Top free must-have scripts and extensions for Illustrator
8 minute readUpdated 11 May 2021
For a comprehensive list of third party plugins for Adobe Illustrator, please also refer to the Third-party Illustrator plugins page.
Astute Graphics Free Plugins
Astute Graphics' MirrorMe plugin was first introduced July 2013 and has been a cherished tool for Illustrator users ever since, proving invaluable in the fashion, product design, branding industries and more. As its name suggests, it provides instant - and live! - mirror drawing using both Astute Graphics and native Adobe tools.
Previously a paid-for plugin, it was made free to all creatives via the Astute Manager, July 2020 as a way to help the industry in challenging times.
The (Astute Graphics) Autosaviour plugin is designed to automatically save your artwork and create backups in Adobe Illustrator at regular time intervals. It helps to avoid the loss of the entirety or part of the work as a result of the unexpected closing of the application.
DirectPrefs is a completely free plugin that seamlessly integrates into Adobe Illustrator. It gives you access to Illustrator's most useful preferences via one simple panel, plus set-up time-saving custom settings.
Object distributing scripts
A rudimentary panel that allows you to quickly deform your shapes in the 30º Axonometry (Sometimes falsely called isometry).This plugin is available on the Adobe Exchange.
A great tool for clipping objects together, enabling you to clip more than one shape into another, keeping them live.
The script fills outline shape with packed circles.
Rotate Toward Point by Hiroyuki Sato
The script rotates the objects in the selection toward the center of the foreground object.
The script rotates randomly located objects at a certain angle of top most object.
Scripts for path editing
SelectPointsByType by Sergey Osokin
Select points on the currently selected paths according to their type; Bezier, Flush, Corner, Broken or Flat.
Scripts that generate objects based on other objects or data
The script allows generating QR code in Illustrator. You can also use the built-in QR code creator in InDesign to make a vector QR code. The InDesign has more functionality.
With this script you can create a calendar in just a few clicks. Select the year, name the months and days and you are done. There are some languages integrated: UK, RU, DE, UA.
Scripts with Random functions
This script demonstrates an easy way of randomizing the selection of a given number of objects. The user can specify a percentage of up to how many objects should be considered relative (percent) to the number of objects in the current selection.
The script randomly paints the objects into the colors that have been selected in the Swatches panel.
The script randomly changes the opacity of selected objects within the range 0% - 100%.
Random Rotate Liner Gradient by Yemz
The script randomly rotates a linear gradient angle of all selected objects.
The script places the selected objects in random stacking order in the Layers panel.
Special mention of this script even though it is not free at the time of writing (being $5).
Random ZigZag is a form of advanced (if not live) native Rough Effect.
Scripts for working with text objects
Create a – Text Block – out of selected Point Text Items
Create a cool text block from any text, this plugin will re-sizes each text frame so they all have the same width. Great for making text posters.
MergeText_AI by Ajar Productions Animation Studios
The script merges text (including text on a path) into one text object, while retaining the style attributes of the individual pieces, including character styles as well as paragraph styles.
This script generates polyline text.
Scripts for Workspaces
This script will match the zoom value of all windows open - useful when in tile view.
