Saving multiple, similar pages as layers or diff. files 2

[nicksims]

Wondering what all of you do when you have plenty of similar pages, or say pages of a booklet. Do you save each individual page as a separate file or just make a new layer for each page, thereby having one big file.

So far, I've been saving each page as a separate file. If I go the layer route, could the file be so big that my Win XP will start to choke on it and slow down?

So far, my files don't normally exceed 1-5mb, sometimes 10. If I go the layer route, I could end up with 20-50mb files.

Thanks for the opinions.
Nick

 

[itchybug]

Nick:

You can turn off layers you're not working on and it should not slow your machine down noticeably. If you leave the layers turned on, you're forcing Illustrator to redraw all of the visible stuff each time you make a change or alter your view, and that would get time-consuming. Turning layers off alleviates that problem.

20-50 MB is not all that big in the 21st Century, FYI.

Bert

Bert Philippus

http://www.itchybug.com

http://www.amenpackaging.com

 

[jmgalvin]

You're usually better off saving as individual files. ILL files can get pretty big, pretty fast. Another problem with all the layers is that you risk everything if the program quits or crashes. With individually saved files you only lose the work you've done on the open file.

Theoretically it would also be far easier to print or create a pdf from the multiple files than it would be to go through different layers for each print or export.

 

[nicksims]

Thank you both for the advice. Time to experiment.

Nick