- Illustrator User Guide
- Get to know Illustrator
- Introduction to Illustrator
- Workspace
- Workspace basics
- Create documents
- Learn faster with the Illustrator Discover panel
- Accelerate workflows using the Contextual Task Bar
- Toolbar
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Customize keyboard shortcuts
- Introduction to artboards
- Manage artboards
- Customize the workspace
- Properties panel
- Set preferences
- Touch Workspace
- Microsoft Surface Dial support in Illustrator
- Undo edits and manage design history
- Rotate view
- Rulers, grids, and guides
- Accessibility in Illustrator
- Safe Mode
- View artwork
- Use the Touch Bar with Illustrator
- Files and templates
- Tools in Illustrator
- Tools at a glance
- Select tools
- Navigate tools
- Paint tools
- Text tools
- Draw tools
- Modify tools
- Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
- Quick actions
- Illustrator on the web (beta)
- Illustrator on the web (beta) overview
- Illustrator on the web (beta) FAQ
- Troubleshooting issues FAQ
- Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the web (beta)
- Create and combine shapes on the web
- Add and edit text on the web
- Apply colors and gradients on the web
- Draw and edit paths on the web
- Work with cloud documents on the web
- Invite collaborators to edit on the web
- Illustrator on the iPad
- Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
- Workspace
- Documents
- Select and arrange objects
- Drawing
- Type
- Work with images
- Color
- Cloud documents
- Basics
- Troubleshooting
- Add and edit content
- Drawing
- Drawing basics
- Edit paths
- Draw pixel-perfect art
- Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
- Draw simple lines and shapes
- Draw rectangular and polar grids
- Draw and edit flares
- Trace images
- Simplify a path
- Symbolism tools and symbol sets
- Adjust path segments
- Design a flower in 5 easy steps
- Create and edit a perspective grid
- Draw and modify objects on a perspective grid
- Use objects as symbols for repeat use
- Draw pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
- Measurement
- 3D objects and materials
- Color
- Painting
- Select and arrange objects
- Select objects
- Layers
- Group and expand objects
- Move, align, and distribute objects
- Align, arrange, and move objects on a path
- Snap objects to glyph
- Snap objects to Japanese glyph
- Stack objects
- Lock, hide, and delete objects
- Copy and duplicate objects
- Rotate and reflect objects
- Intertwine objects
- Create realistic art mockups
- Reshape objects
- Crop images
- Transform objects
- Combine objects
- Cut, divide, and trim objects
- Puppet Warp
- Scale, shear, and distort objects
- Blend objects
- Reshape using envelopes
- Reshape objects with effects
- Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools
- Work with Live Corners
- Enhanced reshape workflows with touch support
- Edit clipping masks
- Live shapes
- Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
- Global editing
- Type
- Add text and work with type objects
- Reflow Viewer
- Create bulleted and numbered lists
- Manage text area
- Fonts and typography
- Convert text within images into editable text
- Add basic formatting to text
- Add advanced formatting to text
- Import and export text
- Format paragraphs
- Special characters
- Create type on a path
- Character and paragraph styles
- Tabs
- Find missing fonts (Typekit workflow)
- Arabic and Hebrew type
- Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips
- Creative typography designs
- Scale and rotate type
- Line and character spacing
- Hyphenation and line breaks
- Spelling and language dictionaries
- Format Asian characters
- Composers for Asian scripts
- Create text designs with blend objects
- Create a text poster using Image Trace
- Create special effects
- Web graphics
- Drawing
- Import, export, and save
- Import
- Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
- Save and export
- Printing
- Prepare for printing
- Printing
- Automate tasks
- Troubleshooting
Find answers to some common questions you may have about Illustrator cloud documents.
FAQs | Cloud documents overview
Illustrator cloud documents are Adobe's cloud-native document file type that can be accessed online or offline directly from within the Illustrator application. These cloud documents can be accessed across devices while your edits are automatically saved on the cloud. To learn more about cloud documents, see What are cloud documents.
Read the following topics to learn more about Illustrator cloud documents:
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What are the benefits of cloud documents?
Here are some benefits of using Illustrator cloud documents:
- Access all your work: Save your creative work as a cloud document and access it on all the devices where you have Illustrator installed. It's in the cloud wherever you work.
- Reliability: Save your project as a cloud document so that you never have to worry about losing your work as it gets auto-saved on the cloud.
- Track version history: Easily view any version of your cloud document from within the app. Autosave keeps your document up-to-date and makes past versions available at hand.
- Quality: Cloud documents store every layer at full fidelity.
See also: Benefits of cloud documents.
What is the difference between cloud documents and Creative Cloud Files?
Your Creative Cloud plan includes different types of cloud storage—cloud documents, libraries, and Creative Cloud files (synced files). These have different uses and benefits.
- Cloud documents and Creative Cloud Files are stored in different locations within your Creative Cloud account.
- Unlike cloud documents, Illustrator Creative Cloud files are not native to the cloud, and therefore do not have the same capabilities as cloud documents.
For more information, see Difference between cloud documents and Creative Cloud files.
Can I access cloud documents from Creative Cloud Libraries?
Cloud documents can be accessed from within the Illustrator app and from on the web at assets.adobe.com, but not from Creative Cloud Libraries.
Are cloud documents supported on Windows 7?
No, cloud documents are not supported on Windows 7. To find the complete list of supported OS versions, see Minimum system requirements for Illustrator.
FAQs | Cloud document workflows
How do I access Illustrator cloud documents?
You can access your Illustrator cloud documents from:
- Illustrator: Cloud documents tab in the Illustrator home screen.
- assets.adobe.com (web): Navigate to Creative Cloud > Files > Your work > Cloud documents.
To learn more about accessing your cloud documents, see Access Illustrator cloud documents.
How do I choose between saving cloud documents and local documents?
You can always choose between saving your Illustrator documents to the cloud or locally. Illustrator remembers how you saved or opened your most recently accessed document and will continue to present you with the same experience until you choose otherwise.
For more details, see Create or save cloud documents.
How do I save my cloud documents as local files?
Illustrator enables you to save your Illustrator document as a local file.
To learn more about the saving your documents, see Make cloud documents available offline.
How do I save my existing .ai documents as cloud documents?
To make your files accessible across your devices, you can convert your .ai file to a cloud document and save it to the cloud. To do so, open Illustrator and select File > Save as > Save Adobe Cloud document.
To learn more about the saving and working with your documents, see Create or save cloud documents.
Can I bank upon autosave if my cloud documents are not manually saved for some reason?
Autosave feature is your savior! Even if you close the Illustrator cloud document without saving it manually, the autosave feature makes sure that your latest updates are automatically saved and synced onto the cloud. Similarly, if you work on multiple documents at the same time, all your updates get autosaved when you switch between the documents.
However, autosaving a large-scale document takes time and might have performance trade-offs, so the autosave feature is currently disabled for large-scaled documents.
How do I edit a cloud document on multiple devices?
You can open a document simultaneously on multiple devices using the same Adobe ID. However, if you edit and save the document on one device, and then try to edit and save the open document on the second device, there will be a document conflict.
If you have shared your document with a stakeholder, you and your stakeholder cannot open the document simultaneously.
Can I use linked objects in my cloud documents?
Linked Smart Objects are supported only on the device on which you create the cloud document. If you have used linked objects in cloud documents, then you need to embed the linked objects to avoid missing links warning when the document is opened on other devices.
How do I work with cloud documents without Internet?
Yes, you can work offline with any cloud document that is currently available in your device cache. To make sure you have access to a cloud document locally, open the cloud document before going offline. You will then be able to find your project under the Recent section on the home screen and can continue to work. Your document changes will be saved to the cloud as soon as your device is reconnected to a network.
To learn more about working offline with cloud documents, see Prepare to work offline with cloud documents.
How do I get back to an older version of a cloud doc?
Go to assets.adobe.com > Files > Your work > Cloud documents. Open a cloud document and click the Timeline icon from the right side of the document preview. In the timeline view, you can find all your document versions listed.
To view version history from within the app, go to File > Version History or Windows > Version History.
To learn more, see:
How do I clear my Creative Cloud storage quota?
The assets you delete while working on Illustrator remain in the Deleted section in the app home screen. As a result, these deleted assets will still consume cloud storage space. To clear up your cloud storage, select for the document in the Deleted section and click Permanently Delete.
To learn more about deleting your cloud documents permanently, see Delete files permanently from cloud storage.
Related topics
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