Edit ⇒ Paste on All Artboards.The Paste on All Artboards technique pays for itself when you're working with dozens or even hundreds of artboards! Of course, the pasted artwork doesn’t fit properly in differently sized artboards. Fixing that is the last step.7 Edit the design of the horizontal and vertical artboards to make the square content fit, as shown in Figure 2-11.FIGURE 2-11: Customizing designs for different artboards.
What do you do with a set of artboards? They are automatically saved as part of your Illustrator document. After that, you can export one, some, or all of them for screen or print output. I explain how to do that next.
Exporting, Saving, and Printing
You can export, save, and print several kinds of objects in Illustrator:
An entire document
One, some, or all artboards in a document
Selected objects
Assets
You share Illustrator files for a wide range of print and screen output options by exporting them to one of a long list of file formats. Exported files can't be edited in Illustrator.
You save Illustrator files when you need to edit them in the future.
Sometimes you export files for print or web output, and then save them. Sometimes you can save Illustrator files in formats that you can hand off to print or web designers and edit them.
In this section, I first describe how to save files that you can open and edit in Illustrator. Then I explain how to export or print documents, artboards, selections, and assets. Finally, I share some tips on printing and working with commercial printers.
Saving Illustrator files
You can save Illustrator files in any of these formats:
AI, Illustrator’s native format and AIT (Illustrator templates).
EPS, a widely supported vector format used for sharing files with other vector-editing apps and printers.
Adobe PDF, a portable vector format accessible to anyone with Acrobat Reader.
SVG or SVG (Compressed) files for screen output. See Chapter 18 for an in-depth exploration of working with SVG files.
Saving projects as EPS, PDF, or SVG files gives you the option of retaining the ability to edit the files in Illustrator.
Each of the options for saving Illustrator files has distinct options. If you are handing off a file in any of them, check with the team you are handing off to, to find out if there are specific settings they require. I share some tips on saving AI, EPS, and PDF files for print output at the end of this chapter, and explore SVG output for digital projects in Chapter 18.
The following steps apply to saving files as AI, EPS, and PDF formats:
1 Choose File ⇒ Save, File ⇒ Save As (to save an existing file with a new name), or File ⇒ Save a Copy (to create a duplicate copy of a file).
2 Navigate to a location for the file and enter a filename.
3 In the Format drop-down, choose one of the available formats (AI, EPS, or PDF). If the file format you want to use (such as PNG or TIFF) is not available in the Format drop-down, the format is available for export but not saving.
4 Click Save to open the Options dialog for the file format you selected. The options will differ depending on the format but the following choices are widely available and useful:If you're saving to AI or EPS format, the Version drop-down defines the version of Illustrator with which you want your file to be compatible. If you are saving to PDF, the Compatibility drop-down defines what versions of PDF will be able to open the file. Legacy formats don’t support all features.Font embedding options allow you to embed fonts for users who will receive the file but may not have the required fonts.The Create PDF Compatible File option for saving AI files allows the file to be opened with Adobe Reader as well as apps that support importing Illustrator documents.The Include Linked Files option embeds any linked files in your illustration.The Embed ICC Profiles option is used by some print shops to ensure color integrity. Consult with your print shop on whether and how to use this option.The Use Compression option reduces file size.The Save Each Artboard to a Separate File option is available in Illustrator files with multiple artboards. Along with the resulting set of artboard-based files, a master file is created with all artboards.
If you're simply saving an Illustrator project to access it, to edit it, or to share it with someone who has Illustrator, save the file as an Illustrator file.
Exporting files
Illustrator files (as well as artboards, assets, and selections) can be exported to a variety of print- and web-compatible file formats. These files can't be edited in Illustrator, so you will almost always want to save as well as export projects as Illustrator files.
Web designers may ask you for SVG files, which retain Illustrator editing capability (see Chapter 18). More likely, web designers will ask you for web-compatible PNG or JPG files. I explore export options for those formats in Chapter 17.
Print designers may be able to work with your Illustrator files. Or they might require TIF or other print-only raster images. In those instances, get the specs for the exported files from your print partner.
You export files by choosing File ⇒ Export ⇒ Export for Screens or File ⇒ Export ⇒ Export for As (for print). Options vary depending on the output format. And, again, I’ll repeat a mantra that runs through this chapter and any discussion of output in this book: Ask the person to whom you are handing off the file what options he or she prefers.
Using artboards and assets for output
When you save or export Illustrator documents with multiple artboards, you can choose to export or save any set of artboards.
For example, if you're exporting a document to PNG output for screens, the Artboards tab (shown in Figure 2-12) allows you to define which artboards to export.
FIGURE 2-12: Exporting selected artboards.
Communicating with your printer
Today, print shops can turn Illustrator artwork into anything, from a poster to a coffee mug, a t-shirt to a message printed on glass. Each project has its own requirements,
