Introducing Illustrator on the iPad: Draw on inspiration anywhere

We’re excited to bring you one of the largest transformations Adobe Illustrator has seen. In addition to several desktop updates, it’s with great pride and after much anticipation that we bring you the inaugural release of Illustrator on the iPad.

Draw on inspiration anywhere

Illustrator on the iPad brings you the core design capabilities you already know and love, with a reimaged experience for the iPad and Apple Pencil. You can draw as naturally as you would with your favorite pen –with the added precision Adobe Illustrator is known for. With all new features like radial, grid, and mirror repeat the design experience is not only intuitive, but is incredibly fun.

Feed a love for type with over 18,000 fonts built into a uniquely powerful typography experience, including the latest capabilities like OpenType Color and Variable Fonts, and the ability to load your own licensed fonts on the iPad. All this coupled with placing type on a path, and text outlines gives you new ways to create gorgeous designs with type on the iPad.

Now, with the combination of the iPad paired with the Desktop app, Adobe Illustrator is a powerful design ecosystem that will not only satisfy professionals, but one that will work seamlessly for anyone looking to create beautiful designs, all the way from business branding, to casual illustrations.

Image source: Jhonny Núñez

Reimagining Adobe Illustrator

Using a touch interface for precise design work on a smaller screen presented us with a challenge. Our vision from the beginning was to make designing on the iPad intuitive and simple, while allowing all the controls you’d expect to create precision.

When you launch the app, you’ll notice a streamlined experience. While on the surface it may seem simple, more capabilities reveal themselves as you work. After a while you develop a natural rhythm where the app fades into the background, freeing you to express your creativity.

If you want to learn more about our philosophy for designing the app, I encourage you to read more in our behind the scenes blog by lead designer Gabriel Campbell.

Inspired by and built with the community

The journey up to this point has been a long and exciting one, and what we’re seeing come to life now is the culmination of feedback from thousands of creators from the community. The beta program for Illustrator on the iPad was one of the largest in Adobe’s history ­– more than 5,000 strong – with customers weighing in from around the globe, bringing a diversity of experience and perspective. The iPad app needed to speak to the legacy and evolution not only of Illustrator, but of our customers who have depended on the product over the decades.

This is only the beginning of our journey, and it’s one that we are overjoyed to share with you the community, to whom we owe a deep gratitude. As we all take these first few steps together into the future of Illustrator, we find ourselves thinking about what’s next, and can’t wait to share more of the work, and innovations built with guidance from creatives like you.

There’s so much more to come on our roadmap for Illustrator; we’re working on bringing you effects, and more brushes, along with new Adobe Sensei powered capabilities, letting you magically turn sketches into vector graphics and more. Adobe Illustrator on the iPad is not just a new tool for graphic design, it’s a new freedom to create, collaborate, and share your passion from anywhere. Stay connected to the continuing conversation, and the community with #IllustratoroniPad.

We can’t wait to see what you create with Illustrator on the iPad!