What would you like to see in Illustrator CS3?

[xanaduman]

Just out of curiousity I was wondering what features you folks think should be added to CS3, and what existing features should be tweaked.

[VectorMike]

I"d love to be able to rotate the pasteboard quickly so I could draw with my tablet esier, like when I use a pencil I always turn the paper to fit my needs.

[Scott Weichert]

Swatch and Color management Utilities.
> Add all used colors to swatches.
> Convert all colors to global swatches.

Fix type on a path.. it's horrible!

Fix the Appearance Palette display bug

I'm sure I have more but these are off the top of my head :)

[semimoto]

i would like to see a better helps (f1)
how to,displayed as a short work path ( edit>place> ect.)
that wouldnt be all that hard to do and it wouldnt take alot of space,
could be as advanced or as basic as the user would need,in fact that could work for any app.
i'm the man

[xanaduman]

You guys have brought mention to some great ideas! The thing that intrigues me most about the newest Illustrator release is the possibility of a tighter integration with Flash. Maybe the two programs will even begin to share some of eachother's tools. Flash has some great tools that I wish were in Illustrator. I'm sure features like live trace will be updated too. All in all, I think this next release of Illustrator is going to be a groundbreaking one.

[grant.smith]

Im sure they will come up with some really useful stuff, but please for god sake put multiple pages in!

[Brice]

Blend between meshes at defined points.

[Paths]

Can I dream?

What I'd LOVE is to be able to use a selection tool on placed graphics (like the wand in PS) and then easlily change that selection to a path that is as perfect as the selection. And/or a way to select (ctrl click the layer like in PS) the transparency of a placed gif or png and do the same.

OK, I'll wake up now!

[phenn]

Im sure they will come up with some really useful stuff, but please for god sake put multiple pages in!

Without a doubt, the one feature I would most like to see.

[heathrowe]

Multi pages would be awesome, along with Indesigns 'Master Page' functionality.

A neat little Template Preset Panel (with preview) would be a bonus.

h

[Scott Weichert]

No one shoot me. :) But I really don't see the need for multiple pages in Illustrator. At least not anymore than they are already supported.

[vmagic118]

Would love to be able preview Box Photoshop effects that are availible to a Vector Objects, Right know for instance if I add a Gaussian Blur or used a Mezzotint I have no way of previewing prior to executing

[vmagic118]

I would love to be able to send my work from Illustrator to a Large Format printer like the Mimaki JV5 series. Even if it was an add on, I bet many print shops would be willing to invest in an Adobe Rip product

[thohl]

How about dimensioning capability like the inferior and unstable Corel Draw has. Its a nice tool if your doing product illustrations.

[VectorMike]

a hot key for placing art into AI and a batch command like you can do with PS. that would make changing a lot of EPS files into PNG reall easy.

2 more cents from me.

[Scott Weichert]

Here's a couple more from me.

> Ability to use more than 1GB RAM on the Mac

> ANYTHING to speed up working with complex patterns or files. The more complex a file gets the slower AI gets.

> Separation preview

[CreativeBush]

I have a little request:

Gradient sliders with opacity adjustments. So I can have a gradient that goes from an opaque color to transparent without having to use opacity masks.

[vmagic118]

All I want for Christmas is a stable program to work on my Mac Pro.

[vmagic118]

When using illustrator on the PC I can place fonts and then while highlighted scroll through the fonts so I can see how each one looks in my application. However on my MacPro I am not able to do it and have to depend on how the font appears as a sample in the Character pull-down

[fielden lundy]

Off the top of my head:

- Add all used colors to swatches palette
- Better integration with Flash (improve transfer of layers, transfer blends, gradients)
- Tighten up live trace or at least make it a bit simpler
- Type-on-a-path was better before CS2

Fielden

[Jarrod]

Live / Intuitive stroke editing a la InDesign CS2

[Toccamonium]

my wishlist includes:

- I'd like to determine how new guides should be handled. They are always set
to "locked".

- handy "scruby slider" like in Photoshop. Here I just hover over the description
of a function, e.g. transparency, and slide with the mouse right/left to change
the values.

- better exchange with Flash

- Gradients with direct opacity change

- dimensioning capability

- starter window with my latest files on it. This would be just one click
instead of opening the last folder or going to the top menu.

- an elastic path mode like Corel Draw. Moving one anchor point and the
adjacent anchor points are moving too relatively.

- 3D grid like Freehand

that's all so far ;)

[Bobby H]

What I'd like to see most in a new version of Illustrator: serious improvements made in anchor point editing capability and a greater overall focus diverted back to vector-object editing.

CorelDRAW stinks in a number of areas, but it has been far better than Illustrator in terms of point editing ability for a very long time. It can align multiple selected anchor points, or break all of them apart or auto-join them all -with one single click on a tool bar function. The program can do a number of other transforms on multiple selected anchor points. I can't stand Corel for its wacky color output and type handling. But its point editing capabilities make a breeze out of a lot of technical drawing tasks.

There are 3rd party plug-ins that can do some of the same things found in Corel's point editing tool set. But I think it's pretty silly to pay $150-$250 on certain plug ins when those functions should have been part of Illustrator itself already.

Over the past few years Illustrator has added a lot of redundant features from other applications instead of concentrating on improving the core purpose of vector object creation and editing. Illustrator is a vector drawing program, not "Diet Photoshop" or "Dreamweaver Jr."

[Cameron]

Column breaks.
Bleeds.

[MKO]

Easy and quick canvas rotation (like e.g. Manga Studio Debut)
Individual points align
Stroke setting to left/middle/right on open paths
Perspective drawing aid
Dimensioning

[nook]

I would cut flips if they started using crash saves like InDesign has, that would also be nice in Photoshop.

[doggydoodle]

How about a physical manual with all the new features in detail so we don't have to view a PDF or buy an additional manual. This would have helped Live Trace.

[warking@mac.com]

Gradient stokes.

[Bobby H]

How about a physical manual with all the new features in detail so we don't have to view a PDF or buy an additional manual. This would have helped Live Trace.

I thought it was funny how a printed manual for IllustratorCS2 came in the box for Adobe Production Studio Premium. In that package you get printed manuals for all the applications. That helps make the product box one big huge cube.

[nook]

A package feature like InDesign has would be Killer! Or Copy Link(s) To... feature would also be nice.

[dj jesse]

You know as someone who is constantly working on projects that span the 3 biggies...Illustrator in conception, then usually straight to inDesign but sometimes like to hit photoshop next, or photoshop to indesign.

I personally think they should make PDF/FLA be the universal format and loose all the other stuff. Then seperate out uber compressed versions as a diifferent format (ie. SWF) they should have PDX (I know it's current the PDF catalog ext, but it's just an idea) If I could make something in illustrator and edit the same PDF in photoshop without losing any editability and drop right into indesign and edit (to a degree) and if it's scope it outside of indesign then I could choose to jump back into illustrator or photoshop (depending on need) I would be :cool:

Same with Flash/Dreamweaver/Fireworks... would act in a similar workflow to indesign/acrobat as far as being able to jump easily and directly back to editable version inside of Illustrator/Photoshop without compromising layout or code or well... with compromising anything!

That's my dream, I could see it run nicely on my new intelMac!
Maybe hard-drive speeds and size would need to get better ;)

well that's my 10 cents.

jb

[Bobby H]

A universal Adobe file format would be nice. However, I see lots of stumbling blocks with it running from one application to the next.

Photoshop has very limited support of vector-based graphics. It cannot open vector-based files and retain the vectors at the File>Open dialog. The only way to get paths into Photoshop is via the clipboard. Otherwise everything gets rasterized.

I do a lot of billboard design, and can put together final designs at full size within Photoshop -even something as big as a 14' X 48' billboard. The workspaces in Illustrator and InDesign max out at 227" X 227".

And then there's that lack of multi-page support within Illustrator. Open a multi-page layout created in InDesign within Illustrator and you may lose a bunch of content in the process.

My own opinion is each Adobe application should concentrate further on their own respective core purposes and better themselves in those areas, even if that means a different file format (and in the case of PC users another wierd file name dot-suffix extension). We're not going to see one single application or one file format that can "do it all" anytime soon. Graphics application suites will probably be the norm for quite a while.

The best graphics applications work to specialize further on their own primary purpose. Illustrator's main purpose is vector drawing/vector object modeling. It is not a web page editing tool. It is not another version of Photoshop or a "lite" version of InDesign. It's a drawing application. My biggest gripe with Illustrator over the years has been Adobe ignoring a lot of needs in improving that core vector drawing tool set while uselessly adding duplicate features from Photoshop and other applications.

I think Adobe really needs to look at what is lacking in the core tool set. The most obvious place to start looking is at all the 3rd party plug ins being sold to fill in the big gaps in the Illustrator tool set. They also need to look at what their rivals, such as Corel, are doing.

[jhebert]

I'd love to see an "array" tool like the one in Flexisign (by Scanvec Amiable).

From one simple palette, you have "step and repeat" functionality both horizontally and vertically, plus rotation.

Want to make a grid of objects with specific spacing? That's nothing.

How about making a clock face where the numerals are rotated perfectly, every 30 degrees? Simple! It's just a couple of steps, not 2 dozen or more.

The whole copy-paste-move-rotate garbage that people have to endure in Illustrator as a workaround works, sure, but if I were on the programming team I'd be embarrassed as hell to admit to being part of that debacle. I spent an hour or so trying to make Illustrator (and later, InDesign) create a compass, with tick marks spanning 360 degrees and numerals every 10 degrees. Thought it would be simple, but gave up in frustration. Went home and knocked it out in Flexisign in about 2 minutes.

Flexisign has also had a "this software crashed... save your work" dialog box that has never failed me. After the dialog exits, you save the current project, then the program closes. Upon reopening, there it is, ready to go. Scanvec Amiable could sell that technology alone to everyone else on the planet and retire on it.

Flexisign is something of a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator. Its Photoshop functionality is passable, but there's little competition there!

Its geometry handling functionality kicks Illustrator all over the alley. Illustrator packs more gee-whiz features, each with its idiosyncrasies like controls that don't-work-just-like-the-other-tools-in-the-program, that I continually bump my head against it. I only use AI when I have to. I would love to be there more, but I have to turn work out to eat. I can't do that with AI.

j

[kazbear]

While the Spell-Check feature works fine, I would like to see it enhanced to an interactive, as-you-type feature. That really is the best way, I think, to implement spellcheck in any application. Of course, if that type of thing gets annoying to you, you should be able to turn it off:) .

[rookie]

While the Spell-Check feature works fine, I would like to see it enhanced to an interactive, as-you-type feature. That really is the best way, I think, to implement spellcheck in any application. Of course, if that type of thing gets annoying to you, you should be able to turn it off:) .

This is probably the wrong thread... but AI has a spell checker? Where? Please forgive a newbie...:confused:

[kazbear]

This is probably the wrong thread... but AI has a spell checker? Where? Please forgive a newbie...:confused:

Under Edit. Or Ctrl(Command)+I

[rookie]

Thanks... learn something new everyday... but I guess thats the idea.

[Bobby H]

From one simple palette, you have "step and repeat" functionality both horizontally and vertically, plus rotation.

This is yet another area where CorelDRAW also beats Illustrator. In Corel's "Transformation" roll-up palette you can apply various transforms to objects or create new, duplicate objects with the "Apply to Duplicate" option. Repeat clicks for certain functions (rotate, scale, mirror, skew, position) can quickly create patterns. For a more direct and crude approach, one can simply hit Ctrl+R to repeat many functions in the application.

Flexi's approach is handled in some different ways, but achieves many of the same results (and in some cases does so even more easily). I just wish Flexi had certain point editing tools found in Corel. Flexi does have a really huge workspace, quite a bit larger than the 100' X 100' maximum art board size in Corel.

[szalayc]

All I want for Christmas is a stable program to work on my Mac Pro.

Hear hear!

I would love some more preflight/premedia tools, and maybe some CAD functions

[faberocity]

One of the most useful things I would like to see is the ability to include transparency as an element of a gradient - i.e. to be able to go from black to white to transparency for instance. This would be extremely useful for masking and other reasons...

If there is a good way to do this that anyone knows of... let me know

[jaybee]

I"d love to be able to rotate the pasteboard quickly so I could draw with my tablet esier, like when I use a pencil I always turn the paper to fit my needs.

I would like to see further tablet integration as well, the closer we can get to freehand motion the better. I can't wait!

-jaybee

[iasilva]

i would love to use more gradients in my work, but im scared that they wont print properly or will come out muddy.
I would like to know how to create proper gradients in illustrator and how to make them print ready. Theres got to be some tricks out there, im sure.

S.

[subcycle]

A) Cut and paste from Flash to Illustrator. (no brainer)
B) Layer Comps!!!
C) A batch processing/automation system on par with Photoshop. (are these seperate teams?)

[NorCal Chuck]

As a newbe pushed over from FreeHand . . . I think that most of what has been mentioned will appear.
Type on A Path in FreeHand was excellent . . . I suspect that some of that programing will find its way into AI.
Tighter Integration with Flash a given . . . after all Aldus is now spelled Adobe
Maybe more of FreeHands ease of use . . . Vocabulary being number 1
Multiple pages A YES vote
Guides would be great if you could put them on a layer then you could just turn the layer on and off. Another left over from FreeHand . . .
A manual would be great but then again I usually find that the books are better written for practical use.

[meowlet]

New guides. They really annoy me in Illustrator. They always default to locked and i can never get anything to snap. I wish they were more like InDesign guides. Sometimes I use InDesign just to create paths cause Illustrator is that annoying - which brings me to the next issue. They need a more comprehensive way to copy and paste paths from InDesign to Illustrator and back - I can create paths in Indesign, copy, paste them into Illustrator, and half the time it works ok except there's a path as a bounding box that gets annoying, and half the time it just completely messes up the paths. Also, there's no way to ungroup multiple paths after switching. It just seems to me that the paths in InDesign should be the same as the ones in Illustrator, I mean heck, they all work the same. :/

[adamfilip]

I would like to see.
- Colour Separation preview
- layer Comps
- Ability to dynamically adjust the thickness of a stroke anywhere along a path
- much more extensive 3D capability with GPU acceleration
- A much faster Application
- Font preview in every font selection dialog
- support for huge artboard sizes 100' x 100' or bigger
- ability to do a save for web preview with really large graphics
- ability to set the save for web to default output size at 25% or whatever you want. to save time.
- Tight Flash intergration
- better trapping
- Transparency in Gradients
- Gradient Strokes
- Gradients in Editable Text
- Better Slice handeling
- Faster Node editing
- Preflighting
- ability to embedd fonts. for future editing by others
- Step and Repeat
- advanced print with better preview and export
- Vector GPU acceleration
- Multi Processor / Core support
- Ram usage of more then 3gb
- Auto backup during Crashes
- Multipage or Multi artboards at the same time (at differnet sizes)
- batch processing


Thats it for now

[micke]

Re: multi pages in AI CS3

I think this thought goes against the grain of Illustrator. I think your art is meant to be on 1 pg in AI. If you want to print multiple pgs, use a page layout program like ind or qxp.
Come on, how hard is it to set up a printable spread in AI?
micke

[micke]

A rule of thumb is to make your gradients less than 5 - 6inches long, and have 60% difference in value or color from end to end if its a straight blend. Then you probably won't get banding. Always make all the proofs you need.

micke


i would love to use more gradients in my work, but im scared that they wont print properly or will come out muddy.
I would like to know how to create proper gradients in illustrator and how to make them print ready. Theres got to be some tricks out there, im sure.

S.

[bearcat34]

I think the rubberband option should be available for Illustrator CS3 just the same as Photoshop has. It would allow for easier drawing and tracing because of the ability to see how the bezier curve is effecting the path in real time.

[Bobby H]

Regarding some of Adam's requests (many of which were good):

"support for huge art board sizes 100' x 100' or bigger"

While it would be nice for Illustrator to support art boards larger than the current 227" X 227" maximum, the cost of doing so would be a trade-off in floating point accuracy. The vast majority of Illustrator users design their projects on normal page sizes and would be adversely affected with such a change. The best solution for people designing billboards, large signs and other large displays is to work in scale or perhaps use a program more suited to giant format design, such as Flexi.

"Multi-page or Multi art boards at the same time (at different sizes)"

I'll echo the recommendations of others to use InDesign for multi-page layouts. The expectations of a page design application are now so extreme they distract from the main mission of any vector drawing program to design and model 2D Bezier vector-based graphics. I feel it is far better for Illustrator to get more specialized and focused on making vector graphics and leave more of the page layout chores to other applications that are far better at it.

"much more extensive 3D capability with GPU acceleration"

While it would make more sense for Illustrator to have some true 3D capability than parroting lots of bitmappy features from Photoshop, the goal may not be very practical. It would add an immense amount of overhead to Illustrator. How many professional graphics people would even bother using the capability as opposed to using fully specialized 3D applications like Maya or even SketchUp?

I'm not opposed to Adobe doing 3D, but would vastly prefer they do so in a completely separate, fully specialized 3D application. There's already a lot of players in the 3D field, but perhaps Adobe could leverage tighter integration between Illustrator, After Effects and Photoshop Extended to lure customers.

"ability to embed fonts. for future editing by others"

That one is sure to run into font licensing violations.

[wildhare]

Since Adobe absorbed Freehand, I'd love to see a multiple page function. I realize that Adobe would like us to use InDesign for this, but my job simply requires several pages of layout for designs. This would be awesome.

[twotall]

Please, please, could Illustrator have the ability to crop as in Photoshop?

[deze dezines]

To be able to boolean a gradient mesh

overall speed/redraw improvements on complex illustrations and 3D

Adjust gradient on shape/art rather than in the gradient window

use freehands trace engine

custom perspective guide/grid system with lense distortion


thats all that comes to mind so far....

[TORCH511]

I would love to see some AutoCAD type tools like fillet, chamfer trim and extend tools. Also, and array (stepping) function added to the move tool would be nice.

Being able to hotkey Pathfinder options (not the effects)

[Leialoha]

Aloha all,

Forgive me if these are already available, I am new to Illustrator. I would like to see the following available in Illustrator updates -

- Ability to dedicate RAM/memory usage.

- Auto-save option (i.e.- save every ___ minutes)

- Auto save pop-up during software crash (i.e. - "Illustrator has come across an error an must close. Save your work?" YES / NO)

- Ability to easily rotate canvas.

- Tabs (or similar feature) for organizing/using multiple documents.

- Ability to preview fonts.

- Expanded Live Trace features.

- Scrubby sliders.

- Crop image/canvas options.


Thats all I can think of at the moment. Great topic!

Mahalo,
Leialoha

[xanaduman]

Welp, info on Illustrator CS3 is finally out, and it looks like it's going to be absolutely amazing, especially live color and the revamped pen tool. Good discusion all!:)