Astute Manager Pro vs. Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries: Which one's better for Illustrator users?

If you’re an Adobe Illustrator power user, you've probably hit that moment where you're reinstalling the app, rebuilding your Workspace, or digging through old files just to find your go-to Brushes and Swatches. That’s where tools like Astute Manager Pro and Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries come in. Both are built to make your creative life easier, but they do it in totally different ways. So which one should you use? Let’s break it down. 

Core features 

Astute Manager Pro is all about backing up, restoring, and syncing your Illustrator setup. Think custom Brushes, Graphic Styles, Keyboard Shortcuts, Save for Web Presets, Swatches, Action Sets, Tools, and Plugin Preferences. You can create asset packs, drop them into new Illustrator installs, and get rolling in minutes. It’s basically a personal safety net for your Illustrator environment. It focuses on maintaining a consistent Illustrator environment, allowing users to back up their preferences and sync Illustrator Workspaces across multiple computers or teams. 

On the flip side, Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries are more about sharing and reusing creative assets like Graphics, Colors, Character Styles, and Logos across Adobe apps. They work great if you're bouncing between Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign and want access to the same design elements from the cloud. 

Additionally, Creative Cloud Libraries do not support plugin-specific settings or action sets backup, which are important for many professional Illustrator users. Their main purpose is asset sharing rather than full environment backup or syncing preferences. 

If your priority is keeping your Illustrator environment consistent across devices or reinstallations, Astute Manager wins. If you need reusable creative elements across multiple Adobe apps, Libraries is your go-to. 

Live updates and syncing 

Astute Manager Pro handles syncing very differently. Once you back up your Illustrator Preferences or Assets, it installs them directly into the correct location in Illustrator. You don’t even need to restart the app. Want to sync across multiple machines? Just sign in and install your asset pack. It’s fast, local, and precise. 

Creative Cloud Libraries are cloud-based and sync automatically across all your Adobe apps. If you update a library color in Illustrator, that change reflects everywhere else you use it. That live-sync feature is slick, but it’s limited to design elements, not preferences or app settings. 

In short, Astute Manager is great for syncing setups. Creative Cloud Libraries are better for syncing design content. 

Collaboration and teams 

With Astute Manager Pro, teams get fine-tuned roles. You’ve got Owners, Managers, and Members. That means you can control who builds asset packs, who approves them, and who just installs them. It’s great for creative studios where branding consistency matters and you don’t want every designer editing shared assets. 

Adobe Libraries also support collaboration. You can share libraries with team members, and they can update or use them directly in Illustrator or other apps. However, there are fewer controls around approvals or versioning. 

Astute Manager Pro, on the other hand, has its own ‘traffic light’ themed panel within Adobe Illustrator, which offers immediate visual feedback on asset status. Users can instantly see whether any of their packs are up to date (green) or outdated (red). This unobtrusive interface keeps teams synchronized without interrupting the design process, allowing designers to stay focused while maintaining full awareness of asset consistency and availability. 

So if your team needs tight control over asset sharing and a structured workflow, Astute is stronger. If you're looking for quick sharing without a lot of management, Libraries work well. 

Use cases 

Use Astute Manager Pro if: 

• You often reset Illustrator or move between machines

• You use multiple Illustrator versions (like 2024 and 2025)

• You want to avoid losing workspaces, shortcuts, or plugin settings

• Your team needs to manage asset distribution with approvals

• You want a ‘traffic light’ themed panel within Adobe Illustrator to show the status of assets

Use Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries if: 

• You work in multiple Adobe apps and want shared brand elements

• You’re part of a design team using Photoshop, XD, InDesign, and more

• You want quick access to logos, type styles, and color palettes across projects 

The bottom line

Both tools have their place, but they serve different goals. If you're laser-focused on Illustrator and want to back up or sync everything from brushes to shortcuts, Astute Manager Pro is a powerhouse. If you want to share creative assets across apps and with other team members quickly, Creative Cloud Libraries are a solid choice. 

Still unsure? Try both. Astute Manager Pro has a freemium plan with enough features to get started, and Libraries are built right into Illustrator.