Windows installation:

General:
CADpatterns for Adobe Illustrator can be used directly after downloading, no installation of the CADpatterns for Adobe Illustrator pattern files within Adobe Illustrator is required. However, it might be more convenient to have your CADpatterns directly available from the Illustrator Swatches palette.

For both usage (manually or installed) it is important to first extract the downloaded ZIP archive (CADpatterns12.zip). First locate the downloaded CADpatterns12.zip file in your download location. To extract the CADpatterns ZIP archive right-click on the archive file and choose “Extract All…”.

The file will be extracted and a new folder named CADpatterns 12 will be created.

Browse to the CADpattterns12 folder and locate the four CADpattern for Adobe Illustrator files:

Manual usage:
Use this option if you don’t intent to use the CADpatterns for Adobe Illustrator on a daily or weekly basis. There is no need to install the CADpatterns for Adobe Illustrator files, the files can be opened directly into Adobe Illustrator from its current location (by using the swatches palette).

First start Adobe Illustrator and create a new document or open an existing document. Next open the Adobe Illustrator Swatches Palette (Choose Windows » Swatches from the Illustrator pull-down menu).

From the Swatches palette options choose Open Swatch Library » Other Library.

Now use the Open dialog to browse to the extracted CADpatterns for Adobe Illustrator files, choose the pattern file you’d like to open (for example: AutoCAD CADpatterns.ai) and click the Open button. The AutoCAD CADpatterns file will now open and is ready for usage.

Installation:
To have the CADpatterns for Adobe Illustrator permanently present in the Swatches palette, the CADpattern swatches need to be copied once into the Adobe Illustrator swatches folder.

First locate the Adobe Illustrator Swatches folder. The folder location may depend on your Adobe Illustrator version and language. The list below shows an overview of the default Swatches folder locations:

Adobe CS	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CS\Presets\Swatches
Adobe CS2	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CS2\Presets\Swatches
Adobe CS3	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CS3\Presets\Swatches
Adobe CS4	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CS4\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CS5	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CS5\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CS6	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CS6\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CC 2014	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CC 2014\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CC 2015	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CC 2015\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CC 2016	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CC 2016\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CC 2017	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CC 2017\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CC 2018	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CC 2018\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CC 2019	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator CC 2019\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CC 2020	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator 2020\Presets\en_US\Swatches
Adobe CC 2021	C:\program files\Adobe Illustrator 2021\Presets\en_US\Swatches

* for CS4 and newer the language (for example “en_US”) is part in the folder location and might differ depending on your installed language.

Now create a subfolder named CADpatterns in the Illustrator Swatches folder

Copy all four extracted CADpatterns for Adobe Illustrator pattern files into the just created CADpatterns folder. Next, launch Adobe Illustrator and create a new document or open an existing document. Next open the Adobe Illustrator Swatches Palette (Choose Windows » Swatches from the Illustrator pull-down menu).

From the Swatches palette options choose Open Swatch Library and notice the new CADpatterns option. Double click the CADpatterns palette of your choice and a new Swatches palette will appear.