placing photoshop files in an illustrator document

[sharifsucks]

hi all...

i placed a photoshop file in my illustrator document, using file>place....now if i want to send the illustrator file to somebody, do i need to send the psd file as well or not? because i renamed the photoshop file once, then the picture in illustrator was gone too....

thanks in advance

 

[askIllustrator]

This is known as linkage and is a good question. When placing you get the option to place or embed. There should be a checkbox for link when you pull up the place dialoge. With 'link' unchecked, AI will embed the image into the file and you will only need to send the AI to the printer. The down side is your file gets a lot bigger (obviously) and the image cannot be updated as easily (you will have to use the replace command with the image selected) as if you just linked it. If you link a file, that file must be in the same folder as the AI (with the same name you linked it under) so the printer will have all the data he needs when printing. I perfer the ladder since I can make changes to the placed art and if I dont change the name, it will automatically update the next time I open the AI file. I also reccomend the ladder meathod since your printer may choose to place your AI in a pagelayout app such as Quark in which case he'll need to replace the image as well to avoid 'nesting' (placed image inside a placed image)

 

[sharifsucks]

so what should i do now? should i insert the image all over again? is there anyway that i could break the link? can you explain more about nesting? because i don't really understand it...what would be the easiest way to have the file? because it's going to be printed in a small printing shop somewhere in asia, and i suppose that it would be better if i keep everything simple.

 

[askIllustrator]

if the print shop has ok'd the illustrator format go ahead and embed the image, if you want to replace the one that is there or embed it, select the image in the file and look at your links pallete. The pull down arrow pointing to the right will show you your options for the selected art. If it has been embeded already you cannot update the link, but you can replace it with any image you want at which point you will get the option to link or embed the new image.

 

[sharifsucks]

on "save as eps" i got a dialog box where i can check "include linked files" does that mean that i don't need to include the photoshop file when i send it to the print shop? i need your help as soon as possible...

 

[Greg25]

Yes, just check the file size of your file before you save and after you save it should be larger then if it was not included I personally would send the PS file 2 just in case Greg

K & G Design
kgdesign@warwick.net