Artboards in Adobe Illustrator. Using multiple Artboards to quickly save a series of illustrations to microstock

Unfortunately, Adobe Illustrator does not allow for the creation of multi-page documents. It includes the ability to create only one page. But there are situations when it is necessary to create several pages. This is where the “tiled” printing option comes to our aid. Each tile is the size of one sheet of paper. Essentially, you have to adjust the sheet sizes and print margins.

Below is a step-by-step example of execution.

1. First select File>New. The document in the viewing window should look like the one shown below.

Click File > Document Setup… In the sector Artboard dialog box that appears, select "Custom" for field Size, and enter the page dimensions in width and height. For this example, we will be making an artboard that is four sheets of 34 inch (4 × 8 1/2 inch) long paper. /The author of the translation apologizes for the fact that he is too lazy to convert sizes to the metric system, because... I'll have to redo the illustration/. Leave the height at 11 inches. In section View select "Tile full pages". After entering all the parameters, click "OK".

3. The document should now look like the one shown below. I would like to note that page numbers are not printed.

4. When you press File > Print, each tile will print as a separate page.

If you want to save the file as a multi-page PDF, don't use File > Save As > PDF, otherwise you may only end up with one PDF page the size of your document. To get a multi-page document, you need to send the document for printing using Adobe Acrobat Distiller File > Print > to Distiller.

Adobe Photoshop has become the de facto technological standard for creating graphic website layouts. Such a layout will be accepted by any layout designer if the minimum set of requirements is met, and all inputs and outputs have long been described. Therefore, I will not describe them, but will give some recommendations for creating graphic layouts in Adobe Illustrator.

At one time, I repeatedly joined holiwars on the topic “Bring us layouts only in Photoshop” and held the unpopular opinion that the layout should be done in the program that will allow you to do it as quickly and conveniently as possible. And the layout designer must have minimal skills in working with different graphics packages. However, I did not take into account one small thing, but important factor- the designer must do his work efficiently and accurately. Only in this case there will be no problems and deformation of karma.

There's enough a large number of situations in which working with a raster editor is unprofitable. If there is no need for layer masks on the layout, and there is only rectangles, lines, a few pictures and text, creating such a layout in Illustrator will be much easier and faster. And if we have not just rectangles, but rectangles with round corners, then it will simply save us Effect > Stylize > Round Corners…(although in Photoshop you can create corners with an easily changeable radius, but more on that another time). Medium and large pictograms are also more convenient to draw in vector.

Where is the patient?

In theory, everything is just wonderful and rosy, but why in practice? In practice, we have the inevitable conversion of a vector image to a raster one. And at this stage a mine is laid. A mine called "smoothing". When working on a layout in Illustrator, you need to maintain surgical precision. As soon as the coordinates of a point cease to be integers, we lose the purity of the lines. Dirt appears.

Problem number one is that in the default display mode, we see the picture in the maximum quality suitable for printing, while on the monitor it is much lower. In order to see how everything will look after rasterization, turn on the Pixel Preview mode ( View > Pixel Preview). If you have a second monitor, or if you have one, but it’s very wide, create a copy of the window ( Window > New Window) and set different viewing modes for them.

I already mentioned surgical precision - open the Transform palette and check that we always have integer values ​​for the object’s coordinates and its dimensions. But that is not all. Let's say we created a 15x25 pixel rectangle and positioned it at the 150:200 point. Will there be cleanliness at the border? In the default state, no, because we have odd width and height values. Therefore, we move the coordinate anchor point from the center to the upper left corner. Now everything is in order.

upd: In addition, you must enable pixel snapping ( View > Snap to Grid) and set special settings in Edit > Preferences:

• Category General: Keyboard Increment > 0.5px
  
• Category Units & Display Performance: Units > General > Pixels.

This will allow you to accurately position objects using the keyboard buttons, which is undoubtedly faster and more convenient than working with the Transform palette.

There are no lines, you give objects

The next problem is that contours one pixel thick almost always turn out “dirty”. The reason is that by default the stroke is drawn on both sides of the object's outline. There are two ways out: in Illustrator CS3 and higher, we set the Align Stroke parameter to “outside”, or we don’t use a stroke at all and create contours through Object > Path > Offset Path. The second method is better, because in this case we get a new object whose anchor points can be easily moved. But we lose the ability to quickly change the line thickness.

Sometimes Illustrator's internal calculator breaks down, and in this case, precisely placed lines begin to double. The remedy is simple and inconvenient - we increase the scale, place two windows side by side, one with a standard viewing mode, the second - Pixel Preview. In the first, we carefully move the reference points, and in the second, we control the process.

So, dear designers! When creating breathtaking layouts, do not forget that later your layout will be tormented and cut. To prevent the layout from being disfigured, prepare it for adult life - check all the details at high magnification in Pixel Preview mode. Make adjustments if necessary.

Everything is bad, what should I do?

I was inspired to write this note by one of the latest layouts I received. All the lines were knocked down, the contours were made as a stroke.

To correct the situation, first of all we get rid of the strokes, we only need objects. To do this, do this: Object > Expand. Then we align everything with pixel accuracy.

Total

You can make layouts in Issustrator. But it is very important to know how to cook them correctly. Just like fine dining, cleanliness and precision must come first.

• The layout designer's appeal to the designer (correct, but controversial, damn it);
• Creating a page layout in Illustrator and its layout;
• Setting up Illustrator to create website layouts (screencast, eng)

In this lesson you will learn how to reproduce objects in Illustrator on an assembly sheet of any format. Most often this is needed for printing in a printing house or on a regular home or office printer.

Open Adobe Illustrator. Go to the File menu - New or press Ctrl+N.

In the new document window, in the Size field, select A3 format (or any other format you need). You can also set the desired size of the mounting sheet yourself in the fields: width (width) and height (height). In the units field, select a unit of measurement that is convenient for you, I prefer millimeters.

Place the layout you want to reproduce. This will be my business card. If you need to submit a layout for printing, I recommend converting all fonts to “curves”. To do this, select the business card with the mouse or hotkey: Ctrl + A and go to the Type menu - Create Outlines, horizontal. key: Shift+Ctrl+O.

Next we will work with the Align palette. It is located in the Window or Mountain menu. class Shift+F7. The photo shows in detail how to use it. Align the business card along the top and left edges, and set the alignment relative to the mounting sheet in the palette.

Open the Transform palette from the Window or Mountain menu. class Shift+F8. In the Transform palette, check that your layout is sized correctly in the Width and Height fields.

After that, select the business card and press the enter key. The Move window will appear. Set the exact width values ​​in the Horizontal field, as in the Transform palette, I have 94 mm. and click "copy".

The business card is duplicated on the right.

If you need to duplicate it on the left, you need to enter a minus sign (-94). Press Ctrl+D to duplicate it a few more times.

Now let's multiply the business card vertically. Select all business cards located horizontally and press enter. In the Vertical field, enter the size of the business card height, mine is 54 mm, and click copy.

Press Ctrl+D to duplicate it several more times.

After it was possible to reproduce business card on A3, select everything and group (Ctrl+G). In the Align palette, center the business cards relative to your mounting sheet horizontally and vertically, as in the picture. That's it, business card reproduction was successful :)

Hi all! And we have another Adobe Illustrator lesson in which I will tell and show the advantages of using multiple artboards. If you don't have the best old version illustrator, you probably noticed that in addition to layers, there is another dimension called Artboards. Artboards, workspaces, artboards. You can call them differently. It all looks something like this.

Yes, that's absolutely right. It's as if several images are in one vector file. This is Artboards. It is with them that we will do a little magic today. After all, using several artboards in one file is very convenient. Especially if you are making a series of similar images or similar images for microstocks. When the work is finished, you can save all the illustrations in a couple of clicks. Be it at least ten, at least twenty. And you don’t need any actions, scripts or other hassles.

I decided to divide this Adobe Illustrator lesson into several parts. At the very beginning, we cover the basics of working with artboards, which will be useful for beginners. And at the end it shows how to save illustrations for microstocks from several Artboards.

Creating New Artboards

By default, Illustrator has one workspace. And when you do new document, it might look like this.

As you already understand, the panel is responsible for work areas Artboards. And the first way to add a new artboard to a vector file is to click on the button New Artboard.

A new artboard will appear nearby. Through the panel Artboards You can also delete workspaces; the trash can icon clearly hints at this. If you go to the panel menu, you will be offered additional options there.

New Artboard- create a new one, that’s understandable.
Duplicate Artboards- create a copy of the artboard and everything that lies on it.
Delete Artboards- delete, this is also understandable.
Delete Empty Artboards- remove empty artboards.
Convert to Artboards- can turn a square into a work area.
Artboards Options- workspace settings, you can dig deeper.
Rearranged Artboards- distribution, you can customize the order and position.

In general, the panel Artboards has truly mystical abilities to distort and refract vector space into Adobe Illustrator.

But in fact, workspaces can be ordered when creating a new file. Pay attention to the item highlighted in red.

Editing Artboards

But you will feel like a real ruler of the world when you try the instrument Artboard Tool (Shift+O). Its power is indestructible, and allows it to penetrate the fabric of vector existence to control artboards.

Yes, artboards can be moved, compressed and stretched. Anyone who got an A in geometry at school, pay attention to the information panel at the top. There will be the exact coordinates and dimensions of the current artboard, plus other useful buttons.

I also want to tell you about one very useful command that glues the work area to an already drawn illustration. This is very convenient when you need to adjust the size of the artboard to the finished image. Just select what you drew and go Object > Artboards > Fit to Selected Art. The current workspace will change its size to fit exactly around the edges of the selected illustration.

Saving a series of illustrations from one file

So, enough fooling around, let's get down to business. For example, I took a file with three artboards. The first one has a New Year's background, and the second and third ones are redesigns of this picture with a ball and a Christmas tree. Artboard sizes 1200x1200 px.

First let's make it all EPS for drains. Let's go File > Save as.

In the window that appears, write your name, of course. Then select the type EPS. And be sure to check the box Use Artboards. It is after this that Illustrator will take into account the workspaces in the file. There's still a pipka nearby All And Range- that is, you can even choose which workspaces to save and which to ignore. Since I need everything, I left it as is All. Finally, click Save. Next in the next settings window EPS set as usual EPS-10 and press OK. Illustrator will puff a little and we will get the following files.

Wherein christmas-background.eps This is a vector file that includes all three backgrounds. You can consider it the so-called source code. But since in EPS-10 multiple workspaces are not supported, then in the end all three images will lie on one workspace. Therefore, as a source, it is better to save a separate vector in the format ai your current version Adobe Illustrator.

Files with numbers at the end 01, 02 and 03 are vectors with separate work areas. If you open, for example, christmas-background-01.eps, then there will be only one work area number 1 with a Christmas background. Thus Adobe Illustrator split the shared file into several EPS. One work area each.

But let's return to our file with several artboards, since we still need to make a raster preview for all the pictures. For this we go File > Export.

Click OK, the illustrator puffs for a while, it all depends on the number of artboards and the complexity of the vector. Maybe you'll even have time to drink tea. As a result, we get the following files.

From each workspace, the illustrator exported it to a separate raster JPEG. The numbers, as in the case of EPS, correspond to the artboard numbers. Dimensions JPEG in my example they came out 5000x5000 px, permission 300 dpi. In general, a tasty and fragrant raster preview that is suitable for almost all microstocks. So you can take pairs of files JPEG And EPS with the same names and feel free to download. Unless, of course, your vectors are prepared in accordance with technical requirements microstocks. You can read more about this here.

Any graphic designer knows that Adobe Illustrator is one of the best vector graphic editors. At first, beginners complain that working with the program is not very convenient, but its full power is revealed later, when the designer begins to understand how everything works. With the help of Adobe Illustrator, you can implement almost any graphic idea and that is why millions of designers around the world use it today. One of the reasons that explains the incredible demand for Illustrator is its functionality; the program has many wonderful tools that make your work much easier. Some of them are very simple, others will be a little more difficult to master, but no successful designer or illustrator can do without knowledge of the features of their work.

It doesn’t matter what exactly you need to create using Adobe Illustrator – you won’t be able to do it without the tools. They relieve the user of routine work and significantly save time. For example, if you need to create a certain effect in an illustration, you can do it this way: start from the very beginning and achieve the desired result by performing, say, 100 actions. But if you know exactly how a particular tool works, the same effect can be created by clicking the mouse a couple of times. However, in this article we will not consider various techniques and tricks that allow you to achieve amazing effects. FreelanceToday brings you 10 Adobe Illustrator tools every designer should know about.

RULER

The ruler is very simple, but at the same time very useful tool, if exact adherence to dimensions is required when working on a project. Guides allow you to accurately position objects inside the workers, control their dimensions, and with their help you can create graphic grids of any complexity. Ruler is one of the first tools a new designer should become familiar with.

By default, rulers do not appear in Illustrator. To make them visible, you need to press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+R or by finding them in the menu View>Rulers>ShowRulers(Show rulers). Two rulers will appear: on the top and on the left.

Rulers must be used if you want to achieve balance in the composition. In addition, they significantly speed up the workflow, as they allow objects to be accurately positioned relative to each other.

BlendTool is one of the most misunderstood and underestimated tools, many designers only later for a long time begin to understand its versatility. Blend Tool seems complex and it is not entirely clear in what cases it can be used to speed up work.

Like many other Illustrator tools, the Blend Tool can be used for a variety of tasks. With its help, you can create complex patterns and textures or, as the name of the tool suggests, make smooth color transitions between two objects.

The Blend Tool is located in the toolbar, and can also be called up from the menu Object>Blend. In the dialog box that opens, you can set the necessary transition parameters. This is a very convenient tool that should definitely be present in the arsenal of any designer.

OFFSETPATH

Often you need to create an enlarged copy of an existing object or increase the size of the object's outline. There are several ways to achieve this, and beginners often use the most obvious methods, making a lot of unnecessary movements. Meanwhile, Illustrator has a very useful tool called OffsetPath, that is, a parallel circuit.

As the name suggests, Offset Path creates an enlarged copy of the selected object located directly below it. The new figure is identical in shape and color to the original, only the size differs.

Using parallel contours, you can create concentric circles and simulate an increase in the size of the contour, while all objects do not move relative to each other. The Offset Tool will be very useful when working with icons or creating infographics.

You can find the tool in the section Object>Path. The object must be selected, otherwise the dialog box for changing the parameters of the parallel path will not appear.

THECLIPPINGMASK

Tool ClippingMask Beginning designers are often undeservedly overlooked. But it’s enough to get to know it better, and it becomes clear that it is an excellent assistant for creating a wide variety of shapes and effects.

What is a clipping mask? This is an object that masks out unwanted areas of another object, so that what is visible is what lies within the limits of the clipping path. The most obvious use of Clipping Mask is to crop images, but with enough skill, this tool allows you to create the desired shapes very quickly.

As a rule, when creating complex compositions, when you need to change the shape of objects, best choice often the Pathfinder panel and its Shape modes. But sometimes the use of clipping masks is justified, since they are easier to work with, while the user still has the ability to edit the masked objects.

The Clipping Mask tool is also located in the menu section Object.

ARTBOARDS PANEL

In print design, it is very common to use the same graphic elements within different media. If you need, for example, to place a logo and elements corporate identity on a booklet, banner and business card and do this without creating three new documents, then using Artboards, that is, artboards, will help here.

Using multiple artboards significantly saves designer time. All the necessary elements and composition options are right in front of him, in ArtboardsPanel, so accessing the desired artboard will take a split second.

Artboards Panel also greatly speeds up the process of exporting, printing, and saving artboards. When working on complex projects, such as large icon packs that need to be saved in different sizes and formats, using the Artboard Panel tool can save a lot of time.

LAYERS PANEL

If artboards allow you to create one document with multiple assets, then LayersPanel makes it possible to create detailed compositions using a logical structure that allows you to easily identify and customize individual parts of a single composition without worrying about losing or erasing any element.

The Layers panel should be used if you need to create a detailed hierarchy in your document. Any complex design consists of several parts; there are basic sections, intermediate and final ones. By placing parts of the composition on separate layers, you can work systematically until it is finished.

The Layers panel allows you to lock, hide, rename and move any layer, giving the user visibility and understanding of what they are creating. This way, the designer can focus on one thing and try to improve the composition. Other design options can be hidden at this time, and after the final decision is made, unnecessary layers can be removed.

PATHFINDER PANEL

There are four modes in the Pathfinder panel ShapeMode, with which you can create new shapes by merging, intersecting, or excluding objects. With sufficient skill, using any mode allows you to very quickly create an object of the desired size and shape. As already mentioned, you can do a lot in Illustrator using the tool ClippingMask, clipping masks in skillful hands are very effective means. But if you need to create completely new uniform, then this can be easily done in the Pathfinder panel.

Modes available to the user Unite, Subtract, Intersect and Exclude, with which you can create new interesting shapes. Over time, the designer chooses the most convenient mode for himself, which he uses in the future.

ALIGN PANEL

If you need to align objects in an artboard or distribute several shapes at a certain distance from each other, then the panel Align (Alignment) is the best tool for solving problems of this kind.

The Align panel should be used in cases where you need to bring several objects to a single state, for example, align them along the left line, top or bottom. Simply select the desired shapes and click on the desired icon.

By default, several panel options are hidden; to make them visible, you need to click the small arrow and enable ShowOptions. As a result, additional functionality will appear DistributeSpacing, with which you can accurately position two or more objects at a given distance from each other.

To understand how the tool works Grid You must first display this grid on the display. To do this you need to go to the menu section View and find the item ShowGrid.

Why is this tool so important? Any designer knows that all layout elements must be located at a certain distance from each other. The easiest way to arrange them is using the grid as a guide. The grid makes it easier to position elements and suggests how to properly structure all parts of the layout.

This is a very useful tool for those designers who create pixel-accurate layouts. Grid will also be appreciated by web designers and interface designers. The tool is very powerful and there is no way in this article to describe how you can use it in your work. Additional information about the Grid tool can be found.

SNAP TO GRID / PIXEL GRID

The grid itself is a powerful tool, but once you have to create a layout where objects must be positioned with pixel precision, beginners can have problems. However, Illustrator has a solution to this problem: Snap to Grid/Pixel Grid(Snap to Grid/Pixel Grid).

In different projects, you will have to adjust the grids depending on what exactly needs to be done, while the size of the canvas and the principles of placing elements in the layout matter. For simple compositions, you can use a standard grid, but when perfect accuracy is required, it is better to set the minimum possible settings: grid line every one pixel, division within the grid step: 1.

Thanks to the use Snap to Grid/Pixel Grid You can create incredibly clear images that look very professional. There is nothing unusual in this, since all objects are tied to a pixel grid and, importantly, they were all created, initially having predetermined dimensions in pixels.