No Bézier Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator Draw?

[michaeld87223797]

I'm not sure what the developers were thinking when they decided to omit the Bézier pen tool in Adobe Draw. It is the defining tool of Adobe Illustrator. It's the icon used in the Adobe Draw app and yet it is nowhere to be found in the toolset.

It makes perfect sense to make a clean break from outmoded input paradigms when developing apps for mobile vs desktop. But without a Bézier pen tool Adobe Draw is essentially Adobe Sketch with vector output. When an illustrator or designer friend asks me if Adobe has a vector drawing tool for iPad Pro I have to say, sadly "No."

Yes, I could buy an app from one of the many third-party developers who have rushed in to fill Adobe's void. But their apps I am sure won't be of the same quality or have the cloud integration I've come to love from Adobe's Creative Suite.

Come on Adobe! I beg of you! Make our dreams come true and solve this first-world problem. We know you can do it! On behalf of all the loyal working illustrators and lifelong Adobe enthusiasts out there. Put the pro in iPad Pro.

Sincerely, Michael DiMilo

Illustrator, animator

[michaeld87223797]

KimMidnight,

Actually, Adobe Draw does allow you to export to Adobe Illustrator. If you have Adobe Illustrator running on the same wireless network as your desktop version of Illustrator you can navigate to the Open In... from the upper right corner in Adobe Draw. Then select Adobe Desktop Apps > Illustrator CC. The file will open on your desktop in Illustrator. You can then go into your file in Illustrator and refine your drawing from there.

I still wish there was a way to use bézier in a mobile Adobe app.

[michaeld87223797]

It has been over a year since I originally posted this. I think it is worth revisiting this issue of Adobe Draw.

Over the last several months Adobe Draw and Sketch have become indispensable in my creative workflow. This hasn’t changed my opinion that Adobe should make a “real” mobile vector drawing app. The dream for me is to have some version of Adobe Illustrator, no matter how rudimentary, working on an iPad. What are the current options available to someone who wants this functionality? Let’s have a look.

Desktop Mirroring on iPad

Tethering your iPad to a Desktop computer running Illustrator via apps such as Astropad or Duet Pro is an inelegant solution. Duet Pro currently doesn’t even work with Illustrator and AstroPad is downright clumsy. Let’s face it, drawing on an iPad that requires connection to a desktop is simply ridiculous. You might as well spring for a Cintiq.

Other Bézier Apps for iOS

Using other iOS Bézier drawing apps are no better. Graphic, Bez, and Inkpad (I’ve tried them all) demonstrate how hard a nut this is to crack. None of them approach what I know Adobe is capable of if they put their creative minds to it.

It’s a real conundrum. As my IT friend quipped, “They make a patch! It’s called Surface Pro.”

I’m Not a Programmer But…

If you’ve spent any time using Adobe Draw it becomes clear that adding a Bézier tool would introduce a host of new problems: How do you select anchor points vs drawing? How do you toggle between preview mode and regular view? No doubt Adobe would irritate illustrators who have become accustomed to it as an elegant, straightforward drawing tool.

Obviously Adobe takes this stuff seriously. I am encouraged by their continued innovation with drawing tools for both desktop and mobile. The ability to add custom brushes from Photoshop to Adobe Sketch including the Kyle T. Wesbster brushes are just some examples.

What frustrates and perplexes us creative types is that an app bearing the Illustrator name and featuring the pen tool icon doesn’t do what we’ve come to expect. It’s a shame really, considering how good Draw is.

The Solution
My two cents, for what it’s worth, is that the brilliant minds at Adobe should launch a separate mobile app for Bézier drawing. Illustrators worldwide would cheer!

[Will Chadwick]

I really want to be able to use a pen tool on my iPad Pro.

I do enjoy Adobe’s iPad tools because drawing is cool also. But I really need the pen tool.

Why even have two drawing apps if there are no vector tools?

I’m checking out Autodesk Graphic 3.2. If it meet my needs, then i guess I’ll see how well it works with desktop Adobe Illustrator.

w

[pinaz9]

I downloaded the app because what drawing I do is always in vector. I like vector because of the mathematical eloquence of the format, and the programmatic opportunities that come with it.

However, a wonderful format is nothing without tools that do it justice. And without the possibility of drawing and editing Bezier cuves, I'm afraid that the application is useless to me.

Since this has not been resolved despite all the time intervening between now and the origonal post, I'm afraid I'll have to assume that i's not going to happen.

[Imphenzia AB]

+1 for this request - disappointed to see the pen tool being absent.

[deezin]

Adding myself to the list. I will probably return my iPad Pro because I thought I'd be able to use it for working on...but without the pen tool, it won't be worth it for me. I will just have to keep hitting undo to get it perfect. Thanks.

[Will Chadwick]

Make sure you give Autodesk Graphic a try before you return it. It's a great vector art program.

[Imphenzia AB]

Thanks - I was considering buying Graphic but I noticed a review stating "all strokes get outlined automatically, thus making them extremely difficult to edit" which would be a problem for me. I love the iPad with ProCreate for sketching and if I could turn it into bezier vector on the iPad instead of on the computer with the Wacom tablet I'd be thrilled about being able to do it away from the computer.

[deezin]

Thanks - I love it...it is 99% perfect. One thing that I wish it would have though is the smooth tool that I use all the time in Adobe Illustrator. Do you know of a tool like that in there that I'm missing? Thanks.

[davidw72471649]

Dear all. Use Astropad app linked to your Mac Book or iMac. Then you get everything Illustrator CC has to offer (Including the Pen Tool). Dear Adobe. Please remove the pen tool icon from your app icon graphic, it's a tad misleading to be fair, perhaps replace it with the little brush icon instead? Thanks for being awesome though would not survive without you!

[allmynamestaken]

I Can't Believe It.  No bezier pen tool in Draw?

Adobe - You had one job.

signed

broken hearted.

[jekartush]

Another professional artist requesting the pen tool, please!  Very disappointed to see it missing from the Draw app.

[matthew_dunn]

Adid my voice to the echo chamber.  I am likely to use this app much more frequently if it gets a Bézier pen tool.  For now, I’ll be scouting other apps...

[meaci]

Please add the bloody pen tool... Why should this be taking forever?

[shayhabari]

Count me in

[scottw15256322]

2016!

bezier tool soon maybe?

2018...

a sorrowful haiku.

[thom_bee]

I couldn’t agree more. Without the bezier tool there is no practical difference between the draw and sketch apps while working on the iPad.

Can we get an answer from someone on the adobe team as to why this tool isn’t included? Can tablets not support this tool for a technical reason? If not, I think I speak for everyone in this thread when I say we’d like to know why the talented engineers at adobe haven’t made this the centerpiece of the draw app when the marketing team is clearly trading on it with app icon. Adobe? Any answers?

[Sue Garibaldi]

Hi Thom_Bee.

Thanks for you nice comments about the engineering team.... It's a pretty amazing group of people and compliments about them is a surefire way to get me to respond  (despite the fact that I don't post on this thread because I don't have news about the pen tool that will make people happy): Although it's become a super often-requested feature it's not currently in the development plans to incorporate a pen tool into Draw.

For sure people have begun using the drawing apps in ways that extend beyond their original intention but the ethos behind Draw (and also Sketch) is free-form drawing (and painting). And the pen tool, used for precision, doesn't embody that spirit.

So although the teams do, as much as possible, want to match app features with technological capability and how people are currently using them, it's a balancing act... because it's also important that the apps evolve in ways that are true to the principles on which they were created.

But, because I never say never about any feature, or any functionality,  I continue to bring these conversations to the attention of the product team so that  it understands how passionately people feel about the addition of this tool.

I hope that helps explain things a bit. And thanks again for posting.

Sue.

[Will Chadwick]

Sue,

Thanks for taking to time to tell us Adobe has no plans for an iPad vector tool at this time. I do appreciate Adobe tools on my MacBook, especially Illustrator, Photoshop and Animate. And they also have some great raster tools for iPad. Also, it’s hardly the engineering team’s fault that the business has decided to exit the vector graphics market on the iPad.

Since Adobe doesn’t want iPad vector graphic customers, we can all go to Autodesk Graphic for our iPad vector needs.

I have tested Autodesk Graphic and find it to be a fantastic vector tool. And it has a pen tool! My 12” iPad works perfectly with Autodesk.

Thanks again,

Will

Graphic for iPad by Indeeo, Inc. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/graphic-for-ipad/id363317633?mt=8

[thom_bee]

Thanks for the quick reply Sue! I have been enjoying the Ps sketch app and will continue to use it. For vector drawing I’ll try checking out the Autodesk app per Will’s suggestion.

[Sue Garibaldi]

Thom_Bee | Will.

Sorry to not deliver better news for the time being.... Plans could change down the road.

Sue.

[brians19802677]

How many years must we wait for something so crucial. Is Adobe even giving us a reason why it's been omitted???

Throwing in another request to the pile!

[CritterMel]

“The ethos behind Draw (and also Sketch) is free-form drawing (and painting). And the pen tool, used for precision, doesn't embody that spirit.” Then why use a pen tool as the icon?

Snarky response aside, what product does embody that precise, pen-using spirit? Since this program is the spiritual successor on the iPad to Illustrator, and it’s always embodied the spirit of Bézier curves, I’m a little confused as to what we’re supposed to use (other than another company’s app). I get Adobe is trying to create things to fuel the artist/illustrator market — and I applaud it — but what about those of us who are graphic designers, and have been using your industry-standard tools for decades? More and more individuals and companies are moving to the tablet model only, and to not provide those same, amazing tools we all fell in love with on desktops to tablet users seems short-sighted. Even the federal government is moving to tablets, and we move glacially slow.

I think our sadness and disbelief is twofold. First, we all fell in love with what you provided for us. It worked, and it was wonderful. You kept innovating, while still keeping the tools we needed. Second, we saw that innovation, and are shocked that your obviously talented engineers and designers can’t or won‘t make something so popular and integral available to the people who keep paying for it. I’ll happily shell out some cash for a true, iPad-friendly version of Illustrator (and please, no subscription).

[jekartush]

CritterMel, very eloquently stated.  I second that.

[Sue Garibaldi]

HI CritterMel.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

The icon for Draw was chosen to convey vector... we realize (now) that it's not interpreted that way.

I don't know whether there are plans for an iPad-friendly version of Illustrator (I'm not super in-the-know about early product development plans and probably couldn't discuss them even if I were) but I understand that people want precise drawing capabilities on the iPad and i do continue to share every request with the mobile teams.

Sue