What are the new features of Adobe Illustrator CS6?

Adobe Illustrator CS6 is the newest in Adobe’s line of high-performance vector image editing programs. This newest member of the Illustrator family provides greater speed, precision, and stability when working with large or complicated files. It also makes use of a range of new tools and features to help you create beautiful vector images, whether they’re clean, crisp and traditional-looking, or use Illustrator’s wide range of painterly effects.

Adobe Mercury Performance System

Mercury’s performance system offers a new, faster, and more flexible way of working in Illustrator. It offers native 64-bit support, allowing you to preview and work with complex files without slowdowns or workflow interruptions. This engine is designed to make everything in Adobe Illustrator CS6 feel more responsive.

Pattern creation

The new version of Illustrator also allows seamlessly tileable vector patterns using the new pattern creation tool. It allows you to use a wide range of new types of repeating patterns, editing them at any time. That means a lot less labor and more flexible designs.

Improved image tracking tool

Image tracing is one of the most useful options for Illustrator, allowing you to easily convert raster images to vectors for further editing and resizing. The new image tracing engine in Adobe Illustrator CS6 lets you get precise tracings, reliable strokes, and clean lines without the need for complicated dialog controls. The whole process has been simplified.

gradient strokes

While fountain fills for shapes have been available in Illustrator for a long time, CS6 brings them to strokes. That makes it easy to apply gradients to text, outlines, and a wide range of other graphic elements without converting each stroke to a shape. The gradient stroke dialog allows you to apply gradients to the width, length, or inside of the stroke, controlling the opacity and placement of the gradient.

online edition

Adobe Illustrator CS5 and earlier required you to edit the names and other information in the panels through an intermediate dialog. This could be tedious and annoying. Illustrator CS6 puts this task in the panels, where it belongs, reducing the number of visual elements you have to deal with and making the whole process much simpler.

improved effects

Adobe Illustrator CS6 also brings improvements to Gaussian blur and other effects. The Mercury engine lets you apply glows, drop shadows, blurs, and many other pattern-like effects faster and more efficiently than in previous versions of Illustrator. You can also skip the preview in the dialog – the effects appear right on the artboard.

Dashboard improvements

The new design allows faster and more convenient access to the extended color spectrums, the scale panel, the type panel, and many others. Extra steps have been eliminated and the most used tools are ready to use.

Dockable Hidden Tools

Tools that were previously hidden, such as the pen and shape tools, are now available as dockable options. While they still have their default hidden location, artists who use these tools regularly can “tear” them off the main toolbar, placing them in a convenient location for a more efficient workspace. The dock works both vertically and horizontally, allowing you to adjust your space however you like.