Illustrator | History

Then came in 2003. Illustrator CS (11.0) was no longer a lone wolf; it was part of a pack with Photoshop and InDesign. The big feature? 3D Effects . You could now map 2D artwork onto a spinning cylinder or cube—slow and clunky by today’s standards, but mind-blowing in 2003.

was the end of the "Classic" era. It added symbols, stylus pressure sensitivity (hello, Wacom tablets), and live path editing. illustrator history

Adobe bounced back with . This was a landmark release. It introduced Layers (previously, everything lived on one chaotic plane), Spot Colors , and the CMYK color model for professional printing. Illustrator finally became a serious prepress tool. Then came in 2003

The decade ended with and a power play. Adobe introduced the Mesh Tool , allowing artists to wrap gradients around complex 3D shapes. This was the tool that allowed illustrators to create hyper-realistic vector portraits. And in a brutal move, Adobe bought FreeHand’s parent company (Aldus) and then let FreeHand wither and die. The 2000s: The "Creative Suite" Juggernaut (9.0 - CS4) The turn of the millennium marked Illustrator’s puberty—it grew up, got complicated, and joined a family. 3D Effects

was infamous—but not for good reasons. Adobe, for the only time in the software’s history, released a Windows version first (Mac users had to wait a year). The Mac version was buggy and slow, driving many designers into the arms of FreeHand 3.0.