Illustrator Commands

Illustrator Commands gives you direct access to Illustrator's menu commands, tools, and scripting engine from any Stream Deck model. Three actions cover every use case: Run Menu Command, Run Script, and Dial Command for Stream Deck+. Works on macOS and Windows.

Run Menu Command

The primary action. Assign any Illustrator menu command, tool, or keyboard shortcut to a button.

Command Name — Type a command in plain English (Create Outlines, Group, Pathfinder Unite, Zoom In). The plugin matches against 600+ commands using exact, partial, and word-overlap matching.

Direct Command String — Enter the exact internal command (outline, group, selectall, zoomin) to bypass name matching.

Command Type — Choose Menu Command (uses executeMenuCommand for any menu item) or Tool (uses selectTool to switch the active tool, e.g. "Adobe Pen Tool").

Hotkey Capture — Record any keyboard shortcut directly in settings.

Hotkey Mode — Two options:

Fallback: command runs first; if it fails, the hotkey fires automatically.

Prefer Hotkey: skips the command and sends the shortcut directly — milliseconds rather than the 300–500ms a scripted command requires. Best for slow or crash-prone commands.

Hotkey-only buttons are supported: leave the command fields empty and configure only a hotkey.

Run Script

Execute custom ExtendScript with a single button press. Full access to Illustrator's DOM — documents, selections, layers, paths, colors, text. Scripts are wrapped in try/catch for error handling. Quick Templates provide starting points. Scripts are sent via AppleScript on macOS and PowerShell (via Illustrator's COM interface) on Windows.

Dial Command (Stream Deck+)

Assign different commands to each dial interaction. Each dial supports five independently configured actions:

Clockwise / Counter-Clockwise — paired operations like zoom in/out, undo/redo, bring forward/send backward.

Press — complementary actions like Fit Artboard in Window, Save, or Group.

Touch Tap / Long Touch — secondary actions like toggling views or resetting zoom.

Each action has its own command field, type selector, and hotkey capture.

Built-In Commands

600+ pre-mapped commands covering file ops; edit (undo, redo, cut, copy, paste variants); object (group, lock, hide, expand, flatten); transform (move, rotate, scale, reflect, shear); path (join, outline stroke, offset, simplify); Pathfinder (unite, minus front, intersect, exclude, divide, trim, merge, crop); align and distribute; type (create outlines, change case, find font, spelling); select; view (zoom, fit artboard, outline mode, pixel preview); all Illustrator and Photoshop effects; window panels; all tools; blend modes; image trace; and generative AI.

About Menu Commands

Menu commands are sent through Illustrator's executeMenuCommand method, which takes an internal command string (often different from the menu label). Adobe doesn't publish an official list, and the strings change between versions — what works in 2024 may use a different identifier in 2026, and some are version-exclusive. Reference lists are widely available online; some experimentation may be needed for less common commands.

Hotkey System

On macOS, hotkeys are sent via AppleScript System Events directly to Illustrator with no delays. On Windows, a compiled helper (sendkey.exe) simulates key presses via the keybd_event API.

Supports all letters, numbers, F1–F12, punctuation, arrows, and special keys (Delete, Backspace, Tab, Escape, Space, Home, End, Page Up/Down) with any combination of Ctrl/Cmd, Shift, and Alt/Option.

Compatibility

macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later

Windows 10 or later

Stream Deck software 6.9 or later

Adobe Illustrator 2020 or later

All Stream Deck models: MK.2, +, XL, Mini, Neo

Dial features require Stream Deck+ or compatible model

600+ Pre-Built commands included.