Adobe Illustrator has been the most popular application for developing vector graphics for many years. And as is the case with many powerful tools, there has always been something of a learning curve attached to it. Fortunately, there are a handful of useful plugins out there that can help us to speed up our workflow. While Illustrator can’t claim quite the same kind of rich plugin ecosystem as Photoshop, there are still very worthwhile additions to special database your toolbox to be had. It’s also worth noting that the steady rise of SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) over the past two years has also pushed Illustrator firmly back into the minds of many web developers.
In this article I’m going to show you 5 plugins which will save you a lot of time by improving common actions. Let’s start. 1. Vector Scribe 2 The first plugin we are going to analyze is “Vector Scribe 2”, by Astute Graphics. Not only does it bring you a new set of tools, but it also enhances Illustrator’s existing features, giving you more powerful means to special database develop and edit graphics elements. VectorScribe2 Among the new features, you can find: Smart Remove Brush Tool: a brush which automatically removes useless anchor points just by moving the mouse over the path.
Path Extend Tool: this tool gives you the opportunity to extend or reduce paths to exact lengths and with a very high precision. Dynamic Corners Tool: this tool allows you to transform square corners in rounded ones with finite control. Dynamic Shapes Tool: this function recognizes the most common path shapes, such as squares, circles or stars, and enables you to control the number of points or to modify the shape. Dynamic Measure Tool: a powerful tool which can special database be used to take extremely precise measurements of lengths or angles in different units of measurement. Protractor: this is a very simple but useful instrument for defining custom angles for your drawing.