Illustrator Generative Fill

As a graphic designer at FixThePhoto, I’ve spent years working with vector graphics, creating everything from bold banner ads to detailed typography layouts, all designed to grab your attention.

Adobe Illustrator has been my main tool – it’s where my ideas came to life. When Adobe added AI-powered Generative Fill to Illustrator, I was super excited. Using Generative AI in Illustrator seemed amazing. After months of using it for FixThePhoto’s marketing and my freelance work, I wanted to share my experience.

Adobe Illustrator’s Generative Fill is a set of AI tools built into Illustrator to help you create vector graphics faster and more efficiently. Think of it as having a smart, quick assistant right inside your favorite free vector graphics software.

Illustrator has long been the top choice for graphic design. It’s the go-to tool for crafting everything from logos and icons to detailed illustrations, all with the sharp, scalable quality that vectors are known for. Whether for digital or print, it delivers flawless results. Illustrator is all about precision and advanced control, with features like Repeat for Patterns and Global Edits that make workflows faster and more efficient.

With the introduction of generative AI, they’ve taken a huge leap forward. The recent updates are built around three core AI-powered features:

Generative Shape Fill. This is the main feature we’ll focus on. Imagine being able to draw a shape, type a text prompt, and instantly fill it with textures, colors, and styles that fit your design. It’s all about quick experimentation, letting you try endless ideas in seconds.

Text to Pattern. Powered by Adobe Firefly Vector Model, this feature lets you turn your ideas into reality with little to no effort. Whether you’re working on a fashion mockup, an interior design project, or stylish packaging, just tell the tool what you have in mind. It’ll generate editable and scalable vector patterns perfectly aligned with your unique style. This feature is an absolute game-changer for brainstorming and quickly bringing your pattern-based designs to life.

Objects in Path. When it comes to arrangement and layout, this tool is amazing. It lets you easily attach, place, and move objects along any path you draw. For example, you can line up icons perfectly on a curved line for an infographic or space out design elements evenly around a circle for a logo. It gives you more freedom and precision in Illustrator, making your work easier and more creative. Whether your project is simple or complex, this tool helps you work faster and better.

These features fundamentally change how my team and I create vector graphics. It speeds up creativity, helping you brainstorm and explore ideas faster. It makes advanced design techniques easy for anyone to use. Most importantly, it opens up new creative possibilities in vector art that we might not have thought of before. Beyond saving time, it’s about uncovering creative opportunities you might not have considered.

Combining shapes and colors for impact. One of the most exciting aspects is layering and combining shapes filled with generative fills. Think about creating a banner for a summer sale. You could start by drawing a face in Illustrator or a basic vector shape for a sun, use Generative Shape Fill to fill it with a vibrant, textured "golden hour sunlight" style, then layer it over another shape filled with a "cool ocean wave" pattern.

By tinkering with contrasting colors and complementary patterns (maybe using Adobe Color to find perfect palettes) you can create fantastic and eye-grabbing compositions. This layering trick adds depth and detail, making your art pop up.

Using patterns and textures to convey mood. Plain, flat colors will not annoy you anymore. With Generative Shape Fill, you can add detailed patterns and textures to your designs that better express themes and moods. For example, instead of a simple blue background for a winter email header, you could use a "knitted wool texture" or a "frosty ice pattern" to make it stand out.

Textures bring a tactile, engaging quality to your designs, making them feel more alive and emotionally connected. While Illustrator offers default patterns, generative fills let you craft custom textures and patterns tailored to your project. Dive deeper into this in our Adobe Illustrator tutorials.

Incorporating other design elements for cohesion. Generative Shape Fill works best when paired with other design elements like text, logos, images, and vectors. Use it alongside these tools to create balanced and creative designs.

Use a generatively filled shape as a bold background for text and product images in a social media post. Keep the design consistent. Choose fonts and image styles that match the fills, creating a seamless look. Only when all elements blend well, your design can tell a clear story. When all these elements work together, your design moves from good to truly remarkable.

So, let’s find out how to use this Generative Shape Fill and Text to Pattern in this AI tool for designers based on the example of creating design elements for FixThePhoto email campaigns.

AI Generative Fill in Illustrator came in handy when I needed to create eye-grabbing banner elements for our FixThePhoto email newsletters. Here is a quick description of each step:

Draw a banner shape. Let’s say we need a banner for an email advertising our image retouching services. With the help of Rectangle Tool (M), it is easy to depict a banner shape at the top of the email.

Access Generative Fill. Choose the rectangle using the Selection Tool (V). Then, in the Properties Panel, click on Generative Fill. This will open the prompt box.

Enter a banner fill prompt. For a photo retouching email banner, I’d prefer a gentle, artistic backdrop and type: "abstract watercolor texture, soft pastel colors, artistic background for photography email banner." Then, I need to click Generate.

Choose a variation. AI Generative Fill in Illustrator creates different options. After looking through the thumbnails in the Properties Panel, I pick the banner fill that matches FixThePhoto’s style - something sleek and professional, yet with a creative flair. If more options are required, click Generate More.

Integrate into email design. Once I’ve chosen the generated fill, it becomes part of my vector banner. From there, I can layer on text, the FixThePhoto logo, and calls to action, turning it into a polished and eye-catching header for our email newsletter.

The Text to Pattern feature in this AI art generator is ideal for generating original branded dividers to organize sections in FixThePhoto emails. Here’s a quick guide to get started:

Access pattern generation. Open Object > Pattern > Generate (Beta) to launch the Pattern Generation panel.

Describe your divider pattern. For FixThePhoto, I want a subtle, photography-related pattern for dividers. I'll use the prompt: "seamless pattern of tiny camera icons, light grey and white, minimalist vector pattern". Click Generate.

For FixThePhoto, I need a clean, photography-inspired pattern for dividers. So, my prompt sound: "minimalist vector pattern with tiny camera icons in light grey and white, seamless design." After that, I need to hit Generate.

Refine pattern settings. Launch the Pattern Generation panel:

• Look through Variations and pick one.
• Change the scale to resize the camera icons so they fit perfectly as email dividers.
• Try different tile types, if necessary, though "Grid" usually works well for dividers.
• If you want to alter the pattern’s colors, make the needed adjustments in the Color section.
• Hit Generate in the panel as a final step.

Use pattern as email divider. The pattern is now in my Swatches Panel. I can draw a thin rectangle in the email layout and fill it with this pattern, creating a neat, branded divider between sections.

When testing Illustrator AI Generative Shape Fill and Text to Pattern for some time, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks that allow getting great results.

✔️ AI as a starting point, not the finish line. For me, this is crucial. I view Generative Fill as a powerful tool to kickstart my designs. It delivers amazing textures and patterns quickly, which is a great foundation. Then I use other Illustrator options to tweak, personalize, and make the design stand out. It’s all about combining AI’s efficiency with my creative expertise.
✔️ Style consistency is still on you. AI is helpful, but it doesn’t automatically match your design style. I focus on keeping things consistent by using similar prompts and colors for all generative fills in a project, so everything feels unified.
✔️ Prompting is an art. Knowing how to create a great prompt is only half of success. Instead of just saying “texture,” I describe the type of texture, the colors, and the overall mood I want to create. The more specific I am, the closer the pic created by AI matches my vision. It’s like guiding the AI with clear instructions: the better you explain, the better result you get.

✔️ Think "style of..." prompts. Sometimes, I want a specific artistic style. Using prompts like "Art Deco pattern" or "vintage poster-inspired illustration" helps the AI create what I want to achieve. It’s like taking inspiration from art history but in a fast and digital way.

✔️ Negative prompts are your friend. Negative prompts come in handy as well. Especially in cases, when the result is almost ideal, but I don’t like a minor detail. For example, if I want a floral pattern without roses, I’ll use "floral pattern with wildflowers, -roses," and it works perfectly.
✔️Abstract is awesome. Your prompts could be weird! Very often after entering abstract descriptions, the system pleased me with really eye-grabbing results. I mean such prompts as "dreamy energy," or "geometric chaos." These abstract prompts can create unique, surprising textures and backgrounds that I wouldn’t have imagined myself. They’re a great alternative to simply changing background color in Illustrator.

Illustrator is not a single program, that can take your graphic design game to a new level with an AI-powered toolkit. Several other Illustrator alternatives also use smart algorithms, but for me, they are not as advanced as the Adobe product.

To help you better understand how Illustrator’s AI Generative Fill compares to other design tools, I’ve created this handy table based on my personal experience:

This is the big question everyone’s asking: Will AI tools like Generative Shape Fill replace graphic designers? I strongly believe that this will not happen. At least, not in the way many fear.

Instead, I see it as a way to expand our creative potential. Generative AI tool is not designed to replace a designer’s skills, taste, or strategic thinking. Instead, it can help us work faster, handle repetitive tasks more efficiently, and come up with more design ideas in less time.

Here’s another way to look at it: Illustrator didn’t replace designers when it was introduced. Instead, it empowered them by automating repetitive manual tasks and created new possibilities for digital art. Now, AI generative features are the next stage in that evolution, offering designers even greater creative freedom and efficiency.

Human designers offer unique skills and insights that AI can’t replicate:

❌ Strategic thinking. Understanding client needs, knowing the target audience, aligning with marketing goals, and turning those into impactful visual messages. Artificial Intelligence can create visuals, but it doesn’t understand the purpose or strategy behind the design.
❌ Conceptual creativity. Generation of fresh graphic design ideas, unique concepts, and innovative approaches are not possible without human imagination. AI can help with variations and details, but original ideas still come from people.
❌ Taste and aesthetic judgment. Only a human professional can judge what looks good, what will appeal to the audience, and what should be done to bring the design to perfection. AI can make many ideas, but people decide which ones work best and improve them.
❌ Emotional intelligence and communication. Working with clients, understanding their goals, and sharing design ideas clearly is crucial. Design is about people, so empathy and good communication matter most.

Artificial intelligence will have a serious impact on the design field. It will automate some basic tasks, speed up the production workflow, and bring other goodies to the table. But the main role in the creative process will remain human. A graphic designer will be the creative problem solver, the visual storyteller, and the brand builder, using AI as a powerful brush in the toolkit.