Adobe Illustrator Mac

The best software to work with vector graphics

Adobe is one of the most renowned companies in the world in terms of the development of software for graphic design and artistic creations. Their products are used by hundreds of thousands of professionals thanks to the versatility of their tools and the different possibilities offered when it comes to creating.

Amongst their different applications, we have to point out Adobe Illustrator for Mac, the vector graphic editor aimed at drawing and painting for illustrations understood as a branch of digital art applied to graphical design and technical drawing.

But there's one thing you should know about this software: it's aimed at professionals. That means that it can be quite demanding regarding the level of the user required to be able to manage all its tools. Therefore, it's definitely not an intuitive tool as you'll have to be familiar with certain computer-aided design concepts and you'll probably need a tutorial or two to use all its functions correctly.

The tool par excellence to create vector graphics.

The best software to create logos, icons, sketches, typographies, and illustrations

Yes, that's what it's considered by the majority of design professionals that consider this tool as the ideal program to create all their artwork for different supports and formats, whether print-outs or digital: web, video, mobile, or computer programs.

The main features of this Illustrator CC 2017 for macOS are the following:

• Creation of illustrations with a realistic aspect, by means of the perspective drawing options. It also offers us the possibility to carry out designs by drawing sketches and shapes that are aligned with the pixel grid.
• Multiple artboards: it comes along with the possibility to work with different spaces or Artboards. Each one of them can be customized with the tool menu necessary to use different tools depending on the project to be developed.
• Specific tools for the creation of vector objects adapted for mobiles and for websites, using a pixel grid.
• Access from the file menu to the presets and templates to create different elements according to your needs: templates, leaflets, business cards...
• As it's part of Creative Cloud it offers us quick and simple access to Adobe Stock elements (graphics, templates, images, Premium, and Editorial collections...) from the search box.

The advantages of using Creative Cloud

The Creative Cloud ecosystem expands the possibilities of Adobe Illustrator way beyond what we had seen in previous versions such as CS 6. As you probably already know, it's an online service by means of which the company has connected all its software. In other words, it allows you to access different assets such as Adobe Stock, the resource center available for the creators: brushes, shapes, colors, fonts, Adobe Typekit...

In turn, it offers its CreativeSync service by means of which you can export to the cloud all your creations with other applications: Photoshop, Lightroom, Dreamweaver, After Effects...

How about downloading Illustrator for free?

We're sorry to say that it isn't possible. Basically, because it's a product with a professional purpose, and Adobe obviously wants to make a profit from its development and maintenance. So the only thing that you'll find for free is its trial version, to which you'll have to subscribe with a valid payment method, and you won't be able to access all the functions of the full version.

What's new in the latest version

• In the Align panel, Distribute Spacing works only when the Units option is in Points.
• Shortcuts assigned to actions are lost when the action set is rearranged manually.
• Locked background objects move while using the Lasso selection tool.
• The width and height of the objects change proportionally when constrain option is deselected.
• When Save in Background check box is selected, saving the document using the scripts does not work.
• The pattern does not display accurate color when you reopen the saved Creative Cloud document.

Requirements and additional information:

• To register the software you must have an Adobe ID.

• Minimum operating system requirements: macOS 10.12 (Sierra).