Select text or a text frame with the Selection tool.
Last updated on
Oct 22, 2026
Learn how to store, sync, and share text assets and character styles across Adobe Illustrator projects with Creative Cloud Libraries
Text assets preserve the original text content, including character and paragraph styles. They're ideal for frequently used copy blocks, legal disclaimers, or branded taglines.
Character styles capture formatting attributes that you can apply consistently across different text elements.
Use text assets when you need to reuse specific content with its formatting. Use character styles when you want to apply consistent formatting to different text.
Text objects with effects or appearances applied must be added to libraries as graphics to preserve those attributes.
Add text assets to a library
Open the Libraries panel by selecting Window > Libraries.
Do one of the following to add the text: Drag the text into the Libraries panel. Select Add Elements and choose Text from the dropdown menu, or right-click the text and choose Add To Library.
To add a text object as a graphics asset instead, hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) while dragging it to the Libraries panel.
Place text assets in your document
Open the Libraries panel and select the library containing your text asset.
Right-click the text asset and choose Place Copy to place it with all formatting intact.
Alternative placement methods:
To place text without character or paragraph styles applied, right-click the text asset and choose Place Without Styles.
To insert text at a specific location within existing text, position the insertion point in your text frame, right-click the text asset, and choose Place Inline.
To place multiple text assets sequentially, drag one or more text assets from the Libraries panel. This loads the Placegun tool—click within an existing text object to add the content or click anywhere on the canvas to create a new text frame.
Edit text assets in libraries
In the Libraries panel, right-click the text asset and select Edit.
Make your changes in the Illustrator document that opens.
Select File > Save to update the library asset.
The text asset updates automatically across all locations where it's used. You can also double-click a text asset to edit it in the application where it was created.
Rename or delete text assets
In the Libraries panel, right-click the text asset.
Choose Rename to change the asset name or choose Delete to remove it from the library.
If renaming, type the new name and press Enter.
Add character styles to a library
Select text formatted with the character attributes you want to save.
Open the Libraries panel by selecting Window > Libraries.
Select Add Elements and choose Character Style from the dropdown menu.
When you add a character style to a library, more than 50 text attributes from the Character Style Options dialog are stored with the style, including font family, size, leading, kerning, and tracking.
Apply character styles from libraries
Select the text you want to format with the Selection tool or Type tool.
In the Libraries panel, click the character style to apply it to the selected text.
Alternatively, right-click a character style in the library and choose Apply Character Style.
Tip
If a character style displays a warning icon in the lower-right corner of its thumbnail, the associated font isn't installed on your computer. Install the font to use the style as intended.
To add a character style from a library to your Character Styles panel for repeated use in the current document, right-click the style and choose Add to Character Styles.
Manage character styles in libraries
In the Libraries panel, right-click the character style.
Choose Rename to change the style name or choose Delete to remove it from the library.
If renaming, type the new name and press Enter.
Integration with InDesign
Text assets in libraries are available in the Libraries panel in InDesign, allowing you to edit and use text across both applications.
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