Draw your artwork on paper and scan or photograph it.
- What’s new
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Get started
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Learn the basics
- Illustrator on desktop technical requirements
- Supported file formats
- Homescreen overview
- Show or hide the homescreen
- Workspace overview
- Modify workspaces
- Manage workspaces
- Switch between the workspace and the homescreen
- Properties panel overview
- Set properties with precise values
- Control panel overview
- Contextual Task Bar overview
- Discover panel overview
- Learn faster with the Discover panel
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App preferences and settings
- Set app preferences
- Customize keyboard shortcuts
- Find custom keyboard shortcut files
- Export keyboard shortcuts list as a text document
- Delete keyboard shortcuts
- Built-in accessibility features of Adobe Illustrator
- Create accessible content in Adobe Illustrator
- Set up screen reader support
- MacBook Pro Touch Bar in Illustrator overview
- Illustrator controls and contextual operations in MacBook Pro Touch Bar
- Use Microsoft surface dial in Illustrator
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Learn the basics
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Add and import files
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Start new files
- Create documents using presets
- Create and save custom document presets
- New Document dialog overview
- Create documents using blank templates
- Create files with large canvases
- Create documents using templates from Adobe Stock
- Rotate canvas view
- Organize, share, and collaborate using Projects
- Access projects in the Illustrator workspace and other apps
- Find and edit Adobe Express templates
- Import from other apps
- Import other file types
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Start new files
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Use generative AI
- Common questions about generative AI features in Illustrator
- Generate similar variations without text prompts
- Generate scenes, subjects, and icons
- Partner models in Adobe Illustrator
- Use Auto Select
- Generate patterns
- Manage pattern variations
- Edit generated patterns
- Generate shape fills
- Scenarios with repeat shape fill generation
- Recolor artwork with text prompts
- Generate vector graphics to expand artwork
- Options to expand the expanded artwork
- Generate print bleed
- View 2D objects from new angles
- Scenarios with linked variations
- Manage generated variations
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Draw shapes and paths
- Learn drawing basics
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Draw shapes
- Draw lines
- Draw arcs
- Draw stars
- Draw spirals
- Draw freeform paths with the Pencil tool
- Draw straight lines with the Pencil tool
- Pencil tool options
- Draw shapes with the Curvature tool
- Draw curves with the Pen tool
- Draw curves followed by straight lines
- Reshape paths with the Pencil tool
- Extend paths with the Pencil tool
- Draw line segments with the Pen tool
- Connect two paths with the Pencil tool
- Draw straight lines followed by curves
- Draw two curved segments connected by a corner
- Preview the path
- Modify live shapes
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Modify paths
- Create smooth paths with the Smooth tool
- Refine path segments with the Smooth slider
- Select and edit path segments
- Select anchor points to modify paths
- Convert anchor points on a path
- Average the position of the anchor points
- Add or remove anchor points
- Turn off automatic addition or deletion of anchor points
- Find and delete stray anchor points
- Copy paths
- Auto simplify paths
- Manually simplify paths
- Simplify paths advanced options overview
- Simplify path benefits
- Cut paths
- Erase paths using the Eraser tool
- Erase parts of a path
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Paint and fill
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Learn painting basics
- About fills and strokes
- Fill and stroke controls
- Apply fill colors
- Apply stroke colors
- Create multiple fills and strokes
- Convert strokes to compound paths
- Remove fills or strokes
- Select objects with same fill and stroke
- Paint tools overview
- Paint with the Live Paint Bucket tool
- Live Paint Bucket tool options
- Create Live Paint groups
- Isolate Live Paint groups
- Merge paths using the Blob Brush tool
- Blob brush options and best practices
- About Live Paint
- Find and close gaps in Live Paint groups
- Expand and release Live Paint groups
- Resize objects or paths within Live Paint groups
- Select faces, edges, and paths in Live Paint groups
- Add paths to a Live Paint group
- Live Paint limitations
- Create and edit gradients
- Create and edit patterns
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Learn painting basics
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Manage colors
- Select and adjust colors
- Apply transparency and blending
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Design with text
- Add and manage text
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Work with fonts and scripts
- Font browser overview
- Find and apply fonts
- Organize fonts using Creative Cloud Libraries
- Apply the fonts organized in Creative Cloud Libraries
- Supported font file types in Adobe Illustrator
- Find, apply, and adjust variable fonts
- Find and replace fonts
- Preview, add, or replace missing fonts
- Identify fonts using Retype
- Edit text without replacing missing fonts
- Edit fonts
- Apply Retype-suggested fonts to live text
- About Adobe Asian composers
- Justify text using Kashida and hyphenation
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Edit and format text
- Character panel overview
- Transform text
- Underline or strikethrough text
- Change case and capitalization styles
- Adjust kerning and tracking
- Vary font height
- Turn fractional character widths off or on
- Paragraph panel overview
- Align text
- Adjust word and letterspacing in justified text
- Indent text
- Adjust paragraph spacing
- Create bulleted or numbered lists
- Move or flip text
- Adjust text alignment and spacing on paths
- Apply effects to text on paths
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Use special characters and glyphs
- About character sets and alternate glyphs
- Insert special characters
- Glyphs panel overview
- Replace characters with alternate glyphs
- OpenType panel overview
- Use ligatures and contextual alternates
- Use swashes, titling alternates, or stylistic alternates
- Add stylistic sets to selected text
- Insert white space and break characters
- Snap to Glyph options
- Snap with glyph guides
- Snap glyph to angles, anchor points, or text area
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Create and manage artboards
- Add and edit artboards
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Organize and manage artboards
- Use the artboard context menu
- Cut, copy, and paste artboards
- Move artboards
- Rearrange artboards
- Reorder artboards
- Align and distribute artboards
- Lock artboards
- Modify display settings of artboards
- Set artboard views
- Apply colors to artboards
- Set video display options for artboards
- Export selected artboards
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Manage layers
- Lock and hide layers
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Manage objects
- Reshape and transform objects
- Measure and align
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Apply special effects and styles
- Apply filter effects
- Create 3D graphics
- Apply graphic styles
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Automate and visualize data
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Automate actions
- Actions panel overview
- Create new actions
- Insert non-recordable tasks into actions
- Specify playback speed
- Insert stops in actions
- Exclude commands from actions
- Add commands to actions
- Re-record actions
- Manage a set of actions
- Play actions on a batch of files
- Batch options
- Install and run scripts
- Merge data
- Set up data source files
- Import data source files
- Variable panel overview
- Work with variables
- Edit dynamic objects
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Visualize data
- Data sets and label options
- Create graphs
- Add graph data
- Add graph labels and data sets
- Adjust decimal digits and column width
- Format columns, bars, and lines
- Select parts of a graph
- Change graph types
- Change graph value axes
- Assign different scales to value axes
- Change the position of legend in graphs
- Combine different graph types
- Add drop shadows to graphs
- Apply marker designs to graphs
- Format pie graphs
- Format graph text
- Reuse graph designs
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Automate actions
- Troubleshoot
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Save and export
- Export files to different formats
- Export to other apps
Create 3D vector artwork
Convert 2D sketches or images into 3D vector artwork using Image Trace, extrusion, lighting, and shadow effects in Illustrator.
Trace your artwork into vector art
Convert a hand-drawn sketch into vector artwork using Image Trace. You can also download a sample 2D artwork to try on the go.
In Illustrator, select File > Place and import the image into your document.
Select the image and then select Object > Image Trace > Make to trace the image with default settings.
Select the traced artwork.
Select Window > 3D and Materials to open the 3D and Materials panel.
In the Object section, set values for Depth, Twist, and Taper.
Select Rotation > Presets > Off-Axis - Front and adjust the X, Y, and Z axis values (0°–160°) as needed.
Add lighting and shadows
After applying Materials to your 3D object, you can add lighting and shadow to it for depth and realism.
Select Lighting in the 3D and Materials panel.
Select a default preset like Standard, Diffuse, Top Left, or Right. To adjust the angle of the light, drag the light within the lighting widget or use the Rotation and Height sliders.
To add multiple lights, select Add Light . You can add up to 10 lights and adjust each one individually.
If there are multiple lights, select a light on the list to adjust its Color, Intensity, and Softness.
Select Ambient Light > Intensity and set a value ( 0%–200%).
Select the Shadows toggle button to apply a shadow. Use parameters like Position, Distance from the Object, and Shadow Bounds to customize a shadow effect.
Even if you have added multiple lights and enabled shadows, you'll see only one shadow in the real-time preview. To see the shadows of all the lights, switch to Render with Ray Tracing.