Adobe Illustrator
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder | John Edward Warnock |
| Products | Vector graphics editor |
| Owner | Adobe Inc. |
| Website | www |
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design application produced and distributed by Adobe. Originally developed for the Apple Macintosh, its creation commenced in 1985. Following Adobe's transition to subscription-based offerings through Creative Cloud, Illustrator CC was introduced. The most recent edition, Illustrator 2025 (version 29), became available on October 14, 2024. In 2021, it earned recognition as the premier vector graphics editor by PC Magazine.
Versions 1–1.6 (Illustrator 88)
The development of Adobe Illustrator for Macintosh began in 1985, with its initial release in January 1987 as Adobe’s second product after PostScript. Co-founder and CEO John Edward Warnock created the software in late 1986 to streamline graphic design processes utilized by his wife, a professional designer. Illustrator utilized lines and bézier curves to create graphics that could be scaled indefinitely without loss of quality. The program commercialized Adobe’s proprietary font technology and the PostScript file format.
Adobe Illustrator serves as a complement to Adobe Photoshop, concentrating on typography and logo creation, while Photoshop is geared toward digital photo editing and photorealistic artwork. Early marketing referred to it as "the Adobe Illustrator." Version 1.6, known as Illustrator 88, launched in 1988 featuring improved tools and capabilities.
In 1989, Byte honored Illustrator 88 with a "Distinction," highlighting Adobe's advantage over rival Aldus FreeHand. Initial releases lacked a preview mode, requiring users to manage two windows—one for editing and another displaying a live preview of their work.
Versions 2–6
Throughout its first ten years, Adobe primarily focused development of Illustrator on Macintosh but briefly supported additional platforms. In the early 1990s, versions were released for Display PostScript licensees including NeXT, Digital Equipment Corporation Ultrix, Silicon Graphics IRIX, and Sun Solaris; however, these versions were discontinued due to limited market interest. The initial Windows edition, version 2.0 (1989), did not achieve commercial success. Windows version 4.0 was criticized for resembling Macintosh version 1.1 rather than the more advanced Mac 3.0 and trailed behind CorelDRAW in popularity. (Mac releases skipped versions 2.0 and 4.0; the second Mac iteration was Illustrator 88.) Version 4 introduced preview mode editing on Windows; this feature arrived on Mac only with version 5. Version 6 represented the final major Mac-exclusive release before Adobe standardized the interface across both Mac and Windows platforms—a design approach maintained until CS6 when some Mac-specific elements were reintroduced.
Versions 7–10
Illustrator 7 (1997) brought substantial user interface updates aligning it with Adobe Photoshop and incorporated TrueType font support, resolving the PostScript versus TrueType font rivalry. It also introduced plug-in compatibility, significantly broadening functionality. From version 7 forward, Mac and Windows editions shared a unified interface, allowing designers to work consistently across platforms.
Although Corel ported CorelDRAW to Mac, competitors such as FreeHand provided features missing from Illustrator (like advanced scaling options, find-and-replace functionality, and selective corner editing). Adobe acquired Aldus in 1994 primarily for PageMaker; however, due to antitrust concerns regarding Illustrator's dominance in the vector graphics market, the FTC mandated divestiture of FreeHand. Consequently, Macromedia purchased FreeHand in 1995 and continued its development until 2004.
With the advent of the Internet era, Illustrator expanded support for web publishing standards like PDF and SVG. Adobe was an early contributor to SVG technology; Illustrator exported SVG files through a plug-in. The Adobe SVG Viewer (active from 2000 to 2009) allowed browsers to display SVG content before native support emerged with Internet Explorer 9 in 2011.
Illustrator 9 introduced a tracing tool reminiscent of Adobe Streamline’s discontinued feature. Released in November 2001, Illustrator 10 was the last version prior to the transition into the Creative Suite branding.
Versions CS–CS6
Illustrator CS (version 11), launched in October 2003 for both Mac and Windows platforms, introduced 3D functionality that allowed users to extrude or revolve shapes into basic three-dimensional forms.
Illustrator CS2 (version 12), released in April 2005 for Mac OS X and Windows, was the final Mac edition not optimized for Intel processors. It featured innovations such as Live Trace, Live Paint, a control palette, and customizable workspaces. Live Trace enhanced the conversion process from bitmap to vector graphics, while Live Paint provided greater flexibility in coloring overlapping elements. That same year, Adobe acquired Macromedia through a $3.4 billion stock transaction, incorporating its products—including FreeHand—into Adobe’s suite. By 2007, Adobe ceased FreeHand development, concentrating efforts on facilitating user migration to Illustrator.
On March 27, 2007, Illustrator CS3 debuted with an updated Control Bar interface and introduced capabilities like point alignment, multiple Crop Areas, the Color Guide panel, and Live Color functionality.
CS4 arrived in October 2008, integrating improvements and tools from FreeHand. A significant addition was the ability to create multiple artboards within a single document, enabling diverse artwork versions. New tools included the Blob Brush, which merges vector strokes seamlessly, and an enhanced gradient tool offering sophisticated color adjustments and transparency controls.
Released in April 2010, CS5 brought enhancements such as the Perspective Grid tool borrowed from FreeHand, a Bristle Brush for more natural stroke effects, and a revamped stroke rendering system called "Beautiful Strokes."
In 2011, Adobe introduced Adobe Ideas—a complimentary vector drawing application for iPad and iPhone that replicated many Illustrator features on mobile devices. This app empowered professionals to sketch while mobile and expanded global access to vector creation through social media sharing.
Version CS6 (the 16th iteration), released on April 23, 2012, improved overall performance with a redesigned user interface, updated layer panels, RGB color codes integration, and refined color ramp functionality.
Version CC
With the advent of Adobe Creative Cloud, Illustrator CC (the 17th version) signaled Adobe’s transition to a subscription-based distribution model consistent with other Creative Suite offerings. As part of Creative Cloud services, it introduced synchronization of colors, fonts, and application settings across devices; cloud document storage; and Behance integration. Additional enhancements included a touch-enabled type tool, brushes incorporating images, CSS extraction capabilities, and file packaging features.
Branding
From its initial release (version 1.0), Adobe licensed Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus," specifically focusing on Venus’ face for Illustrator’s branding. This choice reflected John Warnock's vision of PostScript ushering in a publishing renaissance. The image symbolized Illustrator’s proficiency in rendering smooth curves and evolved stylistically throughout successive releases.
In Illustrator CS (11.0) and CS2 (12.0), this Venus motif was replaced by a stylized flower design aligning with the Creative Suite’s nature-inspired theme. Starting with CS3, Adobe adopted colored blocks featuring two-letter abbreviations reminiscent of the periodic table; Illustrator was denoted by Ai in white text on an orange background—a color scheme originating from version 4.0. Minor modifications to font style and color shades occurred across versions CS4 through CC 2014 to maintain brand consistency while modernizing the icon’s look.
Compatibility
Inkscape's default file format is SVG, which is also supported by Adobe Illustrator; however, their implementations are not entirely interchangeable. Additionally, Inkscape can export files in PS, EPS, and PDF formats that Illustrator recognizes.
Tools
Illustrator provides a toolbar located on the side panel that offers tools for selecting, creating, and editing artwork. These include drawing, typing, painting, reshaping, slicing, symbolic representation, moving elements, zooming, and graphing utilities. Some tool icons display a small triangle, indicating additional hidden tools beneath.
Among the essential tools are the Selection tools, which facilitate the arrangement and management of artwork by allowing users to select, move, group, lock, hide, and measure objects. The Paintbrush tools enable modification of artwork appearance using various brush types such as calligraphic, scatter, art, pattern, and bristle brushes. The Pen tools are designed for creating both straight and curved paths by adding or removing anchor points. Meanwhile, the Pencil tools support freehand drawing and editing capabilities.
File formats
The proprietary native format for Illustrator is the Adobe Illustrator Artwork (AI) file type used for single-page vector illustrations. AI files can be saved in either EPS or PDF formats. Initially named PGF, the AI format achieved PDF compatibility by embedding PGF data within a PDF container. This dual-format approach also applies to EPS-compatible files in recent versions of Illustrator. Early AI files were essentially EPS files containing Illustrator-specific DSC comments and externally linked procedure sets.
Other significant formats supported by Illustrator include:
- SVG
- AutoCAD formats through the Drawings SDK provided by Open Design Alliance:
- AutoCAD Drawing (dwg)
- AutoCAD Interchange File (dxf)
Illustrator Draw
Illustrator Draw was a complimentary vector drawing application available on Android and iOS, integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud to allow smooth exporting to desktop Illustrator. Adobe discontinued Illustrator Draw in 2022 and replaced it with Adobe Fresco, which is exclusively available on iOS.
Release history
| Version | Platforms | Release date | Code name | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Classic Mac OS | January 1987 | Picasso | |
| 1.1 | Classic Mac OS | March 19, 1987 | Inca | |
| 88 | Classic Mac OS | March 1988 | ||
| 2.0 | Windows | January 1989 | Pinnacle | |
| 3 | Classic Mac OS, NeXT, other Unix systems | October 1990 | Desert Moose | |
| 3.5 | IRIX | 1991 | ||
| 4 | Windows | May 1992 | Kangaroose | |
| 3.5 | Solaris | 1993 | ||
| 5 | Classic Mac OS | June 1993 | Saturn | Introduction of graph creation tools, layering system, live editing in preview mode |
| 5.5 | Classic Mac OS, Solaris | June 1994 | Janus | Added spell checker and find/replace text functionality |
| 5.5.1 | IRIX | 1995 | ||
| 6 | Classic Mac OS | February 1996 | Popeye | Features gradients, eyedropper tool, paint bucket |
| 5.1 | Windows | 1996 | Pavel | |
| 7 | Mac/Windows | May 1997 | Simba | Introduced tabbed dockable palettes; transform and align palettes; Photoshop pixel filters; rasterizing; punk, bloat and free distort effects; layout grid; vertical text tool; reshape tool |
| 8 | Mac/Windows | September 1998 | Elvis | Added pencil tool; bounding box handles; smart guides; actions palette; bitmap eyedropper; gradient mesh; live brushes; links palette |
| 9 | Mac/Windows | June 2000 | Matisse | Support for Flash & SVG output; pixel preview; layer release; drop shadows; transparency effects including feathering and opacity masks; native PDF support |
| 10 | Mac/Windows | November 2001 | Paloma | Live pathfinder shapes; symbols; slicing features; CSS layer support; ODBC data linking; variables palette; save for web option; live distortion and warping tools including envelopes; liquify tools; multiple grid types including polar grid; flare tool; magic wand |
| CS (11) | Mac/Windows | October 2003 | Pangaea/Sprinkles | Added 3D effects; OpenType font support; character and paragraph styles; template file format; scribble effect; columns & rows layout options; optical kerning & margins adjustments; every-line composer text engine; custom tab leaders; WYSIWYG font menu |
| CS2 (12) | Mac/Windows | April 27, 2005 | Zodiac | Introduced Live Trace and Live Paint features; Photoshop layer compatibility; extended stroke options; Adobe Bridge integration and Wacom tablet support; SVG-t and PDF/X export capabilities |
| CS3 (13) | Mac/Windows | April 2007 | Jason | Live Color functionality; Flash integration enhancements; eraser tool added; document profiles introduced; crop area tool added; isolation mode enabled |
| CS4 (14) | Mac/Windows | October 2008 | Sonnet | Multiple artboards support; gradient transparency improvements; blob brush tool introduced; live gradient editing enabled; separations preview added; in-palette appearance editing |
| CS5 (15) | Mac/Windows | May 2010 | Ajanta | Perspective drawing tools introduced; variable-width strokes enabled; opacity control on gradient meshes added; shape builder tool introduced; bristle brush for realistic vector strokes |
| CS6 (16) | Mac/Windows | May 2012 | Ellora | Launch of Adobe Mercury Performance System for enhanced speed; support for 64-bit memory addressing; redesigned user interface introduced; gradient strokes enabled on paths; pattern creator tool added; ImageTrace replaced Live Trace |
| CC (17) to CC (17.1) | Mac/Windows | June 2013 to January 2014 | — | Integration with Creative Cloud including font and color syncing features; Behance integration added; Live Corners feature introduced along with updated pencil and path reshaping tools and Typekit integration |
| CC 2014 (18.0 -18.1) | Mac/Windows | June to October 2014 | — | Added Live Rectangles feature; pen rubberband functionality introduced; bezier handles no longer snapped to grid automatically; CC Libraries launched along with Touch Workspace and Curvature & Join tools |
| CC 2015 series (19.x -20.x) | Mac/Windows | June 2015 to August 2016 | — | Support for linked assets in Libraries added along with Adobe Stock integration and performance improvements including stability fixes. New Shaper tool introduced alongside Live Shapes enhancements and improved collaboration features with Adobe Stock and Experience Design CC preview. |
| CC 2017 to CC 2018 (21.x -22.x) | Mac/Windows | November 2016 to March 2018 | — | Enhanced alignment tools and glyph management capabilities implemented. Easy access to templates including free Adobe Stock templates provided via Properties panel. Puppet Warp feature introduced along with support for up to a thousand artboards as well as variable and SVG color fonts. |
| CC 2019 to CC 2020 (23.x -24.x) | Mac/Windows | October 2018 to August 2020 | — | Freeform Gradients added alongside Global Edit feature and Trim View mode. Scalable UI with customizable toolbars introduced along with content-aware crop and presentation mode enhancements plus improved file handling through background saving and faster rendering. |
| CC 2021 series (25.x) | Mac/Windows | October 2020 to June 2021 | — | Recolor artwork capabilities improved alongside Metal GPU rendering support on macOS and native Apple M1 compatibility. Repeat object features expanded with radial/grid/mirror options. |
| CC 2022 series (26.x) | Mac/Windows | October 2021 to August 2022 | — | Advanced three-dimensional effects and materials features introduced along with share-for-commenting functionality. Simplified variable width strokes implemented together with HEIF/WebP image support. Final version featuring built-in Pantone color books integration. |
| CC 2023 series (27.x) | Mac/Windows | October 2022 to July 2023 | — | Intertwine feature enabling complex selections added alongside reformatted Quick Actions panel. Beta testing of generative AI recoloring commenced together with Image Trace improvements plus enhanced accessibility including screen reader support and VoiceOver integration. |
| CC / Illustrator releases in early-mid-2024 (28.x) | Mac/Windows | October 2023 to May 2024 | Beta of Text to Vector Graphics powered by generative AI introduced along with mockup beta for art on objects and dimension tool beta for measuring/planning tasks. Automatic relinking of missing files enabled plus improved Retype font identification, refined pan & zoom controls, keyboard shortcuts for text formatting, and seamless file management across devices. |
See also
- Comparison of vector graphics editors
- Inkscape
- Krita
- Bézier curve
- Vector graphics
- Scalable Vector Graphics