Adobe Illustrator Release History ^new^ May 2026

A minor release focusing on Power Macintosh optimization and QuickDraw GX font handling. Not a major milestone, but it kept Illustrator fresh.

The controversial one. Adobe completely rewrote the code to unify the Mac and Windows versions. The result was faster but riddled with bugs and missing features (no gradients, no masks at launch). Many users stayed on 5.5. It took three free updates to fix. This stumble opened the door for Macromedia FreeHand, which many pros defected to. adobe illustrator release history

Introduced cloud documents for Teams , vertical text in Asian languages , enhanced 3D effects (ray tracing, materials), and live recoloring with color harmony rules. A minor release focusing on Power Macintosh optimization

The multiple artboards feature finally returned (inspired by the old 1.1 concept) but now fully integrated. Also added: blob brush (draws merged vector shapes), gradient on stroke , transparency in gradients , and separations preview . The interface got a darker, more modern theme. The Creative Cloud Era (2013–Present) Illustrator CC (17.0 – June 2013) The first subscription-only version. CC introduced cloud sync of preferences, libraries, and brushes; touch workspace for pen displays; CSS extraction for web designers; and auto corner rounding . Purists grumbled about the subscription model, but many loved the rapid updates. Adobe completely rewrote the code to unify the