I actually work in software development. Granted I'm an artist not a programmer, I do work directly with the programmers and I understand the process. Yes it usually takes a lot more time to test and debug your code than to write it in the first place, but for something like a history panel which they already know how to write and debug, the process would be much faster than adding a completely new feature. Testing is also usually done widespread, (testing all features at once, together not isoloated), which means the time it takes to test is shared with the other new features. Furthermore I imagine a large company like Adobe has a team dedicated to testing, meaning this time would not take away from the programmer's time to write and debug. These two would most likely be happening concurrently.

Adobe introduced ~35 new features with Illustrator CS5 and probably many more fixes, as you suggested. Adobe's typical 12-18 month product release cycle with the addition of maybe hundreds of fixes and features, I still think your 3-6 month estimate for a feature they already know how to program is way to high.

Touché.

Jw

Scott is against any feature request. I have Nebraska known him to back one single feature request, except the Teddy Bear Tool!

I've been on this forum since Illustrator v9 and you have been here longer and I cannot remember you even once being for any feature request suggested here on ths forum.

I can remeber your were against transparency, mulitppages and multiple art bords, 3D support. more Flash and web support but I do not recall yyou ever actually makig a feature request orsupporting one tha someone else made.

Enlighten us!

I think that the other recent users contributing here understand the difficuty of trying to fight it out on this forum and that their time would be best if each one would submit a feature request here:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

The feture request orks if enough people chime in on the feature request page.

If you see what I mean.

You're welcome I put in my request for or five times and sometimes it takes a while but if people need the feature it shows up.

About priorities that is very much and individuals own issues. And I think they should express.

No one on this thread is an Adobe engineer, so to argue against implementing a History Panel, speculating that it would be technically impossible or unfeasable (despite the fact that Flash has an integrated History Panel), is moot in the sense of having no practical relevance, and is not in the least bit helpful, is just a waste of time to read.  And to argue against someone's desire for a History Panel or anything else, for whatever reasons they desire it, is just plain absurd, let alone self-righteous and contentiious.

I used Photoshop and Illustrator equally and find the lack of a History Panel in Ai endlessly frustrating.  Here is the CS6 feature request that I submiited to Adobe at https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform, the link Wade provided:

"A History Panel would be exceedingly useful, the same as in Flash or Photoshop, and for all the same time-saving, workflow-simplifying reasons.  Please incorporate the feature in CS6.  Ai users have been asking for this for years.  I can tell you for sure that if CS6 does NOT have a HP, I won’t upgrade from CS5.  It’s the one feature that would tip it for me.

Because designing is not a clear-cut linear process - ideas come to mind as you go along - I use the History Panel in PS constantly to either backtrack or test out new ideas and compare them to each other; a similar History Panel in Ai would be invaluable. 

It’s not just the list that’s useful to go back 500 steps if necessary with one click instead of 500, or to instantly compare two states that might be 500 steps apart, but I also use New Snapshot to save multiple history states to the top of the panel that I can return to and work on non-linearly (a history options option), and New Document which instantly opens an identical copy of the entire project with layers preserved in a new tab. 

Ai is woefully lacking in features to aid in the testing and quick comparison of ideas within the document.  Aside from the cmd+z limitations, having to endlessly save copies, search for them, open them in new tabs, then switch back and forth between multiple tabs is a grossly inadequate, cumbersome workaround.

Thank you."

Fireworks also has a history panel which can also be used to crete an action out of the various commands you have already used and you can even skip some of the commands when creating such an action.

Very useful.

CarlosCanto wrote:

 

if I wrote a script to Undo / Redo X number of times, would that help? that's within my powers

Out of curiosity I looked at this thread, and while reading the reasons for the request, my first thought was "they may be better off with faster accelerated redo/undo than a history panel".

I think with a history panel won't be that easy to find the desired history step in a long list of similar steps. There will be a lot of trial and error clicking to find it. Also for those how don't know it, have in mind that you don't have to press Ctrl + z multiple times, you just hold Ctrl and z keys and the changes will be animated pretty fast. I think this animation makes it easier to get to the desired step in the process than if you have to guess where to click in a long list of steps with the same names. So far holding Ctrl + z hasn't been terribly annoying but the best for me would be accelerated undo. One way this could be implemented is while holding Ctrl + z to also press a number on the keyboard that will accelerate the undo animation that number of times. As for comparing stages I like the Photoshop functionality with Ctrl + Alt + z versus Ctrl + z. Something similar in Illustrator will be great. I'm not sure if a history panel will be better for this - imagine you have to scroll several screen pages through the panel to compare two states, although I've seen interfaces where long lists can be split like several instances of the panel but that still will be a lot of user effort to make the arrangement. With all that said I'm not against a history panel feature and I'm sure it will be useful for a lot of people but I think for what is needed there are better ways.

And what if I re use an existent file because of the layout, so I change many photos and such. Then accidentally save it on top, and the ctrl+z aren't enough?

Is there a way to use a button to open the original document as in the top of the history panel on Photoshop?

Patricia,

this thread is about a hypothetical feature. It's not there at the moment.

I know that, but sometimes one can get distracted, just saying.

Thanks anyway for the advice.

great thread, though when searching for "illustrator history panel" one would expect a simple keyboard shortcut or some deep-buried menu item, not a long and complicated thread about a feature that is not there yet... anyway, the reason I signed in (not up, though I might have) is to point out that the History Panel is much more than a quick way to jump many undo states, or quickly compare previous choices, however valid both arguments and uses are. The HP is *visual,* it's like a map, or a trail. It gives you an overview of the time you spent and the actions you performed, and it gives you security, because it's all under your eyes. You might not use it, but it's a different feeling knowing that you have the ability to go back in time, not just going backwards "blindfold" as you do with Ctrl-Z but return to any specific, exact point in time... Considering how little effort it would take to add it (I can't see why it could be difficult), it seems to me that this feature is long overdue.

Still, I'd be very interested to know the historical reasons why AI is different from Photoshop (and most other software) in this respect, I'm sure there were (maybe still are) good reasons for this...?

…and at least 5-10 broken features, such as the inability for AICS6 to drag-n-drop global color swatches from the color panel to gradient panel.