



The former automatically creates a mask out of objects you've selected (you can edit them in the same way you would any other mask or clipping path). Two other appealing new features are the Draw Inside and Draw Behind modes. The tool's options even let you choose the colors you want to fill areas of your artwork, whether fully or partially closed decide whether you want colors to fill new shapes automatically or even whether you want the tool to detect gaps. Turn it on and you can instantly merge multiple objects into a single shape, divide overlapping shapes into multiple objects (for easy moving or deletion), and delete whole areas you no longer need. This is a huge time-saver-and long overdue.Īnother element that seems as if it should have appeared well before now is the Shape Builder tool. Better still: If you want to reuse a graphical element from one artboard in the same location on several other artboards, you can choose a single menu option (or hit Alt-Shift-Ctrl-V) and that element is copied automatically. You can rearrange them on your document in any of four different layout styles (grid by row, grid by column, arrange by row, or arrange by column), with any spacing you specify. A new artboards panel gives you instant access to all the artboards you've created (you can have up to 100, of any size, within one document), and lets you add, delete, duplicate, name, or reorder them, just as if they were layers. The most dazzling part of Illustrator CS5 isn't even so much new as an expansion on something the CS4 version introduced: multiple artboards. Illustrator: Artboards, Shapebuilders and Draw Tools What's here, however, represents a marked improvement over Illustrator CS4's ($599 direct, ) slightly more anemic additions, and nonetheless secure Illustrator's place at the top of the heap-and as our Editors' Choice.
#Adobe illustrator cs5 software update#
The second is that this update is hardly necessary for everyone: Most users will cheer changes to artboard organization and management, but roof-raising new capabilities are few. First is the mere existence of this powerful, vector-based image editor, which gives you a vast array of tools and flexibility you can't easily find in competing programs.
