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Color in Adobe Illustrator

Import artwork files

Adobe Illustrator allows us to import both vector drawing and bitmap images from the files created in other applications, so we don’t have to create artwork from scratch in Adobe illustrator. It recognizes all the common graphic file formats.

Step 1: Open or create the Illustrator document into which you want to place the imported artwork.

Step 2: Select the file and click on the place, then choose the text file you want to place.

Step 3: If you want to create a link to the file, then select the link, or you can deselect the link to embed the artwork with the Illustrator document.

Step 4: Click on the place.

Step 5: You can choose the page that you want to place and the way to crop the artwork if you wish to put a PDF file with multiple pages.

Step 6: You can choose the way to convert layers if you want to embed an Adobe Photoshop file.

Link panel

1. Transparency interaction: It shows the transparency of the artwork in your document.
2. Missing Artwork: The artwork that is missed from your document.
3. Embedded Artwork: The embedding of the contents of a linked file suspends the management operation of the link.
4. Modified Artwork: The modified artwork is the most recent version of the file on the disk.
5. Linked Artwork: Artwork that is related to your document or other artwork.

Export Artwork

Step 1: Go to the File menu and click on the Export option from the drop-down.

Step 2: After that, select a desired location for the file, and enter a file name.

Step 3: From the option available in the save file dialogue box, select a format from the Save As Type.

Step 4: Finally, click on the Save button.

File formats for exporting artwork

DWG and DXF: AutoCAD drawing (DWG) is the standard file format that is used to save vector graphics created in AutoCAD. At the same time, AutoCAD Interchange (DXF) is a drawing interchange format for exporting AutoCAD drawings to or importing drawings from other applications.

BMP: It is a standard Windows image format where a color model, resolution, and anti-alias setting can be specified for rasterizing the artwork as well as a format.

EMF: It is the Enhanced Metafile that can be widely used by windows applications as an interchange format for exporting vector graphics data.

JPEG: It is the short form for the Joint Photographic Export Group that is commonly used to save photographs that retain all the color information in an image.

Macintosh PICT: It supports the MAC OS graphics and page layout application to transfer images between applications.

Flash: It is the vector-based graphic format for interactive and animated web graphics.

PSD: The Photoshop document is a standard format that Illustrator preserves the appearance of the artwork by merging the layers in the document.

PNG: The PNG is the Portable Network Graphic that is used for lossless compression and display of the image on the web.

TGA: It is designed for the use of a system that uses the Truevison video board.

TXT: It can be used to export text in an illustration to a text file.

TIFF: It can be used to exchange files between applications and computer platforms.

WMF: it stands for Windows Metafile, which is an intermediate exchange format for 16-bit Windows applications.

Package files

The package file feature is available in Adobe Illustrator CS6 and later versions. We create a folder that contains the Illustrator document, font, linked graphics, and package report when we package any file.

Step 1: Go to the File menu and click on the package option from the drop-down.

Step 2: On the package dialogue box, specify the folder name and location.

Step 3: Also specify the following option in the package dialogue box:

• Copy Links: This option can be used to copy linked graphics and files to the package folder location.
• Collect link in a Separate Folder: A Links folder will be created, and all the linked assets will be placed in that folder.
• Relink Linked files to the Document: It can be used to changes links to the package folder location.
• Copy Fonts used in the Document: It can be used to copy all necessary font files, not the entire font family.
• Create Report: It can be used to create a summary report to accompany the packaged files.

Step 4: Now, click on the package. When you click on it, it will show the following folder structure.

Exporting assets

Step 1: Click on the File menu.

Step 2: Select Export from the drop-down and then select Export for Devices.

Step 3: Select the scope, i.e., Artboard or Assets you want to export.

Step 4: After that, according to your selection, the next dialogue box will appear, where you need to specify the number and range of document you want to export.

Step 5: Now, you need to specify the settings for the exported files, such as – Scale, location, Open location after Export, suffix, Format, Prefix, etc.

Step 6: After that, click on the setting icon to specify the settings for output exported file formats.

Step 7: Finally, click on the Export Artboard or Export Assets button.

Working with creative cloud library

The creative cloud library of Adobe is a collection of pre-defined designs. But with Illustrator, we can access only: colors, color themes, brushes, Character Styles, Graphics, and text. It helps us to organize, browse, and access creative assets.

Step 1: To open the Libraries panel, click on the Windows menu and then select the Libraries from the drop-down.

Step 2: Or you can click on the Libraries panel icon from the Brushes panel.

Creating a Library

Step 1: Click on the drop-down menu icon in the libraries panel.

Step 2: Choose the Create New Library option .

Step 3: On the Create New Library dialogue box, fill in a name for your library, and click Create.

Sharing a Library

Step 1: Go to the Libraries panel and select a library from the drop-down menu.

Step 2: After that, expand the flyout menu and choose “Collaborate”.

Step 3: On the next dialogue box, provide an email address, and specify what kind of access you would like to provide. Such as – Can Edit or Can View.

Step 4: Now, you can add an optional message for the person you are sharing the library with.

Step 5: Finally, click on Invite.

Saving an Artwork

Adobe illustrator writes the artwork data to a file when you save or export artwork. The data structure depends on the selection of the file formats.

If your Illustrator documents contain more than one artboard and you want to save to a previous version of Illustrator. You can either choose to save each artboard as a separate file or a combination of all the artboards.

Step 1: Go to the File menu and click on Save As or Save A Copy.

Step 2: On the browser window, type a filename and choose a location for the file.

Step 3: On the format option, choose the *.AI as the file format.

Step 4: Finally, click on Save

Step 5: Go to the Illustrator options dialogue box and set the desired option and click OK.

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