Converting AI to AD Artboards

[pixelinkmedia]

Hi,

I have an issue that makes my work flow for converting Adobe Illustrator files to AD tedious.

 

I used AI for web graphics and I used multiple artboards for each image

 

When I open an AI file (everything shows up fine)

I then go into the Document Settings to make changes.

 

However, all AI files that I open, are in the "Print" mode and I can't change it to Web.

See screen below

 

So, trying to convert it to AD will not work.

And When I go To Export... I only get the Print Persona.... no artboards show up, just one page with all artboards on it... just like you would do if you were doing a print project.

 

The only way I can make this work is create a new Web Project.

However, I then have to basically recreate the artboards and copy/cut & paste into my new web document.

 

This is tedious... because I have over 200 AI files I used for web graphics.... yuck

 

How do I change the AI file to a WEB project??

 

Thanks

[pixelinkmedia]

Can anyone help me with this??

[MikeW]

AD opens the pdf portion of an AI file. Multiple artboards in an AI file will become pages in an AD file.

 

Do you mean layers of an AI file become a single layer in AD? 

 

Mike 

[pixelinkmedia]

My AI file has 12 artboards.

And all 12 artbords open and display as artboards in AD

So, I want to save the opened AI file (PDF as you say) to a Web Document

But I can't change the Document Type from "Print" to "Web"

I can change the background to transparency, I can change DPI... but not Type

 

So, the only way I can do this recreate each artboard in a new "Web" type doc in AD

And copy/paste the artwork unto each new artboard.

[pixelinkmedia]

So, saving the AI file to AD with the "Print" type only gives me one page in the export persona... basically it sees it as a Print document

 

How to get it to be a web document?

[MikeW]

Sorry, I had it backwards as regards pages versus artboards--AD doesn't yet support multiple pages.

 

I don't use the Export Persona except to help folks here. By default I believe all artboards are exported as a single "slice." You can create more slices for each artboards or parts thereof.

 

Does it really matter if the document is a "web" or "print" document type? Seems to me units and resolution are what matters.

[pixelinkmedia]

I guess you are not understanding what I have been saying.

Please read carefully...

 

- I have an AI file that has 12 artboards (I use this artwork for websites)

- I open that file in AD

- All the artboards display in AD just as you see in screen below (except with white backgrounds)

- I goto the Document Setup dialog (as pictured in screenshot above)

- There I can change the background from white to Transparent. I can also change the DPI to 72

- However, I CANNOT change the TYPE to "Web".... it only says "Print"

 

So, what I end up with after saving it to an AD file is that the document is a "Print" document and not a "Web Document.

 

The difference is that for a Web Doc, each artboard is a separate "layer" when viewed in the Export Persona

But in a Print doc, all the artboards appear on just one layer in the Export Persona... because it's a Print DOC

 

So, I can't export the images as separate web images because all of them print as ONE IMAGE... just like a Print Doc would do.

 

A WEB DOC is for website images... it exports individual images

A Print DOC is for printed documents... it exports just one image or one PDF

 

Make sense?

 

[pixelinkmedia]

And just so you know what a WEB export persona should look like...

See this screen... it has multiple "layers" for each artboard.

In the Document Setup... the type is set to "Web"

 

[MikeW]

It appears to me that the main difference is that a web document automatically makes the slices. Like I mentioned,  you would need to manually make the slices for each artboard and then the individual images are exported.

 

I would suspect, but I haven't done the search, that others have requested being able to switch the document type. But it wouldn't hurt for you to do so.

[pixelinkmedia]

Okay.... I have to manually do the "Slices"

Yeah... it would be nice to just convert one doc to another.

 

Thanks

[MikeW]

5 minutes ago, pixelinkmedia said:

Yeah... it would be nice to just convert one doc to another.

 

Glad we got there...and thanks for the lesson on how you use AD. It makes it clear to me now and I can see that being able to convert or just automatically create slices per the artboards regardless of the document "intent" would be very useful. And maybe there is a means of creating the slices automatically...I dunno.

 

I do mainly print work and any web graphics I just create on a print page-type document, select the item for export and export the selection either with or without a background depending on usage. I rarely have more than a single "thing" on a page, though.

 

Again, thanks. Mike

[MikeW]

Maybe MEB's answer here would help?

 

Mike

 

[pixelinkmedia]

Guess what I discovered.

Any new document I create with the "Web" document type.

After you save it, it automatically changes the type to "Print"

 

I opened up my Slides (last screenshot above) that was created as "Web" type

I go into Document Setup and it says "Print"

 

I wonder if this is a bug.

 

Even though I can do the slices thing.... what is the point of the "Web" document type if it reverts to Print anyways?

Confusing.

 

[pixelinkmedia]

11 minutes ago, MikeW said:

Maybe MEB's answer here would help?

 

Mike

 

 

I'm set with this... I just use the Create Slices like you said... works fine.

[MikeW]

Excellent. 

[walt.farrell]

13 minutes ago, pixelinkmedia said:

Guess what I discovered.

Any new document I create with the "Web" document type.

After you save it, it automatically changes the type to "Print"

 

That does seem confusing, and possibly like a bug.

However, suppose you had a web-type document. What will you do with it when you're done? If you're exporting it as a PDF, have you tried using File->Export and then specifying the  "PDF for web" preset? I get a multi-page PDF when I do that, with each artboard on its own page of the PDF document.

[pixelinkmedia]

1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

That does seem confusing, and possibly like a bug.

However, suppose you had a web-type document. What will you do with it when you're done? If you're exporting it as a PDF, have you tried using File->Export and then specifying the  "PDF for web" preset? I get a multi-page PDF when I do that, with each artboard on its own page of the PDF document.

 

Oh yeah, I can still export to image or to PDF.

 

When you create a new AD file, you get to choose "Print, Print (Press-Ready), Photo, Web, Devices)

 

However, after you save a "Web" doc type... it reverts to "Print."

So now, I don't see what the difference is between "Web" and "Print" if everything just saves to Print doc type anyways.

 

Maybe the DEV's will read this and see that this seems weird to us.

[pixelinkmedia]

Better yet.... I will post this thread in Bugs thread

[v_kyr]

41 minutes ago, pixelinkmedia said:

Guess what I discovered.

Any new document I create with the "Web" document type.

After you save it, it automatically changes the type to "Print"

Nope, if I create a new plain Web WXGA document save that close and reopen it, it still is setup as a Web document!

Though I can imagine that somebody during the AD sw-design phase didn't thought it to be used that way for multipage Ai document imports, or they just messed something up there for Ai imports, artboards and doc settings. - However I agree it's annoying that you can't change the doc type here for Ai imports at all and thus make use out of those autogenerated export slices then.

[pixelinkmedia]

10 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Nope, if I create a new plain Web WXGA document save that close and reopen it, it still is setup as a Web document!

Though I can imagine that somebody during the AD sw-design phase didn't thought it to be used that way for multipage Ai document imports, or they just messed something up there for Ai imports, artboards and doc settings. - However I agree it's annoying that you can't change the doc type here for Ai imports at all.

 

It only works if you don't change the artboard size from the default 1280 x 720

I changed the artboard to 367 x 320... and it changes it to "Print" (and that is even before saving it.

But, if I am using web, I should be able to change the artbord size and Doc type should stay on Web

 

Weird

 

Screen below...

- 1) Initial setup of "Web" type

- 2) After changing the size of my artboard and then re-oping Document Setup.... it says "Print"

 

[v_kyr]

It has to do with Artboard usage/handling, if you don't use Artboards it won't do that!

[pixelinkmedia]

Just now, v_kyr said:

It has to do with Artboard usage/handling, if you don't use Artboards it won't do that!

 

If I don't select artboards, I only get 1 "page" at 1280 x 720... this is a single web image.

The point of using artboards to to create individual web images within one document file.

 

And, since I do use the artboards when I create web graphics. And the artboards will be different sizes.

Then that means, the "Web" doc type is really not a web doc type unless you stick to the default dimensions of one image

 

And please don't tell me you create multiple web images on one canvas page... that would be ridiculous

This seems screwed up to me.

 

I am a programmer as well... this is just not proper workflow standards.

You don't confuse the user with quirky setups like this.

 

I love this app because it can do artboards way better than AI... but this "Doc Type" implementation needs to be re-evaluated in my opinion.

 

 

[v_kyr]

Further if I first create a new Web document (without the [ ] create Artboard option checked) and then use instead the Artboard tool to create manually my Artboards on that new document it also doen't change to Print and keeps staying at Web. But it will then disable on the doc settings panel the Web type and page toggles, as it does in your case with the unchangable Print settings there!

[pixelinkmedia]

2 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Further if I first create a new Web document (without the [ ] create Artboard option checked) and then use instead the Artboard tool to create manually my Artboards on that new document it also doen't change to Print and keeps staying at Web. But it will then disable on the doc settings panel the Web type and page toggles, as it does in your case with the unchangable Print settings there!

 

Well it doesn't for me... once you add an Artboard after the initial setup... it changes it to Print

[v_kyr]

2 minutes ago, pixelinkmedia said:

 

If I don't select artboards, I only get 1 "page" at 1280 x 720... this is a single web image.

The point of using artboards to to create individual web images within one document file.

...

I know, I'm trying to find out where it behaves differently, where things get wired here.

1 minute ago, pixelinkmedia said:

 

Well it doesn't for me... once you add an Artboard after the initial setup... it changes it to Print

Strange, let me try again, I think I've just did that before and it locked on to Web.