Illustrator feature summary (January 2025 release)

Learn about new features and enhancements in the January 2025 release of Illustrator on desktop (version 29.2.1).

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Performance improvements

Illustrator 29.2.1 comes with the following performance improvements:

Image import, export, and embedding:

  • Faster File > Open, File > Place, and drag-and-drop operations for JPEG and PNG files
  • Faster export to JPEG and PNG file formats
  • Faster conversion of linked images to embedded images

Effects processing:

  • Improved performance for all Photoshop effects on images
  • Faster object rasterization when using Object > Rasterize

Layers panel:

Smoother and faster layer management, including hide/unhide and expand/collapse operations, panel scrolling, and layer navigation.

Explore enhancements inspired by your feedback

We're committed to continually improving to meet your changing needs. Based on your feedback, here are the enhancements to Illustrator in the January 2025 release.

Use new document presets optimized for branding and social media

Illustrator now provides two new categories of document presets and templates, Branding and Social, for your specific design needs. In addition, you get an updated set of Mobile presets, Web presets for 1600*900 px and 4K resolution screens, and new Print presets in the A, B, and C series. Moreover, you can use the View more or View less option in the upper-right corner of the New Document dialog to adjust the number of presets in view.

Note:

After you update to Illustrator 29.2.1, it can take up to 72 hours for the new templates to load in the Branding and Social categories.

Export artboards and assets in Ai and EPS formats easily

You can now export artboards and assets in Ai and EPS file formats with Export for Screens.

Export for Screens dialog with the list of supported file formats.

Use Distance Guides for accurate object placement

Distance Guides appear when you select an object and hover over another object or empty artboard area while pressing Option (macOS) or Alt (Windows). They show the selected object's distance or relative position, helping you align and space objects accurately.

Access the Eyedropper tool from the Color Picker

You no longer have to close the Color Picker to use the Eyedropper   tool, as it's now available inside it. The Eyedropper   tool in the Color Picker allows you to sample colors from anywhere on the canvas.

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