You just created some truly awesome vector art in Illustrator. NOW WHAT?

Of course, you will need to save the file(s) so that you can use, send, and edit your artwork down the line. But before hitting that save button, you will need to make some important choices. This is a basic rundown of things to consider when saving your work in Adobe Illustrator.

First, let’s look at the Save commands essential to saving an Illustrator document. The basic Save commands are found in the File menu. You will see that right off the bat you have several choices as to which Save command best suits your needs. The basic Save choices are:

Save - This is the quickest of the Save commands, but it is only applicable to files that have already been saved(thus, have an existing name and location). This will overwrite the previous document with any changes made since being opened. The overwritten file will be saved in the exact location from which it was opened. Because the name, file type, and location are already known, you will not be asked to specify any options when using the Save command.

Save As - Use when saving a file for the first time, or if you want to change the file format and/or location of an existing file. You will be required to specify several options, including file name, file type, save location and program version. Because the Save As command is used something like 90% of saves, we will go over it’s use in more detail below (see figure 2a & 2b).

Save a Copy - Very similar to Save As, this command is used to simply save a new copy of the current document in a different location than the original file. This function is useful when you will be using different versions of the same artwork for different medium (ie. print and web).

Save a Template - Allows you to save a file as a template, to be used again and again as the starting point for documents that share common design elements.

Save a Version - Used to save a version of a file to a Version Cue Workspace. For more information on Version Cue, you can visit http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/versioncue/.

Save for Web - As the name implies, this command is used to save Illustrator vector art that is intended to be used on the Web. Here you can save your vector artwork as raster images, such as JPGs and GIFs. For some very useful information on the differences between the various image file types, and when they should be used, check out Raffi’s blog titled “.gifs, .tifs and .jpgs…oh my!”.

(Only the choices applicable to the current file will be available for selection. Those that do not apply will be grayed out on the list, like Save a Version in figure 1.)

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‘SAVE AS’ IN MORE DETAIL
Referring to the image below (figure 2a), we will go through the initial options presented when using the Save As command.

1. Save Location - Indicate where you want the file to be saved. You can choose to save the file to a location on your hard drive, a network server location or a storage device connected to the computer.

2. File name - Create a unique name for the file. The portion of the file name that appears after the dot is the file type extension and will be determined once a selection is made on the following option (3).

3. File Format - Select a file type from the list of Illustrator’s “native formats”. Saving as a native file format will preserve the Illustrator vector data and allow for editing. In figure 1a, the pull down list of file format option can be found by following the gray arrow. Before choosing a file format, a brief description of each of the native formats is necessary.

Illustrator Document (.ai) - Standard Illustrator format. Totally editable in Illustrator but not an acceptable format to be used in most other programs or applications.

Illustrator EPS (.eps)- Encapsulated PostScript. Very useful because it can be imported into most software packages (including raster programs) but maintains the vector data.

Illustrator Template (.ait) - Useful if the layout/basic design of the file will be used repeatedly as the framework for other documents.

Illustrator PDF (.pdf)- Portable Document Format. Allows the artwork to be viewed by anoyone with the standard (and free) Acrobat Reader application installed on their computer.

SVG (.svg) - Scalable Vector Graphics. High quality graphics, useful when the artwork is being used as part of an interactive Web project. The drawback is that the file size is very large (which poses problems in Web files).

SVG Compressed (.svgz) - A compressed version of a standard SVG file, reducing the file size by 50%-80%. However, the vector art will no longer be editable.

4. Save Button - Once you have selected a save location, named the file and selected the appropriate file type hit the Save button. This will open the next dialogue box, Illustrator Options, which can be seen in figure 2b.

1. Illustrator Version- If you are using a later version of Adobe Illustrator to create a file and need to be able to open and edit the file on an earlier version of the program, you will need to “save the document down” in order to do so. Select the lowest version for which the file needs to be readable from the drop down list, keeping in mind that the lower version of Illustrator may not have all of the tools and functions required to render all of the fancy filters and effects you may have used to create your file. Only save the file down if necessary for editing purposes. If you just want to be able to view a file on a computer with an older version of AI, save a copy of the file as a PDF for viewing.

2. Fonts- Indicate at what point a font used in the document should be embedded within the file (which will increase the file size). For example, the setting in figure 2b is for 100%, meaning that every character in a font set would have to be used somewhere in the document in order for me to require that the font be embedded.

3. Options - Tidbits of info about how you would like the file saved. A quick review of these options:

Create PDF Compatible File - Check this box if you want to be able to use your Illustrator file in conjunction with other Adobe programs.

Include Linked Files - Embeds any files linked to the document.

Use Compression - Compresses the document data. Deselect if you are experiencing slow save times.

Embed ICC Profiles - For color managed files.

4. Transparency - Indicates how to handle transparency when saving. Only applicable to files saved to AI 9 or earlier.

5. Errors- Illustrator will alert you to any potential problem with the selections you have made for the save.

Once all of the appropriate selection have been made, Click on the OK button to save the file to the location you have chosen.

Brushes are just one of the many types of tools that Adobe Illustrator has in its arsenal that allows users to customize and stylize their digital designs. There are four distinct varieties of brushes in the Illustrator tool belt; Calligraphic Brushes, Scatter Brushes, Art Brushes and Pattern Brushes.

Of the four brush types, the one I find myself using most often is the Art Brush. An Art Brush creates a solid brush stroke that stretches from point to point along a path. Creating your very own art brush is easy in Illustrator, and is a great way to customize your artwork. For the purpose of this demonstration, we will start with something very simple.

Using your Ellipse Tool, create an ellipse the size and color of your choice.

Grab the Convert Anchor Point Tool from your tool box. This tool will convert curved edges to points, and points to curved edges.

With your shape selected, click on the two anchor points on either rounded edge of the ellipse. The sides should now come to a point, as seen to the right.

Now, select the altered ellipse and use the transform handles to flatten the shape to the width that you want your brush stroke.

Once your brush stroke is to your liking, you will simply select the shape and drag it into the Brushes Palette. If your Brushes Palette window is not visible, you will need to open it by going to Window > Brushes.

When the New Brush dialougue box appears, select New Art Brush.

You will then be given some Art Brush Options that will determine the color and movement of your brush. For this simple brush, we will set the direction of the brush stroke to the right and indicate no colorization.

(If you will want to change or adjust the color of your brush strokes, you will want to set your colorization method to one of the other options, like Tints and Shades. You can then adjust the brush color by selecting the brush stroke and changing the stroke color in your tool box.)

Once you hit OK, your new Art Brush will be available for use in your Brushes Palette. It can be applied as a stroke to lines, shapes, text…you name it. To test your brush, grab your pen tool and draw a line with some curves or zig zags.

With the line selected, click on your new brush in the Brushes Palette.

Now you can add style and flair to your illustrations with your own custome brushes!

Anyone who uses Adobe Illustrator with any frequency will at some point come to realize that there is almost always more than one way to execute an action while working in the program. Much of the time, the method you use to generate a desired event is a matter of personal preference. There are some cases, however, in which two paths to the same apparent result will produce very different results “behind the scenes”. One such case in Illustrator is the use of the Effect and Filter tools. These two menus can be found in the main Illustrator menu bar across the the top, and provide a wide array of snazzy visual effects and custom styles that can be applied to obejcts. Although the two menus seem to contain many of the same actions, their use will bring about distinct outcomes.

Effect: Applying an effect will change the appearance of an object, but the structure of the object will remain intact. Object filters can be edited or removed using the Appearance Palette.

Filter: Applying a filter will actually alter the structure of the object to fit the specifications of the filter. Once applied, the filter cannot be edited or removed.

SAMPLE: You will see that I started with two identical circles. A Pucker Effect of -50 was applied to the circle on the left. I then applied a Pucker Filter of -50 to the shape on the right. In preview mode the two shapes appear to again be identical. However, when each shape is is selected, the frames show us that behind the scenes they are no longer the same. The shape on the left (Effect applied) has maintained the original shape. The effect can be changed or deleted in the Appearance Palette, as shown. The shape on the right (Filter applied) is now structurally different than the original ellipse.

If you know that you will need to alter the paths of the object once the visual element is applied, then using the Filter can be more functional because it eliminates the need for expanding or outlining. But, in general, it is usually more practical to use the Effect tools, so that the option for editing and removing is left open.

An Illustrator enthusiast and R-Design’s resident vector lover, I always get excited when I learn a new tip or shortcut for using AI. So a simple little tidbit I picked up from a colleague just made my day!

To make sure that we are on the same page, let’s briefly discuss strokes. A stroke is a “visible outline of an object”. A stroke can be any color. A stroke can be solid, dotted, dashed, or even rendered using brushes and symbols. A sample of a star with a solid black stroke can be seen below.

For ages I thought it necessary to take text and illustrations with a stroke and expand or outline them before resizing. In doing this, the stroke becomes a separate object. The reason for expanding is to avoid making the object larger or smaller, while the stroke remains the same width or point size (as seen on the right). In other words, the stroke would scale up or down proportionally along with the rest of the object.

The problem with working with text and illustrations this way is that once you have expanded or outlined, it is difficult to change or tweak the object and stroke simultaneously, without having to recreate a new version. I was thrilled (and a little afraid to think of how much time I have wasted in the past!) to learn that side stepping this sometimes tedious process is as easy as checking a box in my Illustrator preferences!

MAC: Go to Illustrator > Preferences > General and check the box next to Scale Strokes & Effects.

PC: Go to Edit > Preferences > General and check the box next to Scale Strokes & Effects.

Now your strokes will resize proportionally along with your objects, and you can scale to your heart’s content!