ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR® TEMPLATES & TIPS

The instructions below will help guide you in preparing the best possible files for production and print using Illustrator CS and CS2.

TEMPLATES

These templates are mac and windows compatible unless otherwise noted.

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR® TIPS

CONVERTING FONTS TO OUTLINES

We require all type in EPS files to be converted into outlines. To outline text, first choose All from the Select menu, then choose Create Outlines from the Type menu. This process converts type into vector shapes and prevents font default problems.

NOTE: Once fonts are converted, the text is no longer editable. It is recommended that a copy of the file be saved before outlining. One solution to help maintain an organized system is to keep AI files as editable and save outlined files as EPS files. This will allow easy recognition between editable original documents and outlined print-ready eps files. If you work exclusively with EPS files it is suggested that outlined files have a tag such as “-out” added to the file name.

Type Outlined Type

EMBEDDING IMAGES

All images placed into your Illustrator document must be embedded before sending. To do this, select Embed Image from the Links palette. For layered Photoshop files, make sure to select Flatten Photoshop Layers. Do this for each linked image until the picture icon is displayed at the right of each image thumbnail (see below).

SETTING THE TRANSPARENCY RESOLUTION

ILLUSTRATOR CS

The default transparency setting in Illustrator is only Medium. This can affect the quality of art elements - especially drop shadows. For optimum print quality make sure these are set at a high resolution.

Go to File > Document Setup, select Transparency from the pull down menu, and set the resolution to High. A custom setting may also be used as long as the minimum resolutions are set at 1200 dpi for Line Art and Text, and 300 dpi for Gradient and Mesh Resolution.

Transparency Trans

ILLUSTRATOR 9 AND 10

If transparency is used in an Illustrator 9 or 10 document, go to File > Document Setup > Transparency and make sure the transparency slider is set all the way to the right.

trans

SETTING THE DOCUMENT RASTER EFFECTS RESOLUTION

ILLUSTRATOR CS

The settings specified for the document raster effects is essential to the quality of printed artwork. To verify or ajust these settings, select Document Raster Effects Settings... from the Effect menu, making sure that:

  • The Color Model is set to CMYK
  • The Resolution is set at least 300 ppi
  • The Background is set to Transparent
  • Anti-alias is checked in Options
Rasterized art Rasterized art

ILLUSTRATOR 10

Illustrator 10 requires setting the document resolution in one step by selecting Document Setup from the File menu and inputting at least “1200” in the Output Resolution field, and “300” into the Gradient Mesh Resolution field.

Set up

ILLUSTRATOR 8 AND 9

Illustrator 8 and 9 requires setting the Line Art and Text Resolution for your document in two steps.

First, unlock all elements in your design and choose All from the Select menu, go to the Attributes palette and input at least “1200 ppi” into the Output Resolution field.

Second, select Document Setup from the File menu, and input the same ppi in the Output Resolution field.

attributes set up
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