The basics

1. Download CORE.
2. Download and install Xcode (for Mac) and/or Microsoft Visual Studio (for Windows).
3. Build the sample plug-in(s) of your choice.
4. Duplicate and modify the Skeleton plug-in to start your own.

macOS

Illustrator and macOS have been around for many years, so system compatibility can get confusing; however, this list and an open-source shell script will fix you right up.

Xcode 9 or above is required to develop Illustrator plug-ins for macOS using CORE. We have tested full compatibility up to Xcode 13.4.1.

• To distribute plug-ins for macOS Catalina or later (10.15), you will need Xcode 10 or later to notarize your binary. Please refer to Apple's documentation on how to do this.
• To develop plug-ins for Illustrator CC 2022 (Ai 26) and 2023 (Ai 27), you will need the OS 11.1 SDK. This is included in Xcode 12.
• To develop plug-ins for Illustrator CC 2021 (Ai 25), you will need the OS 10.14 SDK. This is included in Xcode 10.
• To develop plug-ins for Illustrator CC 2019 (Ai 23) or 2020 (Ai 24), you will need the OS 10.13 SDK. This is included in Xcode 9.

To be able to compile against all versions of CORE, your Xcode binary will need to be modified for legacy support. We recommend downloading Xcode 13.4.1 or 12.4.0, 11.7.0, 10.3.0, and 9.4.1. Otherwise, you will only be able to compile against the version of CORE corresponding to the macOS SDK versions listed above.

All the Xcode modifications are straightforward and are fully automated by this XcodeLegacy script on github. Simply download it (or checkout its git repository) and follow the instructions - you can specify certain options when running the XcodeLegacy command to only add macOS 10.13 through 10.15 to Xcode 12 or 13, if you'd rather not download Xcode versions below 9.4.1 as well.

It is worth noting that only the older macOS SDKs are required to develop for older versions of Illustrator (not e.g. the older compilers or linkers); if you'd like to manually modify Xcode 12 or 13 to compile for all versions of Illustrator, simply extract the MacOSX10.x.sdk folder from each older version of Xcode and copy it into the Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs folder of Xcode 12 or 13, and modify the associated Info.plist file there to remove the "MinimumSDKVersion" entry.

Windows

Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Professional or above is required to develop Illustrator plug-ins for Windows using CORE.

Hot Door uses Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Professional and has not tested later versions.

No modifications or additional downloads are needed to develop plug-ins for CC 2019 through 2023 (23-27).

CORE sample plug-ins

CORE contains four sample plug-ins: Annotate, Panel, Skeleton, and Tool.

The Annotate sample implements a simple rectangle drawing tool, which annotates its geometry during dragging.

The Skeleton sample simply acts as an empty plugin that performs no function, but which Illustrator recognizes and loads successfully. This is to provide a good foundation on which to start building your own plugin (see below).

The Tool plug-in implements a gear drawing tool. This demonstrates the creation of tools, modal dialogs with UI elements, preferences, and Illustrator art drawing.

The Panel plug-in demonstrates the creation of panels with UI elements, notifiers, timers, and Illustrator art object iteration.

CORE Skeleton plug-in

The easiest way to get your plug-in started using CORE is to duplicate and modify the Skeleton plug-in as a starting point.

1. Create a new project folder and copy the contents of the Skeleton folder to the new project folder.
2. Create a Libraries folder (anywhere is fine) and copy hdi_core into it. You do not need to copy the Samples or Documentation folders.
3. Open the project file in Xcode or Visual Studio.
4. Delete the hdi_core folder from the Libraries group and add the new hdi_core folder that you just placed into your Libraries folder.

You have two choices at this point: either start working with Skeleton as-is and add your own code, or follow these instructions to eliminate all traces of "Skeleton" and "skel" from your project.

• First, come up with a name for your project. If the name is long, you may want a shortened version for some of the config files. For example, "skel" is used in place of "skeleton".
• In the Configs folder, change the 'skel' portion of the file names to match your project
• In all of the config files (except skel-shared.xcconfig on Mac) edit the #include line to the name you just changed.
• In Headers, change skelPlugin.h file name to your new name.
• In Projects, change the project names to match your new name.
• In Resources, change Skeleton.json to match your new name.
• In Sources, change skelPlugin.cpp and skelSetup.cpp to match your new name.
• For Mac, open Skeleton.xcodeproj with a text editor and replace all instances of "Skeleton" and "skel" with your new name.
• For Windows, open Skeleton.sln, Skeleton.vcxproj, Skeleton.vcxproj.filters, and Skeleton.vcxproj.user with a text editor and replace all instances of "Skeleton" and "skel" with your new name.
• For Mac, in Configs/skel-shared.xcconfig, change the paths to CORE.
• For Mac, open Info.plist with a text editor and change as necessary.
• In the header file, change the namespace name from "skel" to your new name
• In the Resources/Skeleton.json file, change references to Skeleton to match your new name.
• Open the project files in Xcode or Visual Studio.
• Now add the appropriate .a / .lib binary files to the targets.
• Choose the desired target and build. The plug-in will install into /Applications/Illustrator <X>/Plug-ins (on Mac) or C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator <X>\Plug-ins (on Windows). You may change this install path as necessary.