I just saw an Adobe MAX demo of Illustrator’s new AI tool, and now I want to get back into vector art

I’ve not used Adobe Illustrator in over a year even though I use vector art when creating projects for laser cutters (I tend to use the xTool and Glowforge propriety apps). But a demo at Adobe MAX 2024 showing the new AI tools for Illustrator has me itching to get back into vector art.

The demo by illustrator Michael Fugoso showed how you can take a simple image or digital painting, this time a raster illustration made in Adobe Fresco, and use the new Enhanced Image Trace tool to convert the image to a vector. The final image includes anchor points to quickly edit the lines.

The final image included a gradient that could be smoothed in one click and even adjusted in strength and tone live and non-destructively with an easy slider. (The MAX audience cooed a little at this point.)