Ще я помітив, що змінюю налаштування на більш детальний малюнок, а він все одно підлаштовується як хоче. Це дуже незручно в роботі! Я витрачаю багато часу на редагування! Поверніться як було!

[ncic]

Hello everyone,

STATUS UPDATE

I had a nice and productive video meeting today with the Illustrator team as they are investigating and working on a fix for the Pencil tool issue. I explained the problem in detail, and we went through debugging steps together.

There was no intention on their part to change the previous behavior of the Pencil tool and so the team is actively looking into where it has gone wrong and working on a solution to bring back what we had.

@Ingrid Lill @Halyna ilv

When it comes to the brush tool
Judging from previous issues in 2014 with the pencil and brush drawing engine,  I'm pretty it's the same engine being used for the pencil tool and the brush tool.
If the pencil gets fixed the brush will be fixed too. I'm positive about that. The difference between the pencil tool and the brush tool is the attributes that get added on top of the freehand path drawing engine after a path has been drawn. In the pencil tools case standard illustrator attributes are used, fill and stroke, in the brush tools case a it's brush preset is laid on top of the path.

In the meantime, I recommend using the previous version of Illustrator until the issue is resolved.
2024 (28.7.1)

As i mentioned before I do have a parallel discussion about this in their user voice forum where developers are active.

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/601447-illustrator-desktop-bugs/suggestions/48973289-ai2025...

Please do upvote this thread top left as @Monika Gause suggests and in the user voice fourm post 

Thanks for reading folks

[LENRYK]

Upvoted, it affects my work as a graphic designer, it is not acceptable, i can't work proprely for my clients without this tool functionning as before.
Thank you for the efforts, hope it will be fixed soon, it's urgent.

[stephaniem96481292]

Upvoted. I'm a professional cartographer. I need the pencil tool to do my job and it's currently unuseable 😕

[nickq83]

Upvoted. This is crazy how much this effects my every day work flow. I use this for every single one of my drawings and this is making it so difficult to get anything done. Thank you for the work you are putting in on this! 

[areyouwhy]

OMG thanks for posting this! I was hoping 2025 update would address the pencil tool issues like error messages after selecting the tool. The error messages are gone but a much worse problem is now here. I can't even use the tool because it smoothes out everything. My job is a headache because everything is a work around now. I have to use the erase tool to get the shapes I need. Please fix this! C'mon, It's called illustrator and the PENCIL tool doesn't work. The irony is funny for about a second. 

[di_7576]

Thank you for sharing this- I thought I was going crazy with how terrible the pencil tool is. I do a lot of tracing and need to make detailed shapes with tight curves, not over-smoothed blobs. I hope they fix this ASAP or I'll need to unsubscribe and go back to my old verison

[Alkhen]

Thank you for highlighting this error.

Exact same issue for me, means I can't complete my workflows. I reliy on accuracy of tracing NOT minimiziing points and smoothing curves. Really hope this gets sorted ASAP . Looks like I'll be reinstalling Ai 28 whilst I wait 

[strong_penguin2873]

Upvoted. So disappointed ... it's become practically unusable for me now. I've messed with the settings in almost every combination and nothing even comes close to what I'm looking for.

[gordyland]

Just hopping on here to give a huge SAME HERE. I hope Adobe realizes how wild it is to release software that crippled a core feature that has been the same for like 2 decades. Facinorous work Adobe, praying for everyone