Illustrator CS6 / Features

Take fewer steps to accomplish daily tasks with a streamlined interface. Enjoy inline editing of layer names, precise color sampling, and UI brightness that's smoothly adjustable to match other Adobe tools.

Organize and view up to 100 artboards of varying sizes overlapping or on a grid. Quickly add, delete, reorder, and name. Save, export, and print independently or together.

Create and align vector objects precisely on the file's pixel grid for clean, sharp raster graphics. Use text anti-aliasing options for individual text frames.

Efficiently edit names in layers, swatches, brushes, artboards, and other panels directly in the panels themselves without using intermediate dialog boxes.

Sample colors quickly and precisely using an expandable color spectrum in the Color panel. Copy and paste hex values into other applications to help ensure color consistency.

Quickly access the popular Scale Strokes and Effects option from within the Transform panel.

Use arrow keys to change fonts in context for selected text. Glyphs for caps, superscripts, subscripts, and more can be accessed in one place — from the Character panel.

Tear off and dock previously hidden tools, such as the Shape and Pen tools. Dock tools horizontally or vertically for a more efficient workspace.

Move fluidly from workspace to workspace with support for rooms. Achieve consistency across your work areas and maintain layout changes until you actively reset them.

Quickly find what you need in the Control panel — consistency across options, anchor point controls, clipping masks, envelope distortions, and more.

Easily create and work with opacity masks thanks to a Make Mask/Release button that displays the masking functionality in the Transparency panel.

Set your Illustrator CS6 workspace canvas to white for fast color sampling when you need to quickly grab a pure white.

Edit object characteristics directly in the Appearance panel, eliminating the need to open fill, stroke, or effects panels.

See how your vector artwork will look when rasterized using the Pixel Preview mode. Edit your artwork and preview the changes live — as you work.

Set up new documents with pixel-grid alignment from web and mobile device profiles, which also include relevant dimensions, color groups, and more.

Combine styles for unique effects and increased efficiency. Apply styles without disturbing appearances. Enjoy thumbnail previews and an expanded library of prebuilt styles.

Stay oriented with intuitive, practical Smart Guides. Unobtrusive appearance and behavior keep your view uncluttered. Try aligning to objects on artboards rather than the cursor.

Quickly set up artboards for bleeds. Work with bleeds when you open a new document, or add them later in the Document Setup dialog box.

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

Draw strokes with variable widths, quickly and smoothly adjusting at any point. Create and save width profiles and apply them to any stroke, or use variable-width presets.

Create distinctive designs with precise shape-building tools, fluid and painterly brushes, and advanced path controls.

Design beautiful text for virtually any media with professional controls for paragraph and character styles, support for OpenType®, transparent effects, and more.

Interact with gradients directly on your object — defining the dimension of elliptical gradients, editing colors, and adjusting opacity. Even create gradients on strokes and meshes.

Easily create seamlessly tiled vector patterns. Experiment freely with different types of repeating patterns that can be edited at any time for maximum design flexibility.

Confidently convert raster images to editable vectors with a powerful tracing engine. Get clean lines, accurate fitting, and reliable results using simple, intuitive controls.

Apply gradients to your strokes — along the length, across the width, or within the stroke itself — all with complete control over gradient placement and opacity.

Control alignment of dashes on a stroke. Define symmetrical dashes around corners and at the ends of open paths, with lengths adjusted automatically to fit.

Work intuitively with arrowheads. Control placement and scaling from within the Stroke panel, even choosing whether to lock the tip or base to the path endpoint.

Draw behind elements, disregarding stacking order. Draw or place an image inside an element, instantly creating a clipping mask.

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

Intuitively combine, edit, and fill shapes directly on your artboard without accessing multiple tools and panels.

Apply Gaussian Blur and effects such as Drop Shadows and Glows and see the results immediately on the artboard.

Apply sensitive pressures using a pen and tablet. Add flair to paths with calligraphic, scatter, art, and pattern brushes. Make your own subtly controlled custom brushes.

Scale art and pattern brushes along a path. Choose areas of the brush you wish to stretch and those you wish to keep in proportion, such as the ends of a banner.

Apply art and pattern brushes to a path and get clean results, even at tight bends or corners. At obtuse or acute angles, choose options to properly fill those joins.

Sketch with a brush that generates a single clean vector shape, even when strokes overlap. Draw naturally, using the Blob Brush tool together with the Eraser and Smooth tools.

Paint with vectors that resemble real-world brush strokes. Achieve the expressiveness of natural media with the scalability of vector graphics.

Use perspective grids to draw shapes and scenes in accurate 1-, 2-, or 3-point linear perspective, creating the look of realistic depth and distance.

Explore, apply, and control color variations. Interactively edit colors on any selection using the Color Guide to assist with themes and Recolor Artwork to quickly apply them.

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

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

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

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

Make symbols with powerful 9-slice scaling and registration point control. Use layers to create extremely complex symbols that are repeatable to keep file sizes small.

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

Communicate data clearly using powerful tools to easily produce visually compelling charts and graphs, including quick application of harmonious color groups with Live Color.