Why can't Illustrator draw arcs and circles?

[mike.theinsidetrackinc]

Back in 2008--12 years ago--I asked why Illustrator cannot do something as basic in illustration as draw arcs and circles. I had a lot of support from other posters back then, including several new users who were incredulous that this tool was not available. It is so basic they didn't even bother to see if it existed. I realize that Adobe killed the competition in the graphics business, but doesn't the company have at least a small amount of pride in their product? I use my CAD program for this and similar things that are missing in Illustrator, but it would be nice if this one basic tool could be included in the next rollout. Let us draw circles and arcs! Please. And don't point me toward CAD tools. That is NOT what I'm talking about.

MHB

[Doug A Roberts]

You presumably mean non-bezier circles?

[Monika Gause · Accepted solution]

Please report bugs and feature requests to http://illustrator.uservoice.com

[Ton Frederiks]

Can you explain what is missing in the current Arc and Ellipse tools?

[mike.theinsidetrackinc]

For me, a

shape in either a graphics or CAD program is defined by how it is created and manipulated. A circle is created and manipulated by its radius and diameter. An arc is created and controlled by its start point, end point, radius and arc length. Additionally, an arc or circle can be drawn using a diameter pulled across two points, by three co-planer points, or by a radius from one point. As far as I know (and I'd love to be wrong and be told where this tool is!) Illustrator allows none of these controls. It appears that a circle is simply four "arcs" that are just Bezier curves. And an arc is just a garden variety Bezier curve. Other graphics programs I've used: Freehand, Corel Draw, and Canvas all could draw circles and arcs. AI is alone in not having this basic ability--unless I'm missing something basic. I hope I am.

MHB

[Ton Frederiks]

An Ellipse can be defined by a horizontal and vertical size and an Arc has these options:

[Doug A Roberts]

"It appears that a circle is simply four "arcs" that are just Bezier curves. And an arc is just a garden variety Bezier curve. Other graphics programs I've used: Freehand, Corel Draw, and Canvas all could draw circles and arcs."

Don't those programs also draw arcs and circles using bezier curves?

[Jacob Bugge]

Michael,

Actually I remembered that thread from the days of the fair forums, and was very pleased to find that it is still with us; but I will neither join nor bet against dissidently.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/circle-and-arc-tool/td-p/1241488?page=1

You may like this script by one of our Japanese friends,

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/drawing-a-circle-segment-by-script/td-p/10868390?page=1

And maybe other scripter friends may wish to join in.

[Ton Frederiks]

Jacob, seeing that thread go down the rabbit hole makes me refrain from any further comments on this topic (I never liked arcs anyway 🙂

[mike.theinsidetrackinc]

Doug and Ton, thanks for your response. I'm not really interested in ellipses beyond the special case of circles. I'm fine with creating ovals or non-circular ellipses by defining a box in which they are inscribed.

I don’t really understand what AI offers in creating arcs and circles. The controls you show above to control arcs are not consistent with standard arc or circle geometry. Arcs are controlled by changing the values of its origin, radius, start/stop points, a chord and center-point perpendicular, or arc length. Arcs are created by defining three planer points or an origin and radius. The same is mostly true with circle manipulation. There is no "slope" function for arcs as far as I know and an arc's x,y coordinates, though sometimes useful, are more useful in defining polygons.

In short, I don't see why Illustrator users can use established geometry norms in building lines, squares and rectangles, but venture into its own unique geometry system when working with arcs and circles. I'm more puzzled than anything and whether or not they end up as Bezier curves doesn't interest me. I'm only interested in how I control what I'm drawing regardless of the programming algorithm that translates my actions into the shapes I see on screen. I just wish it were consistent with what we all learned in ninth-grade geometry class.

Thanks,

MHB

[Test Screen Name]

I can confirm that both PDF and PostScript do not contain any such things as circles or arcs. So every circle you see is made of the basic components (straight lines, bezier curves). That's what's under the scenes; I'm not commenting on whether it would be good to have an abstraction in the user interface that looks more like a geometric arc to the user.

[Doug A Roberts]

For 'why' questions like this, what would be a satisfactory answer? Illustrator doesn't have these things and unless someone like Teri Pettit happens to be wandering by, no one here is likely to be able to tell you why.

[Monika Gause]

"Arcs are created by defining three planer points or an origin and radius."

Are they? Really?

I have been using FreeHand since version 2, and in order to get a circle you didn't enter a radius. Same goes for CorelDRAW version 1. Whatever functions you find there now, have been intorduced later on.

You want CAD functionality, but Illustrator (CorelDRAW, FreeHand) is a DTP application.

That said, there are still a lot of arc and curve functions that might be useful in DTP, so please make a feature request and if you find enough epple who support your wish, then maybe the engineers consider it useful enough.

If you don't want to wait, I would suggest the plugin (no, not CADtools): SubScribe.