Complete feature list

• Use powerful, precise creative tools
• Work quickly and intuitively
• Enjoy tight integration

Printable overview (PDF, 167k)

Use powerful, precise creative tools

Quickly explore multiple design options with robust creative features, industry-standard drawing tools, and powerful effects that allow you to easily experiment.

Color and creative effects

Live Color

Explore, apply, and control color variations using Live Color, which lets you select any artwork and interactively edit the colors to see results immediately. Use the Color Guide panel to quickly choose tints, shades, or harmonious color combinations.

Swatches panel

Organize swatches in groups and view them in organized hierarchies. Automatically name them by their color values, or name them intuitively. Easily access swatch libraries from a pop-up panel menu, view swatches in Adobe Bridge, and share them with Adobe Photoshop CS3 and InDesign CS3 software.

Live Paint

Easily paint any closed or partially closed area of your artwork with the Live Paint Bucket, which automatically detects and corrects gaps and lets you interactively select colors from a Swatch palette for faster work.

Envelopes and live distortion

Warp, liquify, and distort artwork any way imaginable with envelopes and live distortion tools. Easily access envelope options from the Control panel.

Live effects

Apply live effects without affecting the underlying artwork, so you can edit at any time without starting over.

Unlimited transparency

Expand your design options with blending modes and transparency effects similar to those in Photoshop.

Gradient Mesh

Simulate airbrush and watercolor effects by adding multiple colors and precisely controlling the transitions between colors.

3D effects

Turn 2D shapes into fully editable 3D objects by extruding and revolving paths. Add lighting and wrap images around 3D shapes to easily create objects such as packaging mock-ups, and separate spot colors applied to 3D artwork.

Clipping masks

Use clipping masks to hide areas of an object or group, crop placed images, or cut intricate shapes. Quickly find the clipping mask options in the Control panel.

Opacity masks

Use opacity masks to alter the transparency of underlying objects and achieve effects such as a transparent gradient.

Colorized grayscale

Assign a spot color to a linked, embedded, or opened grayscale image, or even apply a spot color to a drop shadow and be confident that artwork will separate properly when printed.

Blend

Morph one shape into another to create smooth shading, complex contours, and basic animations.

Adobe Photoshop effects

Achieve a wide variety of looks by applying nondestructive live effects from the Adobe Photoshop Effect Gallery.

Symbol spraying

Add design elements to your artwork by spraying, scaling, colorizing, and adjusting the transparency of repeated symbols while keeping file sizes small.

Graphing tools

Communicate data clearly using powerful tools that make it easy to produce visually compelling charts and graphs, including quickly applying harmonious color groups with Live Color.

Drawing tools and controls

Live Trace

Quickly and accurately convert photos, scans, or other bitmap images to editable and scalable vector paths using Live Trace.

Improved operating performance

Enjoy more responsive drawing and editing with improved performance in key operations, including faster screen redraw, object moving, panning, scaling, and transformations.

Eraser tool

Quickly remove areas of artwork with the Eraser tool as easily as you erase pixels in Photoshop, and enjoy complete control over the width, shape, and smoothness of the erasure.

Path editing

Remove, connect, and split paths—and convert anchor points—using options in the Control panel. Roll the mouse over curve handles to get an enlarged view for easier point selection.

Point alignment

Align and distribute anchor points with one click using options in the Control panel. It’s as easy as aligning and distributing objects.

Precise positioning

Position objects and anchor points with expert precision using Smart Guides and the Align, Transform, and Control panels. Align to the artboard or crop area as well as to other objects and points.

Pen tool

Draw with precision using the Pen tool for full control over anchor points and Bezier curves.

Pencil tool

Draw onscreen as you would on paper with the Pencil tool. Smooth out paths by simply drawing a new line near the path you want to alter.

Stroke options

Define solid and dashed lines in the Stroke panel. Specify weight, miter limit, the style of joins and caps, and whether the stroke is inside, centered on, or outside the path.

Flexible brushes

Add flair to paths with customized brushes. Choose from calligraphic, scatter, art, and pattern brushes, or make your own custom brush.

Smooth tool

Quickly smooth unwanted bumps in a path with the Smooth tool.

Advanced typography

Character and Paragraph styles

Apply formatting to individual characters, lines of type, or entire paragraphs with a single click.

Paragraph composition

Optimize line breaks throughout an entire paragraph with minimal hyphenation and better word and letter spacing.

Text underline and strikethrough

Easily apply underlining and strikethroughs to any line of text, section of text, or text element.

Transparent text effects

Expand your typographic options using ghosted text, transparent drop shadows with soft edges, and other effects for transparent text.

OpenType fonts

Simplify cross-platform font management and take advantage of alternate glyphs and extended character sets with more than 100 included OpenType fonts.

Automatic kerning and optical alignment

Adjust the space between letters using automatic kerning, and hang punctuation outside the edges of a text box using optical alignment.

Smart quotes and ligatures

Add polish to your designs with automatic smart quotes and proper ligatures.

Alternate Glyphs panel

Quickly access and apply alternates from an OpenType font’s extended character set.

Work quickly and intuitively

Efficiently execute your ideas with improved operating performance, a wealth of timesaving features and shortcuts, and easier access to tools and options.

Workspace and tool accessibility

Adobe-standard user interface

The familiar Adobe interface is now more intuitive and consistent, making it even easier to move between Illustrator CS3 and other Adobe applications.

Control panel

Discover more options faster and free up screen space by accessing anchor point controls, clipping masks, envelope distortions, and more from the context-sensitive Control panel.

Flexible workspace

Increase your efficiency using new space-saving features. View the toolbar in one column instead of two, dock self-adjusting panels conveniently out of the way as icons when not in use, and use Maximize Screen mode to keep panels from overlapping the document window.

Custom workspaces

Work more efficiently using custom workspaces that display only the panels you need for a specific task. Save, share, or access any workspace at any time, or use workspace presets.

Layers panel

Organize complex artwork using an unlimited number of layers, nested layers, and layer masks. Find selected objects quickly by displaying the layer selection color.

Photoshop layer comp support

Control the visibility of layer comps in linked, embedded, or opened Photoshop files from within Illustrator CS3.

Tool options

Instantly access the options for tools, including the Brush, Eraser, Eyedropper, Graph, and Symbol tools, by double-clicking them in the Tools panel.

Adobe Bridge CS3

Use Adobe Bridge to efficiently browse and preview your creative assets, run automation scripts, access Adobe Stock Photos*, and more.

Wacom tablet support

Take advantage of pressure-sensitive drawing and erasing with a Wacom tablet such as the Cintiq, as well as Intuous3 features like tilt sensitivity.

Shortcuts and time-savers

New Document Profiles

Create artwork easily by selecting prebuilt profiles for all types of media, and save custom profiles that specify such setup parameters as artboard dimensions, styles, and color spaces.

Crop Area tool

Define crop areas interactively for print or export. Choose preset web ratios or video formats with safe areas, and set crop marks intuitively. Define multiple crop areas and easily move between them as needed.

Powerful selection tools

Select all objects that share an attribute, such as color or opacity, using the Select Same command in the Control panel or Select menu. Even select similar Live Paint fills and strokes.

Isolation mode

Edit objects in a group without disturbing other parts of your artwork. Easily select hard-to-find objects without having to restack, lock, or hide layers.

Templates

Reuse designs by saving files as templates that include objects you want to reuse along with setup parameters such as layers and placeholder elements.

Easily accessible libraries

Quickly use prebuilt brushes, thematic swatch libraries, and graphic styles that are easily accessible from the Swatches, Brushes, Symbols, and Graphic Styles panels.

Professionally designed content

Jump-start your projects with more than 270 professionally designed templates and over 100 OpenType fonts, all included with Illustrator CS3.

Consistent results with presets

Get consistent results and save time with included presets for Adobe PDF file creation, transparency flattening, color, and printing.

Graphic styles

Quickly and consistently apply the same attributes to multiple objects, groups, and layers using graphic styles.

Eyedropper

Copy object attributes such as color and text formatting from one object to another using the Eyedropper tool, which works just like the Eyedropper in Photoshop.

Multiple Undo/Redo

Easily retrace your steps as you work by using the Undo and Redo commands.

WYSIWYG Font menu

Quickly select typefaces from the Font menu, which identifies font technology and displays a sample of each font.

Tools for automation

Automated processing

Make tools like Live Trace even more efficient by automatically batch processing images in Adobe Bridge while continuing to work in Illustrator CS3.

Actions

Save time by recording frequently performed tasks as actions, which you can manage in the Actions panel.

Industry-leading scripting support

Extend Illustrator’s capabilities to automate repeated production tasks, build your own feature capabilities, or enforce a specific workflow by writing custom JavaScript, AppleScript, or Windows Visual Basic scripts.

Dynamic, data-driven graphics

Quickly create custom artwork variations using scripts to connect graphic variables to unique data.

Ability to save selections

Streamline a range of production tasks by saving complex selections so you can quickly reload them later.

Enjoy tight integration

Move easily between Illustrator and other Adobe applications while producing high-quality print output and extraordinary graphics for interactive experiences and motion effects.

Adobe PDF file creation tools

Multipage PDF export

Easily present multiple designs by creating multipage PDF files. Tile your Illustrator artboard into as many pages as you want, and then simply export to create a multipage PDF file.

Crop Area tool for PDF

Use the new Crop Area tool to quickly save a PDF file of a single object or selected group of objects.

Transparency Flattener

Help ensure the best results when printing or creating Adobe PDF files with artwork that contains transparent elements using Transparency Flattener presets.

Adobe PDF layer support

Retain Illustrator layers in Adobe PDF files. Display or hide your Illustrator layers from within Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or later or free Adobe Reader software.

Adobe PDF-based print workflow

Include printer’s marks and bleeds in your Adobe PDF files and share the files confidently with service providers, thanks to consistent Adobe PDF file generation.

File security

Save Illustrator files in current or previous versions of Adobe PDF in combination with a range of security options, including 128-bit encryption.

Shared PDF presets

Save time and help ensure consistency by sharing PDF presets across Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design software components and other Adobe graphics applications, including Adobe Acrobat Distiller 8 software.

Prepress and desktop print tools

DeviceN colorspace

Place duotone or separated Photoshop images in Illustrator and preserve the file’s native color space with DeviceN support. Use multicomponent and HiFi color, raster effects, transparency, and gradient meshes with confidence that your artwork will separate correctly.

LAB spot colors

Create LAB spot colors and use predefined spot colors from the Toyo, PANTONE, DIC, and HKS libraries.

Separations

Print color separations using either host-based or in-RIP options and optimize output directly in the application, controlling screen angle, ruling, and dot size for each plate.

Intuitive printing interface

Enjoy consistent results with an intuitive, comprehensive printing interface that provides optimized presets for a wide variety of devices.

Page tile overlap control

Easily and reliably print oversize documents to standard desktop printers by controlling the overlap between tiled pages.

Fit To Page command

Print large designs on standard paper sizes using the Fit To Page command or custom scale options. Scale dimensions with precision to three decimal places.

Web and interactive tools

Adobe Flash integration

Import native Illustrator files into Flash CS3 Professional, or copy and paste artwork from Illustrator to Flash with paths, anchor points, gradients, clipping masks, and symbols intact. Layers, groups, and object names are also preserved.

Live Color for web and interactive

Quickly explore, apply, and control color variations for web and interactive designs. Easily create multiple versions for any web prototype or interactive design.

Symbols for Flash

Use Symbols to animate repeated objects while keeping file sizes small. Define and name symbol object attributes, and preserve these properties when you take the artwork to Flash CS3 Professional for further editing.

Save For Web/Mobile

Easily export using the Save For Web/Mobile dialog box, which lets you choose from HTML, SWF, GIF, and JPEG formats, along with color count, compression, file size, mobile output, and more.

Adobe Device Central CS3

Create rich graphic content for mobile devices by using Adobe Device Central CS3 to open a specific New Document Profile, and then preview output using the Save for Web/Mobile dialog box.

New Document Profiles for web and mobile devices

Select profiles for web or mobile devices that include prebuilt proportional crops, symbols, and more. Save custom profiles for your projects and clients.

Release To Layers

Quickly create basic animated graphics by blending two objects using the Release To Layers command, and then exporting the graphic as a SWF file.

Versatile slicing tools

Create vector-based slices from objects, groups of objects, or layers that are preserved when exporting your artwork as a SWF or PSD file.

Pixel Preview

Visualize just how your vector artwork will look when rasterized using the Pixel Preview mode. Edit your artwork and watch the pixel view change live—as you work.

Motion and effects tools

New Document Profiles for motion and effects

Select prebuilt profiles that include video color profiles, pixel aspect ratios, transparency grids, and aperture settings. Save profiles with custom parameters.

Crop Area tool for motion and effects

Use the Crop Area tool to define working areas on your artboard that are specific to your video aperture, complete with safe-area guides.

Live Color for motion and effects

Use Live Color to explore, apply, and control color variations for effects. Quickly change colors in your artwork and automatically see the update in Adobe After Effects or Adobe Premiere Pro software.

Integration with Adobe design applications

Adobe Photoshop CS3 integration

Preserve layers, layer comps, transparency, editable text, and slices when moving files between Photoshop and Illustrator. Use Smart Objects in Photoshop to edit Illustrator content, and use Edit Original in Illustrator to edit placed Photoshop images.

Adobe InDesign CS3 integration

Bring Illustrator artwork into InDesign layouts and edit it using InDesign tools. Transparent Illustrator artwork is preserved and interacts with elements in the InDesign layout.

Adobe Acrobat 8 integration

Save Illustrator artwork as single-page or multipage PDF files, complete with layers, that are fully compatible with the latest features of Acrobat 8 and free Adobe Reader.

Integration with Adobe web and interactive tools

Adobe Flash CS3 Professional integration

Use Illustrator artwork as the foundation of your Flash animations with confidence, thanks to high-fidelity import of Illustrator files into Flash and the capability to copy and paste from Illustrator to Flash.

Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 integration

Work efficiently between applications with the Illustrator CS3 Save For Web/Mobile command to quickly generate and replace images in Dreamweaver site directories.

Adobe Fireworks CS3 integration

Easily import native Illustrator artwork into Fireworks software to take advantage of vectors when creating, editing, and optimizing images for the web.

Adobe Flex™ 2 integration

Enjoy dramatically improved artwork interchange between Illustrator and Flex. Define named Illustrator symbols with 9-slice scaling behavior that can be used in Flex component skins, and load exported SWF files at runtime into Flex applications.

Adobe GoLive integration

Drop native Illustrator files into your web layouts using the Smart Object technology in Adobe GoLive software, which includes support for Illustrator variables and optimized slicing.

Integration with Adobe motion and effects tools

Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional integration

Import native Illustrator vectors into Adobe After Effects software with layers, masks, gradients, and effects intact. Create paths from raster images using Live Trace, and then bring small vector files into After Effects for animation.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 integration

Import Illustrator files into Adobe Premiere Pro software, and then use the Edit Original command to open the artwork in Illustrator, edit it, and see your changes automatically incorporated into your video project.

Adobe Encore CS3 integration

Bring Illustrator artwork into Adobe Encore software to create chapter graphics, titles, and menus.

Broad-based file format and platform support

Support for the latest hardware and software

Enjoy native, universal binary support for Intel based Macintosh computers and support for Microsoft Windows Vista™ systems.

PDF/X support

Create reliable, press-ready layouts using ISO-standard and ANSI-standard PDF/X.

Industry-standard graphic file format support

Work with almost any type of graphic file—including PDF, EPS, Photoshop (PSD), TIFF, GIF, JPEG, SWF, SVG, DWG, DXF, and more.

XMP support

Make your graphics easier to track in Adobe Bridge, other asset-management applications, and network publishing-savvy tools by automatically embedding customized metadata such as fonts, color swatches, and printing plates.

Computer-aided design (CAD) file support

Import AutoCAD 2004, 2005, 2006, DWG, and DXF files with reliability, preserving original drawing shapes.

Microsoft Office integration

Easily export Illustrator artwork with the Save For Microsoft Office command to display and print graphics in applications such as Word and PowerPoint.

Next steps

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