Although Adobe MAX is always a big day for Photoshop fans, it also seems to be a big day for Illustrator users.Adobe today announced new features in Illustrator, including the desktop and iPad implementation of the application. In addition, Adobe also announced the new collaboration features of Creative Cloud, Illustrator will enter the web browser in a certain capacity.
On the desktop, Illustrator users can expect to find an updated 3D effects panel, which should make it easier for newbies in 3D design to create images. Adobe said today that with the updated 3D panel, you can now add depth to your work and easily create 3D objects from paths, and set lighting, rotation, and add textures.
This update also includes a “ray tracing rendering engine”, which Adobe said it will complete the work in a few seconds. Adobe researchers can obviously train a denoiser using deep learning and “cutting-edge technology” to greatly reduce the time required to render ray-traced lighting.
Other features of the desktop version include support for 3D materials for Adobe Substance, allowing users to download materials, import them into Illustrator, and then apply them from the 3D panel. A new “discovery” panel also includes learning resources and information about new features and automatic font activation, which will be triggered as soon as a document is opened in Illustrator. On the iPad, Adobe has added a Vectorize feature to the technology preview. As the name suggests, Vectorize will allow you to turn images into vector graphics. Since this is a preview of the technology using machine learning, Adobe expects it to improve over time.
The new features of the iPad version also include support for creating artistic and calligraphic brushes and object blending functions. Illustrator for iPad will now also provide rulers and guides, allowing users to view its version history, and cut and paste text and graphics between Illustrator, Photoshop, and Adobe Fresco. Linked PSD files from Photoshop and Fresco can also be placed in Illustrator documents.
Perhaps the most important thing for Illustrator today is part of promoting more collaboration features in Creative Cloud. Like Photoshop, Illustrator has also received a new network implementation. With Illustrator on the web, users will be able to share their projects online and allow their friends and colleagues to comment on the browser. The web implementations of Photoshop and Illustrator will even support basic editing functions, although in terms of editing tools, it is hard to imagine that these web applications will go beyond the basic feature set.