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Importing an Illustrator file into Indesign? 1

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landy08

Technical User
Jul 7, 2009
10
US
I am creating a software box in Indesign. The cover of the box is a graphic that was created in Illustrator. I have copy and pasted it into Indesign and everything looks fine except for a faint line that only shows up in the Indesign file. What is the best way to import an Illustrator file into Indesign?
 

...although it is viable to copy and paste between the adobe suite applications in many cases, care does need to be taken when performing such a function...

...for importing into indesign the recommended workflow for file integrity is to import the native .ai file via file > place...

...you need to save from illustrator as native .ai format, ensuring you have PDF compatibility enabled in the save as dialog (on by default)...

...you also need to ensure your illustrator document raster effects settings are appropriate for the intended output with the correct resolution etc (effects > document raster effects settings). This controls transparent effects produced inside illustrator...

...ensure your illustrator document color mode is set to the intended output color mode, CMYK or RGB (file > document color mode)...

...also ensure your artwork is on the correct size artboard, anything that extends the artboard will not show in indesign, it will be clipped off at the artboard edges...

andrew
 
Thank you for the help. I tried that and it seems to very blurry and gets pixelated. When I copy and paste it, it is vector art so you can zoom in and it stays clear. The only issue is there is a faint line around some of the text that is not in the original .ai file.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

Thanks,
Jennifer
 

...it will be blurry and pixelated as you are viewing a proxy image of the imported graphic...

...you need to change your display settings in indesign to view imported graphics at a higher resolution, choose view > display performance > high quality display...

...all imported vector and bitmap graphics then render better to screen...

andrew
 

...without seeing the problem art in question it is incredibly difficult to problem solve...

...but regardless, you really ought to be file > place native .ai graphics to maintain file integrity...

...then export to PDF and have a look at the result...

andrew
 

...proxy preview images for imported graphics are important to aid the user experience when dealing with lots of imported graphics, indesign runs smoother when the display settings are on "typical" mode...

...all page layout applications behave this way for imported graphics...

...in indesign, when you choose view > overprint preview, the display also switches to high quality allowing the user to verify incorrect overprints...

...same is true when you use the separations preview palette (window > output > separations preview) and turn the "view" drop down menu to "separations"...

andrew
 
I finally got it to work, turns out I wasn't viewing it in "high quality display".

Thanks again for your help solving my problem!

jen
 
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