VectorStyler Roadmap

These are the features planned in the VectorStyler backlog. The features are grouped into phases, indicating a tentative priority order. The priority of course is not fixed, nor the actual content of this list. New features may show up as development progresses, and some features may be pushed further down the road.

Important to note that there is no time commitment associated with these features, neither a version number where these features will show up. The various phases indicate an approximate order in which these will be implemented. Also, any bug reports or important missing features will be prioritized over this list.

Phase 2: Repeater Features

Simplified Repeater Setup

  • Basic mode views to create and edit repeater objects.
  • Use case specific repeater styles.
  • Create and edit stipplism effects.
  • Create and edit vector halftone effects.
  • Create and edit space filling effects.

Interactive editing of repeater

  • On canvas interactive tool to adjust repeaters.
  • Adjust angle of repeater geometry.
  • Adjust shapeless repeater extent.
  • Interactive repeater geometry specific adjustments.

Basic repeater geometries

  • Add new repeater geometry plugins.
  • Spiraling position.
  • Position along paths of an object or group.
  • Waving grid positions.
  • New randomized distributions.
  • Additional halftone repeater types.

Repeater adjustments

  • Add new repeater adjustment plugins.
  • Object selection schemes for multiple object repeaters.

Advanced repeater geometries (long term)

  • Fill regions by packing objects based on their shapes.
  • Fill regions using word art at varying size and style.
  • Automatically split a region into parts and fit objects into these parts.

Phase 3 Features

Tools and Editing

  • Curvature tool.
  • Additional pen tool modes (bezigon tool).

Shape Adjustments

  • Extract stroke from a shape (exclude with stroke expansion).
  • Stroke option to avoid filled areas also.
  • Automatic path exclusion: exclude an expanded shape from overlapped objects.
  • Alignment of objects inside a group.
  • Show a ghost image for the simplify path adjustment.

User Interface (1)

  • Multiple value selections: better indicate in various UI fields.
  • Return from color and style picker to previous tool.
  • Magnifier in color picker.
  • Option to allow artboard selection while in the transform tool.
  • Keyboard shortcuts to increase / decrease an object property.
  • Minimal mode and task specific workspace options.
  • Fill and stroke style knob in toolbox.
  • Grid subdivision options.

Document Management

  • Keep original fonts and only use replacements locally.
  • Export to PSD format.
  • Unlock All on current artboard.
  • Alphabetical listing of layers and artboards.
  • Automatic text flow by generating new canvases and artboards.
  • Improved guideline management and redesigned Guidelines panel.
  • Export each top layer separately in artboard export.

User Interface (2)

  • Show info on current editor and selection.
  • Improved status bar.
  • Vector inspector features.
  • Select object attributes from the status bar using modal views.
  • Setup default styles from status bar.
  • Info panel for showing info on selected objects.
  • Customize context panel content.
  • Improve History panel: a better way to browse histories.
  • Select inside active layer only.
  • Multiple pasteboard items.

Object Style and Shape

  • Additional noise types.
  • Optical alignment modes.
  • Path smoothing tool.
  • Vector drop shadow.
  • Automatic matching and replacement of object colors to global palette colors.

Phase 4 Features

Effects

  • Perspective shape effect.
  • Custom warp mesh schemes.
  • Create and edit 3D perspective groups.
  • Unified and separate perspective modes.
  • Contour gradient type (optional).
  • Bend linear gradient using a curve.
  • Vector gradients: create gradient like effects using solid vector shapes.
  • Quick artwork recoloring features from a single panel (shortcuts to existing color effects).
  • Variable font parameter adjustment along the text.
  • Nondestructive vector color filters.

Shape Editing

  • Linked / shared path sections.
  • Begin / end tapering for path brush.
  • Link the starting and ending cap and arrow styles.
  • Drag and drop objects into another object.
  • Scale and rotate along a line segment.

Collaborative Features (1)

  • Integrate as a client to various web based services (with public APIs).
  • Browse and use Google fonts.
  • Color palette generator services.
  • Access stock vector and photo services.
  • Automatic upload of designs to stock vector services.
  • Open external application to edit embedded images.

User Interface (1)

  • A more intuitive keyboard shortcuts editor user interface.
  • Scrollable layout for toolbox and context bar buttons.
  • Live preview for color and style pickers.
  • Show artboard names in the artboard selector widget of the status bar.
  • Quick access to Export Schemes from the File menu.
  • Show presets from linked document and from other opened documents.
  • Precision drawing tools tangential line, dimension tool, curve length measurements.
  • Personalized popup menu with shortcuts.
  • Create new documents from selected objects.
  • Automatic font grouping by name in the fonts list.
  • Global command search.

Phase 5 Features

User Interface

  • Drag and drop in color and style picker.
  • Show recent colors in color palette.
  • Snap color component values to fixed increments when holding shift.
  • List fill and color styles in context menu.
  • Define custom units.
  • Geometry based object ordering.
  • Color schemes for tool and user interface icons.
  • Improved toolbox customization user interface.
  • Point transform tool.
  • Improve RTL language support (some OpenType features are missing).
  • Option to block ungrouping clipped groups: remove clipping shape first.

Working with Document

  • New document using the selection size
  • Resize a whole document by scaling all artwork and artboards.
  • Duplicate the current document.
  • Lookup and fix broken links in the document (linked images, content, fonts).
  • Add HEIF file format support.
  • Export artboards to icon font format.
  • Constrain based layout features.
  • Easier isometric grid setup.
  • DWG file format support.
  • Support for PDF/X and PDF/A output modes.

Editing and Tools

  • Edit the tablet pressure adjustment curve.
  • Hide unselected artwork.
  • Paste on all artboards.
  • Use width profile in scatter brush.
  • Distribute size of selected objects (from Alignment panel).
  • Additional select by attribute types (open ended).
  • Find next / prev object by attribute selection.

Object Styling and Editing

  • Color arrows using symbols.
  • Connector tool and linked shapes.
  • Option to distort gradient content using the shape filters.
  • Randomize selected attributes inside a group of objects.
  • Pressure in brush tools: break path at low pressure.

Dynamic and Live Options

  • Anchor a set of objects along a path. Update positions and rotations as the path changes.
  • Select symbols as clone sources.
  • Control scaling and rotation in blend using functions.
  • Hierarchical node based image effect editor.

Phase 6: Scripting and plugins

Scripting language integration

  • Add JavaScript scripting support.
  • Add Python scripting support.
  • Open interfaces for additional scripting languages.

Scripting language use cases

  • Scripts adjusting the document tree.
  • Shape generator scripts.
  • Object styling scripts.
  • Shape effect scripts.
  • Action scripts.
  • Scripting based repeater extensions.
  • Web services integration using scripting.
  • Variable and style generators.
  • Other specific use cases with scripts as plugins.
  • Improved action panel to support scripting and conditional actions.

Native plugin SDK

  • Setup stable C++ interfaces.
  • Define core SDK classes.
  • Setup classes to manage UI components.
  • Define domain specific native APIs.

Introducing APIs.

  • View and panel management APIs.
  • Document hierarchy management
  • Path and shape interfaces.
  • Color and styling attribute management.
  • Element (Object) management.
  • File formats.
  • Shape effects.
  • Image effects.
  • Repeater extensions.
  • Introduce new APIs and improved versions.

Phase 7: Collaborative Editing

Shared preset management

  • Cloud based preset serves.
  • Manage preset user accounts.
  • Share selected presets publicly, or inside a limited group.
  • Access shared presets of other users (public or group).

Style management

  • Synchronize styles and variables from a repository.
  • Synchronize styles and variables from an other document.
  • Share style and variable sets in a group.
  • Link to a document edited by an other user.

Collaborative editing

  • Multi-user document access (with limitations).
  • Synchronized changes on documents.
  • Canvas, layer and object based collaborative editing.
  • Collaborative editing of styles.

Collaborative workflows.

  • Pasteboard panel to locally share objects, styles, shapes and other attributes.
  • Setup notes on canvases, layers, objects, variables or styles.
  • Export / upload to remote storage.
  • Batch export to vector stock services (where API support exists).
  • Automatic remote update and preview of document changes.

Phase 8 Features

Document Management

  • Document and artboard panel. Easy way to browse and view thumbnail previews of opened documents and artboards.
  • Multiple canvas preview.
  • Document, canvas, layer and object level metadata.

Objects and Styles

  • Fills as gradient stops.
  • Planar gradient colors with regular gradient shapes.
  • Multiple content support in tiling pattern fill style, with additional tiling types.
  • Access image effect hierarchy in Appearance panel.
  • Basic 3D effects, with vector rendering support.
  • Nondestructive local object stacking changes.

Automation

  • Additional scripting features to support automation.
  • Variable and style generator plugins (scripts).
  • Multi-criteria selection panel, using select same and by attribute modes.
  • Constrained programming of variable values (scripting).
  • Dynamic layouts using anchors and variables.
  • Automatic update of variable (style) set from an external file.