Adobe enables faster workflow with updates to XD, InDesign, and Illustrator

Adobe is doing some spring cleaning — by cleaning up creatives’ workflow with a handful of software enhancements. On Tuesday, March 13, Adobe launched updates to XD, Illustrator, and InDesign, all focused on user interface improvements and creating a faster workflow.

For web and app designers using Adobe XD, the spring update brings integration with Photoshop. Opening a Photoshop file will automatically convert over to XD’s interactive prototyping format, Adobe says. The compatibility allows users to edit artboards, layers, and assets originally created in Photoshop inside XD.

Additional XD updates mean spending less time adjusting multiple elements at once — groups can now be adjusted at once, with changes to fill and stroke applying to the entire group. Copying and pasting symbols now pastes the symbol as a whole, where the previous version would paste as a group of elements instead of a single symbol. Compatibility with Sketch and enhancements to viewport edits are also part of the update.

For designers working in Illustrator, the latest update allows for custom-sized anchor points, handles, and bounding-box settings. Adobe says the change helps make those tools easier to see and allows users to customize for their screen. Another update allows multi-page PDF imports where with the earlier version the file type had to be uploaded one page at a time. The pages automatically import into individual artboards. The update also brings compatibility with CSV files for creating variable text inside the design and enhancements to the Dropbox Smart Sync option.

InDesign also sees a handful of enhancements, including the option to switch to Photoshop’s keyboard shortcuts for users more familiar with that program. The update also brings back the preview document feature when creating a new file.

For users exporting multi-page documents to PDFs, a new multi-page PDF export option automatically exports the pages into individual PDF documents. The tool is designed for working with production and printers — printing documents such as newspapers often requires each page as a separate file. The update, Adobe says, saves time from manually exporting individual pages.

Additional InDesign updates include additional tracking and analytics to track reading time for the Publish Online tool, borders for multiple paragraphs, and new document presets for the latest smartphones and tablet screen sizes. InCopy, Adobe’s writing program that syncs with InDesign, also sees an update to support endnotes.