Learn about the Properties panel in Adobe Illustrator and the various options it provides for quick editing.
The Properties panel in Illustrator shows the most important controls based on your current selection or tool. It helps you quickly edit text, images, and paths. It's available in the Essentials workspace, or you can select Windows > Properties to view it.
Organization of controls
The Properties panel changes based on your current selection or active tool, displaying two main types of controls:
Default controls: When you don’t select any object, the Properties panel shows document-level controls like artboard settings, layout tools, and preferences.
Selection-based controls: When you select an object, the Properties panel updates to show controls specific to your selection.
- Image object: Crop, mask, embed or unembed, and image trace controls
- Text object: Font, size, color, alignment, and paragraph settings
- Multiple objects: Shared editable properties
- Artboard: Size, orientation, and background color settings
Common categories of controls
The Properties panel always shows controls for the selected object and general document settings.
- Transformation and Appearance controls: Basic settings like width, height, fill, stroke, and opacity
- Dynamic controls: Extra options based on the selected object, like text or image tools.
- Quick actions: Shortcuts for common tasks based on your selection
To access more expandable controls, select the ellipses in the lower-right corner of an area or select an underlined option.
Additional controls
The following additional contextual controls appear in the Properties panel, based on the selection of specific tools or objects:
Control | Behavior |
Width Profile dropdown menu | Appears when you select the Width tool or any path that has a variable width. Change the width profile by choosing a width. |
Corners dropdown menu | Appears when you choose the Direct Selection tool in the toolbar and select a corner of an object. Change the corner curve by choosing a value. |
Blend Options button | Appears in the Quick Actions section when you select a single blend object and choose the Blend tool. Use it to modify blend settings such as spacing and orientation. |
Merge Live Paint button | Appears in the Quick Actions section when you select two or more groups with multiple live paint objects. Use it to merge the selected live objects. |
Variable Font icon | Appears in the Character section when you select a text object with the variable font. Use it to change the weight and optical size of the selected font. |
Delete icon | Appears in the Appearance section when a single effect is applied to an object. Use it to delete the applied effect. For multiple effects, select the icon to open the Appearance panel, and delete the effects. |
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