Assign languages to text

Last updated on Oct 25, 2026

Learn how to assign languages to text so Adobe Illustrator uses the correct dictionaries for spelling and hyphenation.

Illustrator uses language dictionaries for spell checking and hyphenation. You can set a default language for all new text in a document or assign a different language to selected text. This is useful when working with multilingual documents.

Set the default language for new text

Set a default language to use the same dictionary for all new text you create in the current document.

Select Edit > Preferences > Hyphenation (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > Hyphenation (macOS).

Select a language from the Default Language drop-down menu.

Select OK.

Note

The default language applies only to new text. Existing text keeps its current language assignment until you change it.

Assign a language to selected text

Assign a different language to specific text when your document contains multiple languages.

Select the text using the Selection or Type tool.

Select Window > Type > Character.

If the Language menu isn't visible, open the Character panel menu and select Show Options.

Select the appropriate language from the Language drop-down menu in the Character panel.

Illustrator immediately applies the selected language's spelling and hyphenation rules to the text.

Tip

Different languages use different hyphenation rules. Assign the correct language before checking spelling or adjusting hyphenation to ensure accurate results.

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