Illustrator MCP Server (Windows)

AI-powered Adobe Illustrator automation through Claude Desktop.

Describe what you want — like "draw a minimalist coffee shop logo" — and Illustrator brings it to life!

Features

Core Tools

• view - Screenshot of Illustrator window

• run - Execute ExtendScript code directly

• get_document_info - Get document structure (layers, artboards, objects) as JSON

• render_artboard - Export specific artboard as PNG (independent of user view)

Design Assistance

• get_code_example - Ready-to-use ExtendScript patterns

• get_design_guide - Typography, layout, logo/icon design principles

• get_color_palette - Curated color palettes (corporate, creative, minimal, etc.)

MCP Prompts (Auto-context for Claude)

• illustrator-expert - General Illustrator expertise

• logo-designer - Logo design specialization

• icon-designer - Icon set design

• print-designer - Print design (business cards, flyers, etc.)

Quick Install (Windows)

Option 1: One-Click Install

# Double-click install.bat
# Or run in terminal:
.\install.bat

Option 2: Manual Install

1. Requirements

   • Python 3.11+

   • Adobe Illustrator

   • Claude Desktop

2. Install

   cd illustrator-mcp
   python -m venv .venv
   .venv\Scripts\pip install -e .

3. Configure Claude Desktop

   Edit %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "illustrator": {
         "command": "C:/path/to/illustrator-mcp/.venv/Scripts/python.exe",
         "args": ["C:/path/to/illustrator-mcp/illustrator/server.py"]
       }
     }
   }

4. Restart Claude Desktop

Usage Examples

Basic Commands

"Show me the current Illustrator document"
→ Uses get_document_info

"Render the first artboard"
→ Uses render_artboard

"Create a blue rectangle 200x100 pixels"
→ Uses run with ExtendScript

Design Tasks

"Design a minimal logo for TechStart"
→ Uses logo-designer prompt + design guides

"Create a set of 5 navigation icons in outline style"
→ Uses icon-designer prompt + icon guidelines

"Design a business card for John Smith, CEO"
→ Uses print-designer prompt + print specs

Getting Help

"Show me ExtendScript examples for gradients"
→ Uses get_code_example

"What are the typography guidelines?"
→ Uses get_design_guide

"Give me a tech color palette"
→ Uses get_color_palette

Available Resources

Color Palettes

Code Example Categories

• shapes - rectangle, circle, polygon, star, line, bezier

• text - simple_text, styled_heading, paragraph_text, text_on_path

• gradients - linear, radial, multi-stop

• logos - circle_logo, text_logo, monogram_logo

• icons - home_icon, settings_icon, user_icon

• layers - create_layers, move_to_layer

• export - PNG, SVG, PDF

Design Guides

• Typography (hierarchy, font pairings, spacing)

• Layout (grids, white space, alignment)

• Logo design (principles, types, sizing)

• Icon design (styles, grid sizes, consistency)

• Print specs (business card, flyer, poster)

Architecture

Claude Desktop
    ↓ MCP Protocol
Illustrator MCP Server (Python)
    ↓ Windows COM (pywin32)
Adobe Illustrator
    ↓ ExtendScript Engine
Vector Graphics

Key Components

• server.py - MCP server with tools and prompts

• extendscript_library.py - Code examples and utilities

• design_guide.py - Design principles and color palettes

• prompt.py - Prompt templates and suggestions

For Developers

Adding New Code Examples

Edit extendscript_library.py:

SHAPE_EXAMPLES["my_shape"] = '''
var doc = app.activeDocument;
// Your ExtendScript code
'''

Adding New Color Palettes

Edit design_guide.py:

COLOR_PALETTES["my_palette"] = {
    "description": "My custom palette",
    "colors": {
        "primary": {"rgb": [255, 0, 0], "hex": "#FF0000", "usage": "Main color"}
    }
}

Testing

# Test get_document_info
.venv\Scripts\python -c "from illustrator.server import get_document_info; print(get_document_info())"

# Test render_artboard
.venv\Scripts\python -c "from illustrator.server import render_artboard; print(render_artboard())"

Troubleshooting

"ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mcp'"

.venv\Scripts\pip install -e .

"Win32 COM not available"

.venv\Scripts\pip install pywin32

"No document open"

Make sure Adobe Illustrator is running with a document open.

Claude can't connect

1. Check claude_desktop_config.json paths use forward slashes

2. Restart Claude Desktop after config changes

3. Check MCP server logs in Claude Desktop developer tools

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file

Contributing

Pull requests welcome! Please open an issue first for major changes.