Adobe Illustrator is the world’s most popular graphic design software. However, while Illustrator’s features are currently excellent, there is still opportunity for productivity and creativity enhancement. Designers will need to employ plugins to accomplish this. Plugin is an additional piece of software to enhance Adobe Illustrator’s abilities. Its purpose is to provide extra tools and additional features that are not available in the application.
In this article, we will explore seven essential Adobe Illustrator plugins every designer needs to have to improve their workflow and design results.
Table of Contents
Plugins can help us be more productive when designing. They improve productivity by providing significantly more efficient tools for some common tasks. For example, if a designer frequently creates wallpaper designs with symmetrical patterns, they can use SymmetryWorks. It can simplify the process of creating a symmetrical pattern.
Obviously, Adobe Illustrator already offers a lot of great features. However, by using Adobe Illustrator plugins, you can have access to extra features that are not available in Illustrator. Plugins are intended to make the application more user-friendly, particularly for beginners.
In addition, Adobe Illustrator plugins make it possible for us to customize applications like Adobe Illustrator to meet our projects’ needs or our style preferences in designing.
Choose plugins based on the types of design projects you regularly work on. For example, if you are an illustrator who frequently plays with color palettes, you can install ColorKit for color management.
Make sure that you choose a plugin that is compatible with the version of Adobe Illustrator you are using.
Look for reviews of the plugin you want to utilize. Because if you do not know everything about your plugin, it will impede your working progress. In addition, look for recommendations from other designers to find out which plugin is the most useful and reliable.
Plugins are available in both free and paid versions. So, carefully assess whether the plugin you intend to utilize provides features worth the price tag.
Astute Graphics is a renowned plugin provider for Adobe Illustrator. They provide many useful plugin packages for professional designers. Some of the famous plugins from Astute Graphics are VectorScribe, Phantasm, and InkQuest.
Fontself Maker is a plugin that allows you to design custom fonts in Adobe Illustrator. This plugin allows us to convert letters, symbols, and other shapes into usable fonts.
Key features of this plugin:
ColorKit is a plugin that helps designers manage and apply color palettes efficiently. This plugin is very useful in maintaining the color consistency of the whole project being done.
In addition, this plugin makes it possible for us to create, save, and manage our color palette in the easiest way possible. We can quickly apply the color palette we want to the elements of a design.
Furthermore, ColorKit ensures that each color is consistent and meets the project’s requirements, which is critical for branding and visual identity.
If you are a designer who often uses textures and vibrant colors, then this plugin might be the most suitable one for you. Gold Rush has the ability to add metal and foil textures to a design. So, you don’t have to struggle with mixing colors in your design.
This plugin has various choices for metal and foil textures, allowing designers to add sparkle and special effects to their designs. Using this Adobe Illustrator plugin, you can easily create amazing effects. In general, if you solely use Illustrator, you will be unable to achieve those types of effects without this plugin.
Moreover, Gold Rush is ideal for designing packaging, wedding invites, or other glamorous and luxurious projects.
Making a symmetrical design requires meticulous accuracy, which can be easy when we only need to make one or two elements. However, doing the same thing over and over will become tiresome, won’t it? That’s why we need this plugin because it allows us to create symmetrical designs quickly and efficiently.
SymmetryWorks is a plugin that allows designers to build complex symmetrical patterns. It usually takes a long time and is a bit difficult to execute manually. As a result, utilizing this plugin is beneficial since it provides numerous pattern adjustment choices, such as symmetric types, repetition, and readjustment.
By using SymmetryWorks, the design process will be quicker, and you will have more spare time to do or explore creative things.
VectorFirstAid is a plugin designed to clean and optimize vector work. This tool is useful as it ensures that your vector files are clean and efficient.
Usually, when creating an illustration, there are many lines and elements we don’t need that may miss our eyes. This plugin helps in erasing those unneeded points or elements, fixing broken lines, and optimizing vector structures.
Thus, by using this plugin, you can keep your vector files small and manageable. Furthermore, this plugin includes a tool for detecting and repairing technical errors in vector files, ensuring that they are ready for production.
This plugin is perfect for illustrators, as it can enhance their sketching capabilities within Adobe Illustrator. DynamicSketch provides tools for live smoothing, stroke width adjustment, and much more.
Designers and illustrators can use Adobe Illustrator’s DynamicSketch plugin to create illustrations with greater fluidity and polished lines, significantly speeding up the illustration refinement process. In addition, this plugin includes a rich set of customization options, allowing designers and illustrators to adjust the drawing tools to their own needs.
To summarize, having the right tool will improve the designer’s workflow and make a significant difference in the work’s quality and efficacy. The plugins described above, ranging from Astute Graphics to DynamicSketch, offer numerous features and benefits that can boost productivity and creativity.
Using Adobe Illustrator plugins allows you to save time, improve your design skills, and get professional results. So, start exploring these plugins and tailoring them to your specific needs. Investing in these tools is a wise decision for a better and more effective design.
Unlock freebies for your creative projects. Explore a curated selection of fonts, graphics, and more - all absolutely free. Don't miss out, claim yours now!
Claim Free Freebies
