Astropad Studio and Illustrator

Using Adobe Illustrator with Astropad

In This Article:

• Rearranging Panels and Toolbars
• Custom Shortcuts for Illustrator
• Magic Gestures
• Quick Keys
• On-Screen Keyboard
• Touch Gestures
• Pressure Sensitivity Setup
• If Illustrator Feels Slow

Illustrator is the go-to tool for vector work, from illustration and typography to precise design layouts. When paired with Astropad Studio, you can turn your iPad into a powerful creative tool for Illustrator on your Mac.

This guide walks you through how to set up your Illustrator workspace and optimize it for Astropad features like shortcuts, gestures, and pressure sensitivity.

Rearranging Panels and Toolbars

Illustrator’s toolbars and panels can be placed anywhere around the canvas. Move your most-used panels to wherever feels natural, whether that be left, right, or floating.

Astropad Studio’s Shortcuts Sidebar can also be moved to either side of your iPad screen or hidden by tapping the red ring button. Drag the ring with your finger to reposition it easily.

Shortcuts Sidebar on the left, Illustrator panels on the right

Custom Shortcuts for Illustrator

Astropad’s default shortcuts are designed for Photoshop, but you can customize them to suit Illustrator instead:

• P: Pen Tool
• –: Delete Anchor Point Tool
• A: Direct Selection Tool
• V: Selection Tool
• Command Z: Undo
• Shift Z: Redo
• B: Brush Tool
• Shift E: Eraser Tool

To change shortcuts:

1. On your Mac, open Astropad’s Preferences
2. Click a slot in the Shortcuts Sidebar
3. Tap Set and press the shortcut on your Mac

Editing Astropad shortcuts

Magic Gestures

Use Magic Gestures for quick access to tools like undo, redo, and eraser — or even hover without drawing.

Recommended Magic Gestures:

• Hover
• Eraser
• Option
• Shift
• Undo
• Redo

Quick Keys

Need access to modifier keys like Command, Option, Control, or Shift? Use Astropad's on-screen Quick Keys, located at the bottom of the Shortcuts Sidebar. You can enable or disable them with a tap. You're also able to customize these buttons to your liking! 

On-Screen Keyboard

Astropad Studio includes a full on-screen keyboard. Just tap Keyboard in the Shortcuts Sidebar or use the Quick Keys button. F-keys can also be enabled from Astropad’s settings menu.

Touch Gestures: Zoom, Pan, and Rotate

Touch gestures make it easy to navigate your Illustrator canvas — no scrollbars needed. Just use two fingers to:

• Pinch to zoom
• Slide to pan
• Twist to rotate

Pressure Sensitivity Setup in Illustrator

Unfortunately, Illustrator does not detect the iPad as a pressure-sensitive tablet by default. However, there’s a workaround.

To enable pressure sensitivity in Illustrator:

• Install a Wacom driver (you don’t need a Wacom tablet)
• Request and install Adobe Illustrator 2020
• Restart your Mac after installation

More details here: Pressure Sensitivity in Illustrator (Mac)

Once installed and permissions are granted, open Illustrator’s Brush Options:

1. Set Fixed to Pressure
2. Adjust variation settings as desired

Choose "Pressure" in Brush Options

Adjust stroke variation as needed

If Illustrator Feels Slow

If drawing feels laggy, try turning off GPU Performance:

1. Open Illustrator’s Preferences
2. Go to GPU Performance
3. Uncheck GPU Performance

Want more tips? Check out:

• How to Resize Anchor Points in Illustrator