Adobe Illustrator facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Adobe Illustrator

Developer(s)	Adobe
Initial release	March 19, 1987; 38 years ago (1987-03-19)
Stable release	28.5 / May 3, 2024; 13 months ago (2024-05-03)
Written in	C++, ActionScript
Operating system	Windows 10 (64-bit) v22H2 or later macOS 11.0 or later iPadOS 14 or later
Type	Vector graphics editor
License	Proprietary

Adobe Illustrator is a powerful computer program. It helps people create amazing digital art and designs. This software is known as a vector graphics editor. This means it uses mathematical formulas to draw lines and shapes. Because of this, your artwork can be made super big or super small without looking blurry or pixelated.

Adobe Inc. created and sells Illustrator. It was first made for Apple Macintosh computers. Development started in 1985. Illustrator is part of Adobe's Creative Cloud. This means you get the software through a monthly or yearly online subscription. The newest version, Illustrator 2024, came out in October 2023. It's the 28th main version of the program! In 2021, PC Magazine called Adobe Illustrator the best program for editing vector graphics.

How Illustrator Started

Early Versions (1987-1988)

Adobe Illustrator began in 1985. It was Adobe's second software product, after PostScript. PostScript is a special language for printing and displaying graphics. John Warnock, one of Adobe's founders, created Illustrator. He wanted to make it easier for his wife, Marva, who was a graphic designer, to do her work.

Illustrator uses lines and bézier curves. These are smooth, curved lines that can be changed easily. This allows artists to create graphics that can be scaled (made bigger or smaller) without losing quality. Illustrator was released in early 1987. It helped turn Adobe's font-making tools and PostScript files into a product everyone could use.

Adobe Illustrator works well with Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is great for editing photos and creating realistic digital art. Illustrator, on the other hand, is perfect for making logos, drawings, and designs for printing. Early ads for Illustrator called it "the Adobe Illustrator." Version 1.7, called Illustrator 88, came out in 1988. It added many new tools and features.

In the beginning, Illustrator didn't have a live preview. Users had to open two windows. One window showed their work in progress. The other showed a preview of how it would look. This made designing a bit tricky!

Growing Up (1989-1996)

For its first ten years, Adobe mostly made Illustrator for Macintosh computers. But they also tried to make it for other systems. In the early 1990s, versions for NeXT, Digital, Silicon Graphics, and Sun computers were released. However, these didn't sell well and were stopped.

The first Illustrator for Windows, version 2.0, came out in 1989 but wasn't very popular. Version 4.0 for Windows was criticized because it wasn't as good as the Mac version 3.0. It also wasn't as good as CorelDRAW, a popular program on Windows at the time. Interestingly, there was no Mac version 2.0 or 4.0.

Version 4 was the first Illustrator to let you edit your work while seeing a preview. Mac users didn't get this feature until version 5.0 in 1993. Version 6 was the last Mac-only version. After that, the way the program looked and worked changed a lot. This was to make it similar on both Mac and Windows computers.

Modernizing (1997-2001)

Adobe Illustrator 10, the last version before the Creative Suite rebrand

With Illustrator 7 in 1997, Adobe made big changes. They updated how you edit paths (lines and shapes). They also made Illustrator's look similar to Adobe Photoshop. Many users found these changes difficult at first.

Illustrator also started supporting TrueType fonts. This ended a "font war" between different font types. Like Photoshop, Illustrator began supporting plug-ins. These are small programs that add new features, making Illustrator much more powerful.

With versions 7.0 and later, Illustrator looked and worked the same on both Mac and Windows. This meant designers could easily switch between computers. Adobe also bought another company, Aldus, in 1994. This led to Adobe owning a competing program called FreeHand. However, due to government rules, Adobe had to sell FreeHand. It was later bought by Macromedia in 1995.

As the internet grew, Illustrator changed to support web design. It could now create files for the web, like PDF and SVG. Adobe was a leader in developing SVG for the web. Illustrator version 9 also added a tracing feature. This allowed users to turn pixel-based images into vector art. Illustrator version 10 was released in November 2001.

Creative Suite Era (2003-2012)

Illustrator CS (version 11) came out in October 2003. It was the first version to let you create simple 3D objects. You could make shapes look like they were popping out or spinning.

Illustrator CS2 (version 12) was released in April 2005. It worked on both Mac and Windows. New features included Live Trace and Live Paint. Live Trace helps turn regular images (like photos) into vector art. Live Paint makes it easier to add color to overlapping shapes. In 2005, Adobe bought Macromedia, which owned FreeHand. Adobe later stopped developing FreeHand and encouraged users to switch to Illustrator.

Illustrator CS3, released in March 2007, improved the way you control colors and align objects. CS4, from October 2008, added the ability to create multiple "artboards." Think of these as different canvases within one file. This was a feature from FreeHand. It also introduced the Blob Brush for easier drawing.

CS5, released in April 2010, added a Perspective Grid tool. This helps you draw objects that look like they are going into the distance. It also had a Bristle Brush for more natural, painterly strokes. In 2011, Adobe made a free drawing app for iPad and iPhone called Adobe Ideas. This let people draw vector art on their mobile devices.

Version CS6, released in May 2012, was the 16th version. It brought many improvements, including a new look for the program and better performance.

Creative Cloud Era (2013-Present)

With the launch of Adobe Creative Cloud, Illustrator CC was released in June 2013. This version (the 17th) was different because you could only get it through a subscription. You no longer bought the software outright.

Creative Cloud brought many benefits. You could sync your colors, fonts, and settings across different computers. You could also save your documents to the cloud. This made it easier to work from anywhere. Newer versions of Illustrator CC continue to add exciting features. These include new ways to work with text, better tools for creating 3D objects, and even AI-powered features like "Text to Vector Graphics" that help you create designs from simple text descriptions.

Branding

From version 1.0, Adobe used a famous painting for Illustrator's logo. They chose a part of Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" showing Venus's face. John Warnock wanted a Renaissance image. He thought PostScript was like a new Renaissance for publishing. An Adobe employee, Luanne Seymour Cohen, thought Venus's flowing hair was perfect. It showed how good Illustrator was at tracing smooth curves. Over time, the Venus image on the splash screen changed. It became more stylized to show new features.

The Venus image was replaced in Illustrator CS (version 11) and CS2 (version 12). A stylized flower was used instead, to match the nature theme of the Creative Suite. In CS3, Adobe changed the branding again. They used simple colored blocks with two-letter abbreviations, like a periodic table. Illustrator was shown as "Ai" in white on an orange background. Oranges and yellows have been common colors for Illustrator's branding since version 4.0. The icons for CS4, CS5, and CS6 kept this "Ai" design, with small changes to the colors and look. In CC 2014, the colors became sharper.

Compatibility

Illustrator can work with files from other programs. For example, Inkscape uses a format called SVG. Adobe Illustrator supports SVG files, but sometimes they might not look exactly the same in both programs. Inkscape can also save files as PostScript (PS), Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), and PDF. Illustrator can open and understand these formats.

Tools

Illustrator has a special panel on the left side of the screen. This panel is full of tools you can use to select, create, and change your artwork. These tools are grouped into categories like drawing, typing, painting, reshaping, and more. Some tools have a small triangle in the corner. If you hold down your mouse button on this triangle, you'll see more hidden tools!

Here are some basic tools you'll find:

• Selection tools help you arrange your artwork. You can select, move, and stack objects precisely. You can also group objects, lock them in place, or hide them.
• Paintbrush tools let you change how your artwork looks. There are different types of brushes, like calligraphic, scatter, art, pattern, and bristle brushes.
• Pen tools are used to draw straight and curved lines. You can add or remove points (called anchor points) on these lines to change their shape.
• Pencil tools allow you to draw and edit lines freehand, like drawing with a real pencil.

File Formats

The main file format for Adobe Illustrator is called Adobe Illustrator Artwork. These files usually end with the .ai filename extension. This is a special file format made by Adobe. It's used for single-page drawings that are based on vectors. This means the drawings are made of mathematical paths, not pixels.

The .ai file format was originally called PGF. When you save an .ai file, it often includes a full copy of the PGF data inside a PDF format file. This helps with compatibility. Older .ai files were actually a type of EPS file. They had special instructions for Illustrator.

Illustrator also works with other file formats:

• SVG format: Great for web graphics.
• AutoCAD file formats: These are used for technical drawings.
  • AutoCAD Drawing (.dwg)
  • AutoCAD Interchange File (.dxf)

Illustrator Draw

Illustrator Draw was a free drawing app for Android and iOS phones and tablets. It let users create vector drawings on the go. You could then send these drawings to the desktop version of Adobe Illustrator.

As of 2022, Illustrator Draw has been replaced by a newer app called Adobe Fresco.

Release history

See Also

In Spanish: Adobe Illustrator para niños

• Comparison of vector graphics editors
• Inkscape
• Krita
• Bézier curve
• Vector graphics
• Scalable Vector Graphics