Free plugins for Adobe Illustrator. Nowadays, Adobe Illustrator is the leading program when it comes to vector editing. In the newest version of this program you can find almost anything to work with vectors, but we bet there are some plug-ins that you still need. We took the time and collected some free plugins we think may help you. Ai - Canvas is a Free Plug-in for Adobe Illustrator The Ai- Canvas plug-in allows exporting vector and bitmap artworks from Adobe Illustrator directly to the HTML5 canvas element using JavaScript drawing commands. This means that your vector artworks will appear in browsers which support HTML5.
- Best Free Illustrator Plug-ins
- Roland Plugin For Illustrator
- Best Free Adobe Illustrator Plugins
- Free Illustrator Plug-ins Filters
Add even more capabilities to your Adobe Illustrator software. Look here to find the latest plug-ins from third-party developers, organized by category.
Plug-ins may also be found by searching our Partner Finder database of developers.
Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 6 PerspectiveGrid
Use this plug-in for 3D designs, grids, alignment, and one-point and two-point perspective.
Create starbursts, 3D stars, emboss stars, flower designs, and more for Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4. The Illustrator CS4 version comes with more layout features plus additional shape designs for stars.
Add prototyping features to Illustrator for modeling package designs and other dimensional projects with this third-party plug-in.
This third-party plug-in offers more than 82 stunning vector effects applied in real time at high speeds.
A complete solution for packaging designers, Studio puts interactive 3D packaging creation in the hands of the designer. Work in a 3D environment as if you were holding the package in your own hand and maintain a live link between 3D design visualization and the unfolded 2D structure. Studio offers a 3D viewing environment where designers can see their artwork applied instantly on the packaging.
Use Origami to fold up your die drawings in Illustrator. Origami lets you save your folded layout as a 3D shape or image for further processing, or for sharing with customers. Origami is easy to use and features instant 3D previews in Illustrator without the need to export anything.
Code Zebra Symbols for Illustrator provides thousands of technical symbols in architecture, building services, landscaping, electrical, mechanical, fasteners, and general (such as people, vehicles, and network) categories. These meticulously crafted symbols conform to all applicable industry standards, and many libraries contain detailed isometric views of fasteners, mechanical and structural components, electrical connectors, and more.
Add 134 vector-based swatch patterns for design documents. Patterns tile seamlessly and include stipples, crosshatches, bricks, wood grains, stone, tile, building materials, and much more.
Draw in any scale, dimension artwork with a mouse click, and numerically control size and location of objects or points. Just click-drag with CADtools to make design work easy and elegant — right inside Adobe Illustrator.
Concatenate connects two or more paths to make one continuous path. It's especially useful for cleaning up CAD drawings and EPS files that have been converted to Adobe Illustrator or, for example, connecting and filling state borders in vector map files.
Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 17 PatternPrint
Manipulate pattern swatches and combine them to create graphic styles for use in fashions, tiling, and more.
Artlandia Collection is ideal for creating surface patterns, textile designs, endpapers, web page backgrounds, illustrations, and all other projects where repeated patterns are needed.
Instantly create live, interactive patterns, designs, and ornaments in seconds. You can create replicas of selected elements. This simple feature is really the workhorse of the new version, and it will change the way you design your patterns.
Vector Repeat Pro automates repeat functions inside Adobe Illustrator, including straight repeats, drops, and shifts, and is used throughout the industry by fashion, textile, and surface designers to drastically speed up the design process.
Vector Weave Pro is a dobby weaving program for plaids and stripes, which gives designers a much faster and more efficient way to develop woven designs within Adobe Illustrator. Vector Weave Pro can use texture to generate heathers and more.
Colorist Pro enables designers to recolor artwork within repeats, wovens, and graphics using Adobe Illustrator. Colorist Pro offers the ability to flip color positions, change existing colors, and randomize colors within the artwork. Colorist Pro also creates all the technical data of a print or woven, generating the color chips and the names of each color on the bottom of the artwork.
Embroidery i2 provides the ability to draw objects with Adobe Illustrator and convert the objects to stitches within the same window. Since it's a plug-in, Embroidery i2 works on both Intel®-based Macs and PCs.
Avenza MAPublisher
Avenza MAPublisher bridges the gap between Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and high-end graphic design for high-quality creation, high-resolution printing, and electronic publishing of maps.
This cartography-focused site includes links to specialized plug-ins of interest to cartographers.
MapStudio
MapStudio is a set of orienteering tools and symbols for Illustrator that help you draw high-quality orienteering maps faster than ever before.
Concatenate is a plug-in filter for Adobe Illustrator that connects two or more paths to make one continuous path. It's especially useful for cleaning up CAD drawings and EPS files that have been converted to Adobe Illustrator or, for example, connecting and filling state borders in vector map files.
Quickly draw railroad track plans. Use the dockable Trackplan palette to select turnout size, scale, curve radius, easements, and track centers. Trackwork is automatically joined and held tangent to the connecting track.
This plug-in enables you to view and finely adjust the coordinates of path points. Path data is also shown.
Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 2 ColorPath
The ColorPath plug-in set includes grid, spiral, frame/edge, color effects, and line effects plug-ins for Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4.
Gradients contains two powerful plug-ins for manipulating gradients and creating gradient textures, patterns, designs, and styles. It also includes aspect ratio and transparency with Illustrator CS4.
Phantasm adds a full range of professional color adjustments and print/publishing controls tightly integrated within Adobe Illustrator (Mac and Windows®). Familiar controls for brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, levels, curves, and more are available as filters and live effects.
Genometri Pte. Ltd. — GenoPal 2.1
GenoPal is an easy-to-use color combination and matching tool. It lets users pick a color from an existing palette or any window or picture on their computer. GenoPal will move around in over 16 million different colors to find the ones that match yours. It generates exciting palettes that you can save for later use, read in HEX, or export directly to Adobe Photoshop® or Illustrator.
SepPreview enables users to view and print Illustrator documents as color separations, in color.
Creation contains duplication, round, and abstract plug-ins for Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4.
With VectorWand, you can paint on effects such as scaling, color, rotation, translation, gradients, tints, swatches, opacity, points manipulation, and more via the toolbox; manipulate a single path, multiple paths, symbols, symbols text, or gradients; and more.
Produce dynamic vector forms from scratch, modify existing shapes, and adjust the level of detail to your work while drawing more naturally in vector.
Mirror your artwork instantly on one single or multiple reflective axes.
Provides simple access to common drawing tasks such as lines to/from curve tangents or perpendiculars and circles and arcs defined by 2 or 3 points.
The CAD-COMPO plug-in series supports common drawing tasks, such as adding 2D CAD tools for drawing, saving pallettes of the drawings you've created, adjusting and optimizing document passes, and ensuring compatibility of DXF data.
Generation Digital — Vector Repeat Pro
Vector Repeat Pro automates repeat functions inside Adobe Illustrator, including straight repeats, drops, and shifts, and is used throughout the industry by fashion, textile, and surface designers to drastically speed up the design process.
Vector Weave Pro is a dobby weaving program for plaids and stripes, which gives designers a much faster and more efficient way to develop woven designs within Adobe Illustrator. Vector Weave Pro can use texture to generate heathers and more.
Colorist Pro enables designers to recolor artwork within repeats, wovens, and graphics using Adobe Illustrator. Colorist Pro offers the ability to flip color positions, change existing colors, and randomize colors within the artwork. Colorist Pro also creates all the technical data of a print or woven, generating the color chips and the names of each color on the bottom of the artwork.
JPEG Publisher creates JPEG files each time an Illustrator file is saved in a target location. JPEG files are created according to individual settings for the entire file, layer, or layer/sublayer combination. Then when the Illustrator file is edited in the target location, the JPEG files are also automatically updated.
DB Palette
Image database plug-in. Share image files created in DB Palette within the network. Bundle images, including linked files, for printing.
Suitcase Fusion, a professional-level font manager for the Mac desktop, eliminates font problems that creative professionals face every day. It combines the best of Suitcase and Font Reserve to provide reliable, hassle-free font management.
This professional font management suitcase for Windows eliminates font problems that creative professionals face every day. It provides industrial-strength font management for desktop and workgroup users running Windows.
Want your digital assets at your fingertips, with thousands of graphics, photos, and other digital files efficiently organized? Whip your assets into shape with Portfolio 8.5, an intuitive, powerful, and expandable system.
A hassle-free solution to managing fonts for your workgroup, Suitcase Server X1 ensures consistent use of fonts, eliminates duplicate font issues, and provides license control.
FontAgent Pro Server brings scalability, speed, security, stability, and simplicity to the creative community and business world. This third-party plug-in
FontAgent Pro 4 delivers a huge set of font management features to the Mac. You can still repair, optimize, and organize your fonts, and then build font libraries and cascading sets that you can activate, manage, secure, print, and preview.
FontAgent Pro 4 brings powerful font management to Windows. Many Windows users think they are immune to font problems, but by storing all their fonts in the Fonts Control Panel, they waste system resources, bloat font menus, slow system performance, and risk random crashes.
Smasher, the performance partner to Mac OS X font manager, gives you the power to look deep inside fonts and suitcases to solve problems fast. Fix font display and printing problems, check basic font integrity, clean up font folder and suitcase nightmares, eliminate application crashes and performance problems, find missing fonts, and move fonts between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X.
Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Collection
The Plug-ins Collection contains volumes 1 to 23 of Andrew’s Vector Plug-ins for Illustrator. Plug-ins can be used in thousands of ways: creating paths; creating designs; manipulating images and symbols; modifying gradients, patterns, and paths to create stunning paths; and more.
More than 13 plug-ins in this toolset enable you to create beautiful illustrations and designs. This set includes interactive and easy-to-use features, including patterns, tile, color, and stroke scaling features.
Use this plug-in for 3D designs, grids, alignment, and one-point and two-point perspective.
Create many different spiral designs, backgrounds, sketch effects, and more for Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4.
Use the heart designs in scrapbooking, fashion designs, textiles, patterns, and more. Includes many heart and romantic point manipulation features.
The PointEffects plug-in set combines four plug-ins to manipulate path points, including distortion and warping of paths and points, splitting of paths and sketch, points manipulation, and pie slicing for stunning zoom and manga effects.
Context links with Illustrator to allow you to see your concepts -- from billboards to boxes, stationery to vehicles -- realized side-by-side, while you work. Create stunning photorealistic onscreen mockups with a click.
CFS HyperGraph is a print media graphing automation solution. CFS HyperGraph automatically lays out print-ready graphs for newspapers and magazines. CFS HyperGraph automatically captures current financial market data from sources such as AP, Bloomberg, and others; outputs ready-for-print graphs as EPS, PDF, or Illustrator documents; and places them into Adobe InDesign® or CCI layouts.
CoCut offers sign making plug-ins that add powerful vinyl cutting features so you can cut directly out of Illustrator. CoCut plots all your designs with the push of a button. Control your plotter speed, resolution, and knife-pressure on-the-fly.
Produce and publish in one environment. Create multiple pages in Adobe Illustrator and export or print multiple pages with ease. Version 4 supports PDF, JPEG, and EPS export of multiple pages for enhanced web and print design.
Work with isometric, oblique, and perspective drawing tools right inside Adobe Illustrator. Draw lines, planes, cubes, and cylinders over an adjustable background grid for high-impact presentations.
Because of its strength in roundtripping text, CopyFlow Gold for Adobe Illustrator is a favorite of translation houses. CopyFlow Gold is most often used to batch export formatted text from Illustrator documents to a computerized translation system, and then batch import the translated text back into its original page location — all while preserving the typographic formatting. CopyFlow Gold works on entire folders of Illustrator documents, cuts production time, and saves time and money.
There’s a common problem when there are multiple versions of applications like Illustrator or InDesign installed on the same computer. Double-clicking a file's icon will often cause the wrong application version to launch. As a result, you might unwittingly resave a document in a more recent file format, which could be a bad thing. Maybe it's a customer file, and the customer won't be able to open the updated file when you email it back. Soxy provides a workaround for this problem on Mac OS X and Windows.
Esko — DeskPack
DeskPack turns Illustrator into a full-fledged packaging application. Using Esko's pre-production knowledge, you can now boost productivity and reduce errors while working in your favorite design application. DeskPack consists of a set of modules that fits any prepress environment. From importing structural design files (CAD data) to creating repetitions of print-ready production files, DeskPack offers the best solution to get the job done.
Generate dynamic barcodes with assured printability. Dynamic Barcodes contains a wide range of industry-standard barcodes with advanced features such as automatic box generation, bar width reduction, and output resolution–dependent scaling.
Check your incoming files as early as possible to minimize the cost of errors or to validate your designs before you send them off to the printer. With Preflight for Illustrator, your file is verified against a personal profile, and a validation report is generated. This interactive report guides you through the violations found against image types and resolutions, line widths, color spaces, minimum percent, font rules, and more.
BoostX is a portfolio of dedicated tools that accelerate frequently used selection and alignment operations and add new ways to handle spot colors and special inks beyond the powerful capabilities of Illustrator.
Embedded images in Illustrator files cannot be edited, making last-minute revisions impossible. With Image Extractor, you can convert embedded images to externally linked images, allowing you to edit them in Adobe Photoshop.
Remap channels of embedded or linked images into any used ink in the document. Channel Mapping remaps the inks of all commonly used image formats (TIFF, JPEG, PSD, Photoshop DCS, Photoshop EPS, PNG, and GIF).
A correct visualization of your packaging design is crucial in a professional environment. With Viewer, you can work with predefined press settings to detect first printable dots, simulate dot gain and registration errors, and calculate the total area coverage in your file.
Instant Trapper is by far the easiest interactive trapping solution on the market. Trapping becomes a matter of clicking the two elements you want to trap. All traps are placed on a separate layer, and centerlines are automatically calculated.
Using Esko's automatic trapping engine, PowerTrapper traps your file in a matter of seconds. You can make presets full of rules and exceptions to trap the file according to your specifications. On-the-fly modifications are made easy in the very intuitive user interface. PowerTrapper exists as a standalone module or as a client-server–based solution.
Gravure and flexo cylinders often need to print continuously, without a visible seam. Based on the input graphics and cylinder size, Seamless Repeat for Illustrator calculates the correct spacing and repeat numbers to properly wrap any design around the particular cylinder. Typical use cases are wallpaper, laminates, upholstery, vinyl flooring, and more.
Dynamic Panels allows you to make dynamic artwork information panels. These panels will automatically synchronize and display the ink, document, and/or job information of the host document or job. Define your own information panels and reuse them in all your jobs. The information fields, ink patches, and so on will be updated automatically.
Add a white underprinting ink to your file in a few clicks. Choose an ink name and a choke distance, and the correct object will automatically be created in a separate layer based on the selected artwork. This tool can also be used to quickly create finishing layers (such as varnishes and embossings).
Convert Adobe Illustrator into a fully featured, pre-press packaging workstation with RealPro Toolkit - a suite of Adobe Illustrator plug-ins. RealPro Toolkit is compatible with any existing workflows, bringing all the functionality of high end workstations within Adobe® Illustrator®. Features include: file editing and preparation; colour management; trapping; and nesting/step & repeat. RealPro Toolkit can also be extended for specialist tasks such as cylinder repeats, patterns and artwork pre-distortion. Available on Mac and PC.
Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Collection
The Plug-ins Collection includes all the plug-ins from graphicxtras.com in a single collection for Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4, including Zigzag, MultiToolbox, Gradient, Contour, LatticeConnect, VectorWand, and more.
Apply basic to extreme warping and color effects to a mesh as well as modify a warp mesh.
The ShapeFX1 plug-in set includes a shape creation plug-in for many shape designs plus a warping plug-in for extreme and basic warping of selected paths. Now the shape plug-in comes with additional path creation features in Illustrator CS4 for unusual and extreme path creation and designs.
Use this contour, zoom, and inset plug-in on selected paths, images, and symbols for Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4.
Easily and quickly arrange shapes in formations and patterns.
Replace the Pen and its related tools, and it will revolutionize the way you draw precise and calculated shapes.
Edit, create and measure artwork both dynamically and accurately with this toolkit of plug-ins.
Enhance vector work by to varying multiple width strokes with both ease and speed.
Drag anywhere on a path and edit only the exact location you want with this third-party plug-in.
Concatenate is a plug-in filter for Adobe Illustrator that connects two or more paths to make one continuous path. It's especially useful for cleaning up CAD drawings and EPS files that have been converted to Adobe Illustrator or, for example, connecting and filling state borders in vector map files.
Cutting Tools adds three tools: Hatchet, which cuts through all paths at that point, not just the top path; Saber Saw, which fence cuts through all paths that cross the one drawn; and Vector Vac, which enables you to either click paths or drag through them to delete them.
Adjust the position of a patterned fill within an object or dash pattern along a path. Clicking the arrow buttons will move the dash or pattern by one point. Holding down combinations of modifier keys will make the distance moved longer or shorter.
Convert a selected path's anchor points to corner points, and adjust the path segments so that lines within 20 degrees of vertical and horizontal will be made square.
Quickly draw railroad track plans. Use the dockable Trackplan palette to select turnout size, scale, curve radius, easements, and track centers. Trackwork is automatically joined and held tangent to the connecting track.
Curvius adds seven new filters to the Illustrator filter menu: Crenellate, Reverse Path, Roughen, Roulette, Simplify, Smooth, and Straighten.
Kimbo adds eleven new tools in two tool groups to the Illustrator tool palette. These tools permit the creation of artwork that would otherwise be difficult or time-consuming to create.
Mesh Utils adds eight filters and one tool to create, color, and otherwise manipulate gradient meshes.
This plug-in allows you to view and finely adjust the coordinates of path points. Path data is also shown.
Add stunning creative filters and can't-live-without workflow tools to simple design projects. Eight plug-ins include powerful shape-editing tools, elegant texturing facilities, intuitive and interactive color editing, and workspace management.
Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 4 MultiToolbox
The MultiToolbox plug-in lets you manipulate paths, images, and symbols in hundreds of ways. It also includes a points manipulation toolbox plug-in and comes with circular features, paint features, a spiral option, duplication and grids, a drag paths feature, and more.
The Zigzag plug-in for borders and zigzag designs includes hundreds of designs for stunning effects and illustrations.
SymbolTexture is a texture-generator and pattern-design plug-in using symbols. Create dramatic and unique texture designs in seconds, and modify the distribution, density, rotation, and scaling of symbols.
This star creation plug-in can be used to create thousands of different star and shape designs. The Illustrator CS4 version now comes with many different layout features for even more dramatic star effects.
Create thousands of unique heart designs for Valentine’s Day and romance. The Illustrator CS4 version comes with even more layout features.
Best Free Illustrator Plug-ins
Manipulate pattern swatches and combine them to create graphic styles for use in fashions, tiling, and more.
The RandomTouch plug-in set for random particle effects in Illustrator combines five plug-ins, including a background plug-in (using selected paths or symbols and more complex designs); a particle plug-in; a plug-in for random clutter of designs such as stars, circles, and ovals; and more.
GXLatticeConnect is a lattice and grid design plug-in that is packed with many stunning grid designs. Use it on its own or with Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3, or CS4.
Create rain, orbit designs, particles, frame designs, and more using selected paths, images or symbols, or prebuilt designs.
Artlandia Collection is ideal for creating surface patterns, textile designs, endpapers, web page backgrounds, illustrations, and all other projects where repeated patterns are needed.
Instantly create live, interactive patterns, designs, and ornaments in seconds. You can create replicas of selected elements. This simple feature is really the workhorse of the new version, and it will change the way you design your patterns.
Fantastic Machines Tile Tools is a set of 21 Photoshop compatible plug-in graphic filters that can be used to create amazing tileable images and textures. Try the demo with seven of the filters fully enabled.
Add 134 vector-based swatch patterns for design documents. Patterns tile seamlessly and include stipples, crosshatches, bricks, wood grains, stone, tile, building materials, and much more.
Adjust the position of a patterned fill within an object or dash pattern along a path. Clicking the arrow buttons will move the dash or pattern by one point. Holding down combinations of modifier keys will make the distance moved longer or shorter.
Create natural-looking textures as Live Effects from gradient-filled art. The textures are created as paths. Play with the settings and the gradient to create an endless selection of beautiful effects.
Tessella goes beyond rectangular patterns in Illustrator and allows you to create not only rectangular patterns but also rhombic, hexagonal, and triangular ones as well.
ArtOptimizer
Reduce the size of images linked to Illustrator documents by eliminating excessive image data. Automatically reduce image resolution, scale images in Photoshop according to their dimensions in Illustrator and the target resolution specified, and re-import them to Illustrator at 100%.
Instantly identify and correct print issues.
Slugger AI CS is a basic automated slug for Illustrator CS that updates important information on printouts.
Roland Plugin For Illustrator
QwikMarx is your solution for building more accurate layouts, making it easier for everyone involved to see the dimension marks onscreen or in a printout. With QwikMarx, these marks are displayed for you on the document itself. This means as an ad moves through the stages of publication, each person working on the ad has a precise understanding of what the trim, live, and bleed dimensions are, as well as what the fold dimensions are.
This plug-in creates a proof block for routing illustrations to editors and art directors prior to publication.
SmartApps Sign&Banner simplifies and accelerates the setup of wide-format signs and banners. Features include a tool for fast grommet and eyelet placement; an automatic print bleed tool for mirror, duplicate, and color bleeds at any size; banner finishing marks for folds; and design-to-scale functionality. With this plug-in, everyone designing or producing signs and banners can dramatically reduce their preparation time and eliminate remakes due to mistakes.
Scan path and text objects in an Illustrator document, including hidden and locked objects and layers, and turn off the overprint setting for white objects.
Scoop collects copies of fonts and placed image files and extracts embedded raster images, saving them into a new folder.
Select art with Transparency, Effects, and Blend modes. Quickly identify objects that may cause problems when printing or flattening.
SepPreview enables users to view and print Illustrator documents as color separations in color.
Color Referee is a powerful tool for anyone processing Adobe Illustrator files for print. This plug-in automates the time-consuming process of identifying the attributes of color areas and objects in any complex Adobe Illustrator design.
Complete collection of security design, brand protection, and anti-counterfeiting modules — fully integrated in Illustrator CC for Mac and PC — to protect products such as vouchers, tickets, documents, cards, labels, packages, and more.
Scriptographer
Scriptographer is a scripting plug-in for Adobe Illustrator. It enables you to extend Illustrator functionality using JavaScript.
Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 21 Layers
Use layer plug-ins (transformations spread over multiple layers) for animations and more for Illustrator 10, CS, CS2, CS3, and CS4.
Zoomlines lets you create zoom lines, focus line designs, and dramatic zoom effects in Illustrator — great for manga comics designs, illustrations, and more.
Add stunning creative filters and can't-live-without workflow tools to simple design projects. Eight plug-ins include powerful shape-editing tools, elegant texturing facilities, intuitive and interactive color editing, and workspace management.
Best Free Adobe Illustrator Plugins
Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 8 SymbolPaint
SymbolPaint is a painting plug-in toolbox that uses dabs, bristles, and more to paint symbols (such as images, text, pages of text, selected paths, and meshes).
SymbolsTexture is a texture generation and pattern design plug-in using symbols that offers many different options for layers, animations, randomization, and distribution.
The SymbolsToolbox manipulation plug-in includes spiral, grid, zoom, randomized, and circular designs and more.
Free Illustrator Plug-ins Filters
This banner and headline plug-in offers many different options to create stunning designs from symbols in the symbols palette.