Learn how to work with the MacBook Pro Touch Bar in Illustrator.

Illustrator supports Touch Bar, the multitouch display at the top of the new MacBook Pro keyboard. Using the Touch Bar, you can access Illustrator features and controls right in the context of your current task on the main screen. The Touch Bar supports familiar gestures, such as tap, drag, and slide.

Note:

For more information about Touch Bar fundamentals, see this Apple documentation page.

By default, a part of the Touch Bar interface is reserved for macOS system controls. Controls for Illustrator are displayed in the app-specific area in the middle of the Touch Bar interface.

Default Touch Bar interface

A. Illustrator controls B. macOS system controls (Control Strip and Esc)

Several context-specific operations become available depending on what you're working on in Illustrator.

In the Start workspace, the Touch Bar displays the controls to create and open a document.

When no object is selected in the Illustrator workspace, the Touch Bar displays controls to create and open a document, place a file, show or hide rulers, grids, and guides, and work with artboards.

When a path object is selected, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust the fill color, stroke color, opacity, alignment, and arrangement.

When multiple path objects are selected, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust the fill color, stroke color, opacity, alignment, and arrangement. You can also apply Pathfinder effects and group selected objects.

When a text object is selected, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust the fill color, stroke color, opacity, alignment, arrangement, paragraph alignment, and font size.

When multiple text objects are selected, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust the fill color, stroke color, opacity, alignment, arrangement, and paragraph alignment. You can also group the selected text objects using the Touch Bar.

When your selection contains a text object and a path object, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust the fill color, stroke color, opacity, alignment, and arrangement. You can also group the selected objects using the Touch Bar.

When an image is selected, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust its opacity, alignment, and arrangement. You can also choose the option to crop or mask the image using the Touch Bar.

When you select a grouped object, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust the opacity, alignment, and arrangement of the group. You can also ungroup the objects using the Touch Bar.

When any other object is selected, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust the opacity, alignment, and arrangement.

When multiple other objects are selected, the Touch Bar displays controls to adjust the opacity, alignment, and arrangement. You can also group the objects using the Touch Bar.

Icon	Control name	Description
	New	Use this control to jump to the New Document dialog box that lets you create a document in Illustrator. You can choose from a wide variety of presets and templates, including templates from Adobe Stock.
	Open	Opens Illustrator documents and other compatible files using the File > Open command
	Place	Imports a file into the currently open document using the File > Place command
	Ruler	Shows or hides the ruler
	Grid	Shows or hides the grid
	Guides	Shows or hides guides
	Artboards	Displays additional options to create or delete an artboard
	Navigate artboards	Navigates to the first, last, previous, or next artboard in your document
	Fill color	Displays a color picker. Adjust the sliders to select a fill color
	Stroke color	Displays a color picker. Adjust the sliders to select a stroke color
	Opacity	Adjusts the opacity (0-100%) of the selected object
	Align	You can align the selected object using the options available in the Align panel and align to a selection, an artboard, or a key option.
	Arrange	Changes the stacking order of the selected object in your artwork. You can choose one of the following options: Bring To Front, Bring Forward, Send Backward, and Send To Back. For details, see Stack objects.
	Paragraph alignment	Lets you align and justify the text using options available in the Paragraph panel
	Font size	Lets you use the slider to adjust the font size
	Pathfinder	Lets you choose the desired options from the Shape Modes and the Pathfinder Effects to combine multiple objects into new shapes
	Crop	Launches the cropping interface in Illustrator. You can crop linked or embedded images using intuitive widget controls. Then, select Apply to crop the image or Cancel to exit the cropping interface using the Touch Bar.
	Mask	Creates a clipping mask
	Group	Combines the selected objects into a group so that they are treated as a single unit
	Ungroup	Ungroups a grouped selection so that the objects are treated as individual elements