Placing Raster-Based Files


When creating designs and layouts in Illustrator, at times you will need to incorporate raster-based content, such as photographs. Naturally, these images are neither created nor edited in Illustratorraster-based application programs such as Photoshop take care of things like that. However, you can place raster-based content into your Illustrator file. In fact, Illustrator works very much like a page layout application in this way.

When an image is placed, Illustrator can incorporate that image in the file in two different ways. In the first method, Illustrator places a preview of the image on your artboard, but the image file itself is not incorporated into the Illustrator file. The image file exists as an external reference, separate from the Illustrator file. This first method is referred to as place-linking because the image file is linked to the Illustrator document. If you were to misplace the linked file, Illustrator would not be able to print the image.

In the second method, Illustrator places the actual image file within the Illustrator document and incorporates the image into the Illustrator file. This second method is referred to as place-embedding, where the image becomes a part of the Illustrator file.

You can choose which of these two methods you want to use when you physically place the file. For a detailed explanation of the numerous benefits and caveats of using each method, refer to the sidebar, "Featured Match-Up: Place-Linked Files vs. Place-Embedded Files."

Ways to Place an Image

You can place a raster file into an Illustrator document in several ways. You can either place a file, open it directly, or drag it right onto your artboard. Each method has its own benefits; your task is to determine which one you will use.

Method One: Placing a File

When you already have a file open and you need to place an image into your document, this method offers the most options and is one of the most commonly used ways to place a file.

1.

From an open document, choose File > Place and navigate to a raster file on your hard drive or server.

2.

At the bottom of the Place dialog are three check boxes (Figure 8.1): check the Link box to place-link the file (unchecking the Link box place-embeds the file); check the Template box to have the image automatically placed on a Template layer; and check the Replace box to have the image replace one that is already selected on the artboard.

Figure 8.1. When placing a file, you can control whether an image is place-linked by checking the Link check box in the Place dialog.


3.

Once you've selected the file and checked the options you need, click the Place button to place the file into your document.

Method Two: Opening a File

Choose File > Open, and then navigate to choose a raster file on your hard drive or server and click the Open button. Illustrator creates a new document and places the image in it. When you're opening a raster file in this way, the image is always place-embedded within your Illustrator document.

See "Manual Tracing with Template Layers," later in this chapter, for more information on creating a template layer.



Method Three: Dragging a File

From Adobe Bridge, the Finder on Mac OS, or from any Windows Explorer window, drag a raster file right onto your Illustrator artboard. You can also select multiple files and place them all at once (Figure 8.2). Using this method, Illustrator place-links the files. To place-embed images while dragging them into your document, hold the Shift key while dragging the images.

Figure 8.2. When you're dragging several images at once from Bridge, an icon indicates the placement of multiple files into your Illustrator document.


It is notably easier to drag files into your document when Bridge is in Compact mode.



Featured Match-Up: Place-Linked Files vs. Place-Embedded Files

When placing an image into Illustrator, you can choose to have the image linked to your document or embedded within it. Each method has its own benefits, and which you choose depends on your needs and your workflow.

When you link an image, a preview of the image appears in your layout, but the actual image exists in a completely separate file. At all times, Illustrator needs to know where this file is. Otherwise, Illustrator won't be able to print the file correctly. In fact, if you were to save your Illustrator file and send it off to someone else (like a service provider for example), you would have to send the external linked image along with the file. If you have several linked images in your document, you have to keep track of many different files. In contrast, an embedded file exists within your Illustrator document, and therefore, the original external image that you placed is no longer required. When you send the document to another user, the image travels along with the single Illustrator file.

Imagesespecially high-resolution onesfeature hefty file sizes. When you choose to embed a placed image, the file size of the image is added to the size of your Illustrator file. For example, if your Illustrator file is 1 MB in size and you placeembed a 30 MB image into your document, the size of your Illustrator document grows to 31 MB. When you place-link an image however, the file is never added to your document, so the Illustrator file stays at 1 MB.

Although managing multiple files and file size are issues that will affect your decision to link or embed image files, one of the main reasons you will choose to link a file rather than embed it is so you can easily update the image when necessary. When you place-link a file, the image that you see in your layout is a preview of the file that really exists elsewhere. Anytime you make an adjustment to the original image (i.e., in Photoshop), the preview in your layout updates to reflect those changes. Illustrator even has a feature called Edit Original that assists in this process of updating linked images (see "Managing Placed Images," later in this chapter). However, if you place-embed an image, you can no longer update that image easily.


Placing Native Photoshop Files (PSD)

Typically, the interchange file formats for images that are used in print design layouts are TIFF or EPS, but Illustrator allows you to place native Photoshop files (PSD) as well.

Generally, placing a native Photoshop file isn't any different than placing any other file. Illustrator enjoys a wonderful relationship with Photoshop, however, and you can take advantage of extended functionality when placing Photoshop files.

The Layer Comps feature in Photoshop allows you to create named sets of visible layers. For more information on Layer Comps, refer to Photoshop's Online Help or Real World Adobe Photoshop CS2, by David Blatner and Bruce Fraser (Peachpit Press, 2005).



If the PSD file that you are placing contains Photoshop Layer Comps, Illustrator presents you with the Photoshop Import Options dialog, where you can choose which Layer Comp will be visible in the file from the Layer Comp pop-up menu (Figure 8.3). Check the Show Preview box to see what the Layer Comp looks like before you place the file. You can also choose whether Illustrator or Photoshop controls how layer visibility is updated by choosing from the When Updating Link pop-up menu. The Photoshop Import Options dialog offers additional options, which are covered later in this chapter in "Working with Adobe Photoshop."

Figure 8.3. The Photoshop Import Options dialog allows you to control the appearance of your Photoshop file before you place it into your document.


Unfortunately, once an image is placed into an Illustrator document, there is no way to access the Photoshop Import Options dialog to change to a different Layer Comp. To work around this apparent oversight, you can use the Relink function, which effectively places the file again and brings up the dialog (see "Managing Placed Images" for information on relinking files).

For a detailed description of the different file formats and their benefits and roles in a design workflow, refer to Chapter 12, Saving and Exporting Files.






Real World Adobe Illustrator CS2
Real World Adobe Illustrator CS2
ISBN: 0321337026
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 147
Authors: Mordy Golding

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