Installation

Install Vexy Linestra, restart Illustrator, and apply its native Live Effect.

Creative Cloud Installation

For the public release, install Vexy Linestra from its Adobe Creative Cloud Marketplace listing. Creative Cloud places the plug-in in Illustrator's plug-in directory for you.

  1. Quit Adobe Illustrator.
  2. Install Vexy Linestra from Creative Cloud Desktop or Adobe Marketplace.
  3. Wait for Creative Cloud to report that installation is complete.
  4. Start Illustrator again.
  5. Select artwork and choose Effect → Vexy → Vexy Linestra.

Illustrator must restart after installation because native .aip plug-ins are loaded during application startup.

Installing the FontLab Package

The notarized FontLab installer finds the newest compatible Illustrator installation and places VexyLinestra.aip into that application's native plug-in folder. This application-level location is independent of Illustrator's interface language.

  1. Quit Adobe Illustrator.
  2. Open the Vexy Linestra DMG and run Vexy Linestra Installer.pkg.
  3. Start Illustrator again.
  4. Select artwork and choose Effect → Vexy → Vexy Linestra.

Installing Manually

The DMG also contains Install manually/VexyLinestra.aip. Quit Illustrator, then copy it into the plug-in folder beside the Illustrator application:

/Applications/Adobe Illustrator <year>/Plug-ins.localized/

For example, Illustrator 2026 normally uses:

/Applications/Adobe Illustrator 2026/Plug-ins.localized/

Finder may display this folder with a localized name such as Plug-ins or Внешние модули. Do not place the .aip inside the locale-specific ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator …/ru_RU/ or en_US/ resource folders.

Start Illustrator, select artwork, and choose Effect → Vexy → Vexy Linestra.

Do not install two versions of Vexy Linestra at the same time. Remove an older development build before copying a new one.

Installing on Windows

Use the signed Windows installer when it is available with your download. Quit Illustrator, run the installer, and restart Illustrator after installation.

For a manual installation:

  1. Quit Illustrator.
  2. Open C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator <version>\Plug-ins\.
  3. Copy the complete Vexy Linestra folder into that Plug-ins folder.
  4. Keep VexyLinestra.aip, Helpers, and Resources together inside the copied folder.
  5. Restart Illustrator and choose Effect → Vexy → Vexy Linestra.

Repeat the copy for each compatible Illustrator version in which you want Linestra available. Do not copy only the .aip file on Windows; the helper and resource folders are required.

Confirming the Installation

A correct installation adds Effect → Vexy → Vexy Linestra to Illustrator's Effects menu. Applying it opens the compact native controls. To edit it later, double-click its Linestra row in the Appearance panel.

The Appearance panel displays applied effects as Vexy Linestra Linear, Vexy Linestra Contour, Vexy Linestra ASCII, and so on.

Updating

Quit Illustrator before installing an update. Replace the previous plug-in, then restart Illustrator. Documents created with an earlier compatible release keep their stored Live Effect parameters.

For installed releases, you can also open the Linestra panel menu and choose Check for Updates…. The updater checks the Linestra release feed and guides you through an available update. Restart Illustrator after it finishes replacing the plug-in.

Uninstalling

If you installed through Creative Cloud, uninstall it there. For a FontLab package or manual installation, quit Illustrator and remove VexyLinestra.aip from the plug-in folder beside the Illustrator application. On Windows, remove the complete Vexy Linestra folder from each Illustrator Plug-ins folder.

Documents containing Linestra effects should be expanded or saved as a separate copy before uninstalling. Illustrator cannot regenerate a proprietary Live Effect when its plug-in is unavailable.

If Illustrator Reports a Plug-in Problem

Verify that you are using Illustrator 28.7 or newer and installed the plug-in in the application-level plug-ins folder. Remove duplicate copies from old locations, restart Illustrator, and reinstall the official package.

On macOS, critical diagnostic failures may be recorded in:

~/Library/Logs/VexyLinestra/plugin.log

See Troubleshooting for a complete checklist.