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 ImageYou 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 FileWhen 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.
Method Two: Opening a FileChoose 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.
Method Three: Dragging a FileFrom 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.
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.
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).
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