WORKING WITH DOCUMENTS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Navigate, organize, and customize the workspace.

 Use non-printing design tools in the interface, such as rulers, guides,
bleeds, and artboards.
 Creating Digital Graphics and Illustrations Using Adobe Illustrator CC
 Create a new project.
 Archive, Export, and Publish Graphics Using Adobe Illustrator CC
 Export digital graphics and illustration to various file formats.
INTRODUCTION

You’re ready to create your own Illustrator document. In this chapter,

you will create a new document, work with the artboards in the document,
and save that document.
CREATE A DOCUMENT

Illustrator documents display within the Application frame as

tabbed windows. The document’s name is listed in its tab. Each
document contains at least one artboard. You can modify the
number and arrangement of artboards within your new document at
any time after you create a document.
 CREATE A NEW DOCUMENT
To get started on creating artwork in Illustrator, you’ll first create a new document.

1. Choose File > New. The New Document dialog box opens (Figure 2.1).

2. Enter a name for the new document in the Name field.

3. From the Profile menu, choose a profile that matches the output medium for which you are designing. For this

exercise, choose Print.

4. Every Illustrator document must contain at least one artboard (see the next section for more on artboards). For this

exercise, leave the setting at the default of 1.

5. From the Size menu, choose a preset that matches your project. For this exercise, choose Letter.

6. Click the first Orientation button to specify that the artboard is in portrait orientation (rather than landscape

orientation).

7. Expand the Advanced settings area, if necessary, and view the default settings for the Print profile you selected.

(Notice that the default color mode for Print is CMYK.) Leave the settings as they are now.

8. Click OK. A new document window opens (Figure 2.2).

9. To place an object on your new document, display the Symbols panel, and drag any symbol onto the artboard.
 ARTBOARDS
Every Illustrator document contains at least one artboard of the dimensions specified in the New
Document dialog box. The artboard is called the “live” area because any objects placed on that artboard
will output to your chosen output device or be exported with your final file. A document can have
multiple artboards of a uniform size or of different sizes. For example, you could create a document with
customized artboards that each contain a business card, stationery, or a brochure for a client identity
package, or a document with separately sized web graphics for a website project.

Using the Illustrator Artboard tool , you can edit your artboards at any time. When you choose this
tool, you enter Artboard mode and can manage your artboards. The Control panel will display settings
and options related to artboards. To exit Artboard mode, press Esc or select a different tool.
 ADD ARTBOARDS
You can add additional artboards to a document at any time.

1. Select the Artboard tool icon or press Shift+O.

2. On the View menu, select Smart Guides to show onscreen alignment guides.

3. Hold the Command key (Mac OS) or Ctrl key (Windows) and press – (hyphen) to zoom

out and view more of the canvas area in your document.

4. Using the Artboard tool, drag in the canvas to create a new artboard (Figure 2.3). Use the

smart guides to help align the new artboard with an existing one.
Figure 2.3 Using the Artboard tool to add an artboard to a document
RESIZE ARTBOARDS
Options on the Control panel enable you to fine-tune the size of a selected artboard
(Figures 2.4 and 2.5).

1. Click an artboard to select it.

2. Select a screen or paper size from the Presets menu.

3. Enter values in the W and H fields.

4. Select a different Orientation button.

You can also resize a selected artboard by dragging a corner or side handle.
Figure 2.4 Resizing the artboard
Figure 2.5 The Control panel in Artboard mode
DUPLICATE AN ARTBOARD
The Artboards panel and the Artboard tool enable you to duplicate an artboard in a document, with or without its contents.

DUPLICATE WITHOUT THE CONTENTS

To duplicate a selected artboard without its contents:

 Using the Artboards panel: On the Artboards panel, click a listing to select the artboard you want to duplicate. Click the
New Artboard button . The blank, duplicate artboard is added to the right of the existing artboards.

 Using the Artboard tool: Select the Artboard tool (or press Shift+O). On the Control panel, click to deactivate the
Move/Copy Artwork With Artboard button . Option-drag (Mac OS) or Alt-drag (Windows) the artboard you want to
duplicate.

 Using the Artboard tool: Select the Artboard tool (or press Shift+O) and select the artboard to duplicate. On the Control
panel, click the New Artboard button. Position the Artboard tool pointer on the canvas (use smart guides for alignment), and
click to create the duplicate artboard.
DUPLICATE WITH THE CONTENTS
To duplicate a selected artboard with its contents:
 Using the Artboards panel: On the Artboards panel, click a listing to select the
artboard you want to duplicate. Drag the selected listing to the New Artboard button .
The duplicate artboard with contents is added to the right of the existing artboards.

 Using the Artboard tool: Select the Artboard tool (or press Shift+O). On the Control
panel, click to activate the Move/Copy Artwork With Artboard button. Option-drag
(Mac OS) or Alt-drag (Windows) the artboard you want to duplicate (Figure 2.6).
Figure 2.6 Duplicating an artboard
DELETE AN ARTBOARD
When you delete an artboard, you will not delete its contents. Do one of the following:

 Using the Artboards panel: On the Artboards panel, click the listing for the artboard you want to

delete, and then click the Delete Artboard button .

 Using the Artboard tool: Select the Artboard tool. In the upper-right corner of a selected artboard,

click the Delete icon, or press Delete (Mac OS) or Backspace (Windows) on the keyboard.

 Using the Artboard Options dialog box (Figure 2.7): In addition to using the Control panel, Artboards

panel, and Artboard tool, you can modify the selected artboard (including deleting the artboard) using
the Artboard Options dialog box. To open it, click the Artboard Options button on the Control panel.
The Artboard Options dialog box is useful for changing many artboard attributes at the same time.
Figure 2.7 The Artboard Options
dialog box
SAVE A DOCUMENT
You can save an Illustrator file in six different formats, although we will focus on the Adobe Illustrator (.ai) format
in this exercise. Use the .ai format when you plan to print the file directly from Illustrator or when you plan to
import the file into a program that can read the .ai format, such as Adobe InDesign.

1. To save a document for the first time, choose File > Save, or press Command+S (Mac OS) or Ctrl+S

(Windows).

2. In the Save As (Mac OS) or File Name (Windows) field, enter a filename.

3. Navigate to the desired save folder.

4. From the Format (Mac OS) or Save as Type (Windows) menu, choose the Adobe Illustrator (.ai) format.

5. Click Save. The Illustrator Options dialog box opens (Figure 2.8).
6. Leave the Version menu set to Illustrator CC.
7. Verify that Create PDF Compatible File is selected under
Options. Illustrator saves a PDF version (along with the
Illustrator data) that will allow applications that can’t read
Illustrator data to open and display the file.
8. Select Embed ICC Profiles to embed any color profile
assigned to the file.
9. Select Use Compression to reduce the saved file’s size.
10. Click OK. The file is saved and will remain open in
Illustrator. Keep your document open and proceed to the
next task.
NAVIGATING THE ILLUSTRATOR INTERFACE

It’s important to know how to arrange multiple documents within the interface;
how to view and zoom in on specific areas of a document; and how to view your
artwork in a clean, panel-free screen view. You will do these things often as you
work and as you show your work to others.
ARRANGE MULTIPLE DOCUMENT WINDOWS

In the Application frame, you can tile multiple documents in various layouts,
such as side-by-side or vertically stacked.

1. Open the Shapes1.ai and Shapes2.ai documents in the Intro-01 Workarea folder.

2. In the Application bar, select an option from the Arrange Documents menu
(Figure 2.9). The number of available arrangement icons varies depending on
the number of open documents.
Figure 2.9 The Arrange Documents menu on the Application bar
3. Click within a tiled window to select it. Click the Hand tool (or press H) to select it,
and then drag in any tiled window to reposition the view.
4. To redisplay only one document window, select Consolidate All from the Arrange
Documents menu (Figure 2.10).
DOCUMENT TABS

Each open document displays a tab below the Application bar. The tab
lists the document name, zoom level, color mode (CMYK or RGB), and
view (Outline, Preview, or Overprint Preview).

Click a document’s tab to make that file the active document. Right-click a
tab to display various document commands in a context menu.
CHANGE THE ZOOM LEVEL
As you create and modify artwork in a document, you may need to zoom in to view more details or zoom out to
view the entire artwork.
 Zoom in: To zoom in, hold Command (Mac OS) or Ctrl (Windows) and press + (plus sign) repeatedly until you’re
zoomed in as far as you want.
 Zoom out: To zoom out, hold Command (Mac OS) or Ctrl (Windows) and press - (hyphen) repeatedly until
you’re zoomed out as far as you want.
 Percentage: In the zoom menu in the lower-left corner of the document window, choose a preset percentage to
zoom or enter a value in the zoom field and press Return (Mac OS) or Enter (Windows).
 Fit document in window: From the View menu, choose Fit Artboard in Window, or press Command+0 (zero)
(Mac OS) or Ctrl+0 (zero) (Windows) to fill the document window with the active artboard.
 Fit artboards in window: From the View menu, choose Fit All in Window to fit all the artboards within the
document window.
 Zoom tool: Select the Zoom tool on the Tools panel (or press Z), and click to zoom in. To zoom out, Option-
click (Mac OS) or Alt-click (Windows).
USING THE STATUS BAR
The status bar and its menu are located in the lower-left quadrant of the document
window. The bar displays information for the category that you have selected from the
Show submenu of the status bar. Helpful options include Artboard Name, Current Tool,
and Number of Undos (Figure 2.11).
VIEW DIFFERENT AREAS OF A DOCUMENT
After you zoom in to view a portion of your artwork, you can select the Hand tool , and
drag to pan across the document and bring a different document area or artboard into view. To
quickly access the Hand tool, press H to select it or hold down the spacebar to use it
temporarily. To quickly move between artboards, do one of the following:

 In the Artboards panel, double-click to the right of an artboard listing to quickly fit that

artboard into the document window.

 From the artboard navigation menu in the lower left of the document window, choose a

number; or click the First, Previous, Next, or Last arrow to quickly move between multiple
artboards.
CHANGING THE SCREEN MODE
To view your artwork without the distractions of the surrounding panels or your
desktop, switch to the full screen modes. To do this, you can press F several times to
cycle through the three screen modes or select an option from the Screen Mode menu
at the bottom of the Tools panel (Figure 2.12):
 Normal Screen Mode displays the document in the Application frame with all the
panels. This is the default mode.
 Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar displays a document in the Application frame
with the panels, but without showing document tabs.
 Full Screen Mode displays the document in a maximized window with all panels
hidden.
ENDING A WORK SESSION

To finish a work session in Illustrator:

1. Save and close each document that’s open:

 To close each document, click the X on the document tab next to the filename or press

Command+W (Mac OS) or Ctrl+W (Windows).

 If the document contains unsaved changes, an alert displays. Click Save to preserve changes or

Don’t Save to discard the latest changes.

2. When all the documents are closed, choose Illustrator > Quit Illustrator (Mac OS) or File > Exit
(Windows). You can also press Command+Q (Mac OS) or Ctrl+Q (Windows).