Improved access to core functionality

Clipping masks with clear simplified appearance and access

Adobe Illustrator now displays only the masked area while you are moving or transforming a masked object. Double-click the masked object to open it in Isolation mode, where you can view and edit the mask independently of all other objects. (See Clipping masks and Isolate artwork for editing.)

In-panel Appearance editing

Select an item in the Appearance panel to view and use the enhanced full-featured controls. Click hyper-links to open option dialog boxes for effects, strokes, and fills. Click a visibility icon for any attribute to easily turn it on or off. (See Appearance attributes.)

Enriched Graphic Styles panel

The newly updated Graphic Styles panel provides you with a quick and easy way to view and apply styles to objects in your document. Use the Use Text For Preview option to view a style as it appears on text, or right-click a thumbnail to quickly preview how that style will look on a selected object on the artboard. Effect-only styles now display the outlines of the object on which the style was created, so you can recognize your effect-only styles at a glance. Merge a style with an object’s existing style or merge two or more different styles on an object by simply using the Alt or Option key when applying the style. (See Graphic styles.)