Placing images in Illustrator

Hi Adobe Community,
Do placed images in illustrator have to be in vector form before you can expand or convert them to compound paths?
Or is there a way of just using the placed images without having to trace it?
The reason I ask is because I wanted to use the pathfinder pallete to separate, join or intersect objects along with the rest of its functions instead of simply clipping.
Unfortunately, when I try and use the pathfinder options with a placed image without tracing it, it says the objects needs to be a path first. And I don't want to trace the image either because it just converts it to black and white when I'm only concerned with maintaining the original look.
Thanks in advance for your help.

paths are strings of vectors. if you want to use functions that involve intersecting objects made up of paths, then yes, they have to be vectors.

Similar Messages

Add Strokes to Placed Images in Illustrator

Hi All,
I'm having a problem to add a stroke "frame" around my tiff image in Illustrator. My image is a "traced picture" from Photoshop. I used the following technique:-
Technique: Use an Effect
Choose File > Place and select an image to place into Illustrator document.
Choose File > Place and select an image to place into Illustrator document.
The image is selected. Open Appearance panel and from the Appearance panel flyout menu, choose Add New Stroke.
With the Stroke highlighted in the Appearance panel, choose Effect > Path > Outline Object.
However, the result I got was the stroke around the image NOT the frame around the image.
How do I achieve it. Any help and tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Technique #1: Use a Mask
This technique requires Illustrator CS3 and works only when your keyline will be rectangular in shape.
Choose File > Place and choose an image to place into your Illustrator document. You can either Link or Embed the image. Once you've chosen the image, click the Place button.
The image is selected (if your image already exists in your document, select it now), so if you look in your Control panel at the top of the screen, you'll see a button labeled "MASK". Click on it. This creates a mask at the exact bounds of the image.
Press the "D" key for Default. This gives the mask a black 1 pt stroke attribute. Adjust the stroke per your design needs.
NOTE: An additional benefit to this method of using a mask is that you now have the elements in place to simulate a "frame and image" paradigm like InDesign. Once you've created your mask, you can decide to "crop" your image by double clicking anywhere on the photo. This will put you into Isolation Mode. Now click on the frame edge and resize at will. When you're done, double click outside the image to exit isolation mode and continue working. This method works wonderfully when you're using the Selection tool (black arrow) and have the Bounding Box option turned on (in the View menu).
Technique #2: Use an Effect
At first, it may seem that applying a keyline with the use of an Effect is a tedious process. But we all know that once we've applied an effect, we can store it as a Graphic Style, at which point applying our keyline will become a single click. Go ahead, ask me why Adobe doesn't ship Illustrator with such an effect as a default setting in the NDPs (New Document Profiles). Go ahead, ask me why Adobe doesn't allow us to assign keyboard shortcuts to styles like InDesign does. I don't have answers to either of those questions (sorry). But let's get on with the styles, shall we?
There are two separate effects that we can use, and each provides a different benefit.
Choose File > Place and select an image to place into your Illustrator document. You can either Link or Embed the image. Once you've chosen the image, click the Place button.
The image is selected (or if your image already exists in your document, select it). Open your Appearance panel and from the Appearance panel flyout menu, choose Add New Stroke. We can't see the stroke yet, because all we have is an image. But we'll change that in short order.
With the Stroke highlighted in the Appearance panel, choose Effect > Convert to Shape > Rectangle. Check the Preview button, select the Relative option, and set both the Extra Width and Extra Height to zero (0). (Be careful not to press Tab after you enter the second value, or it will switch back to Absolute.) Click OK to apply the effect. Style the stroke attribute to match your design preference.
Now make this easier to apply in the future. With the object still selected, open the Graphic Styles panel and click the New Graphic Style button at the bottom of the panel. Give the style an appropriate name. If you then add this style to your NDPs, it will be readily available in all new files that you create.
Add Strokes to Placed Images in Illustrator | CreativePro.com

CS6 InDesign - Default display is high-quality. Four placed images are Illustrator files. Three images look the way they should - high-quality. One image looks pixelated. Why?

InDesign CS6 - Default display is high-quality. All four placed images are Illustrator files. Three images look the way they should - high-quality. One image looks pixelated. Why?

Not sure if this will help, but what is your inDesign file's "Transparency Blend Space" set to? It's under the edit menu.
Also, when you are placing your images, are you selecting "Show Import Options" and making any selections there?

Placing Images in Illustrator CS4 causes them to appear 1/3 size

Whenever I try and place an image (whether it be simply placing an image or opening one) within Illustrator CS4 for Windows - for whatever reason, the images appear at about 1/3 the size they should be.
I go to View > Actual Size and it shows that the image is at 100% but it's obvious the images are nowhere near 100% (see attached ai.cs4.jpg). What could be causing this? I open up the same images (I know this because I am pulling from my desktop so I know I am pulling the same files to avoid confusion) in Fireworks CS4 and it pulls open correctly the right size, the same time - every time (see attached fw.cs4.jpg).
I'm really trying to come to grips with Illustrator, but this simple task is driving me nuts.
Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated -
Sincerely,
kstagg

You sir, are "the man".
For whatever reason, that image came through with a res of 240. Not sure how I did that but once I corrected it and tried placing it in Illustrator again - no problem.
Thanks to you not all of my hair is gray.
All of the best -
Kevin

Placing images in Illustrator for print ready files

I'm designing a brochure in Illustrator that contains several logos and photos. (Yes, I know, Illustrator... I've read several forums and know that InDesign may be a better program for this, but I completely underbid this project and really need to stick with something I know for cost efficiency.)
I need to resize several images in Photoshop to place in Illustrator and I'm wondering if I should save them as CMYK jpegs, or tiffs, etc. I need the file to be the smallest it can be for upload to the printer. I need the basics on different file types and their pros and cons.
Also, when I'm sending out the proof to the customer, any tips on saving the pdf so the images aren't too blurry and the file is still sendable?
Please help!! Any other information or tips on how to prepare my file as a print ready would be great. I love to learn and really need some great resources.
Thanks!

How many pages are we talking about? The key to file efficiency is Placing images at their final size, so you are on the right track. Let me try to help...
"I need to resize several images in Photoshop to place in Illustrator and I'm wondering if I should save them as CMYK jpegs, or tiffs, etc. I need the file to be the smallest it can be for upload to the printer. I need the basics on different file types and their pros and cons."
-Do not save as JPG. The compression artifacts will show up in print. Just Place CMYK .tiffs or .psd's without sizing in Illustrator. Another thing to keep in mind is "Linking" the image files instead of "Embedding" them. You have a little more control saving your page files as EPS before creating the final PDF.
"Also, when I'm sending out the proof to the customer, any tips on saving the pdf so the images aren't too blurry and the file is still sendable?"
-There are a few different ways you can create a PDF viewable as a softproof. You could send the final as a Standard PDF using defaults. Don't forget to embed the fonts and leave color unchanged. What I do is Export > RGB TIF @ 150ppi > Open the .tiff in Photoshop and Save-As Photoshop PDF with a JPG compression of 8. You could do that for each page and then reassemble using Acrobat for one assembled, final PDF optimized.
"Please help!! Any other information or tips on how to prepare my file as a print ready would be great. I love to learn and really need some great resources."
-Get Adobe's Print Publishing Guide. It has enough information in it to help you wade through all of the disinformation out there. Get in touch with a couple of local print shops and have them take a look at your files. Good shops can spot problems and give you some handy tips. Not all shops will take the time, so finding one can be tricky.
Thanks!
-You're welcome. Let us know how it all shakes out.

Using placed images in Illustrator

Hi everyone,
This may be a simple thing, but I'm having some display issues with JPEGs and TIFFs that are placed in to Illustrator.
When I go to move the item, I don't get any outline of the item or 'preview' of it whilst moving, it just stays in place then magically appears in another place once I've made the move.
Obviously this is very annoying when you're trying to place something precisely on the page.
Is there anything I can do to help this?

Why not be vague about your system and what version you are using and of course not tell us about any new fonts or new software or anything what so ever that might be helpful.
Yes, I am being sarcastic but those are the things one really has to know in order to help. There is no preview when moving but there is an outline.
So you can try this depending on the system. If this has always been the case with your install of Illustrator then you have a conflict with another software most likely.
This is what you can try
PC
1. Quit Illustrator.
2. Rename the AIPrefs file (for example, to AIPrefs.old) in the Users/(user)/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CS3 Settings folder.
3. Start Illustrator. Illustrator creates a new preferences file.
Mac
1. Quit Illustrator.
2.Go to User/username/Library/Preferences/ Adobe illustrator CS4 Settings and trash the settings folder, the whole folder not just the contents of the folder..
3. Start Illustrator. Illustrator creates a new preferences file.
This what I see when I move a placed image

PLACING Images in Illustrator documents and saving.

Is there any way to just embed pictures in an illustrator document, because I know when you PLACE (File> Place) them in, it creates a link, and if you accidently delete a pic or something it won't show up in your document you open. My question is: Is it possible once you place images in your document, to embed them permanantly without having them linked at all, yet still preserve editing capability?
I save out a lot of PDF's and sometimes the images are linked to the pdf's as well. I always have (preserve illustrator editing capabilities) checked when I save out my PDF's in order to make changes regularly. ANY HELP??

To embed images go to you links palette flyout menu and choose embed.
Experienced Illustrator users usually do not embed because
makes your illustrator files larger and slower.
cannot keep track of resolution or color space
they can keep track of their files without losing
making edits later is a longer process
overall control and management of image quality is better
Embedding images on large projects increase the overall project file size, because you make a copy of the image within illustrator each time you embed.
To edit embedded images, you need to copy from illustrator and paste them into photoshop. Problem is you do not know what original resulotion they are and you maybe upsampling the image or changing the colorspace/profile. If you still want to embed, you are better off , keeping an original image in your job folder, that you can edit in Photoshop, and then use the links palette in Illustrator to relink.

Placing images in Illustrator changes their color values-Why?

I've been placing photoshop tiff files into Illustrator, and doing this seems to change the color values, when I sample them with the eyedropper tool. The images I made use a custom mix of CMYK rich black, with the K set to 100. In Illustrator, they appear to revert to the default 'Photoshop black", approx C75 M68 Y67 K90. This is not my intent of C70 M60 Y58 K100. The Illustrator document is CMYK mode, and I don't know why this is happening. The non-image items (vectors) in my illustrator file DO retain the color values I intended, however.
Is this some kind of setting I can change in Illustrator? Will this discrepancy show up when this file goes to print? Please help! Thanks.

WHen the image is not embedded, Illustrator samples the representation values. Those are handled by color management.

Black image boundry lines when placing image in Illustrator

I am making a business card in Illustrator 6.
I placed an image of my black signature with transparent background on the white background business card, and now it is leaving a box were that signature image canvas ends. This happens with both a .psd and .pnd files.
Now if I could just go into photoshop and extend the canvas and leave the image the same size that would be great. When I try to do this though there is still the old canvas boundry line.
If I was able to start all over I would have had the original canvas size way wider than the image of my signature that I drew on it. That way it's boundries would now be outside of my business cards boundries and I would not be seeing those black boundry lines.
There must be a simple way of fixing this?

I tried that, but where the instructions say "File > Print, and under Output, choose Composite CMYK" I don't have that option. Otherwise I did the rest and it did not help.
I forgot to say that it only prints what is inside my signatures boundries/canvas dimensions and will not even print to the edge of the Illustrator file.
I would attach the image, but it is too large of a file and whatever other formats I try to save it at it will only save it to the boundries of my signature and not the Illustrator image, artboard or whatever you call it.

Placing Images In Illustrator Are Blurry.

Hello I have this problem in CS5 that any type of image or line art are always blurry. All my work is for print and perhaps just the preview is blurry but I am afraid that printing will be bad.
Most graphics I bring in are from Photoshop CS5. I make sure they are 300DPI to start and recently learned they should not be in RGB mode but CMYK.
The images I should also mention when placed are very small and I have to scale them to be the correct size. I do not know why they do not place as their original size. So basically it is small size and blurriness.
Any help regarding this matter is appreciative. I am new at Illustrator and want to learn more from it since it seems like a great tool to use for printing.
Thanks,
Victor

I believe the solution to your problem starts in photoshop. Most printers require resolution to be 2X the lpi (lines per inch) and the most common line screen is 150 lpi (133 or 175 are the next most common), so hence 300 dpi (dots per inch) standard resolution requirement. Open your image in photoshop >> Image >> image size >> uncheck resample image >> change your resolution to 300 dpi if it is not and save. I bolded that cause thath setting is very important, and you will need to become intimately familiar with hwo everthing in image size works. This unchecking will not add or remove pixels, but will adjust the size of your image if you change to 300 dpi.
Now when you place the imahe in ilustrator, you will know that your image is exactly 300 dpi. If you scale your image smaller, no problem your effective resolution will be >300dpi adn that never hurts. If you scale your image larger in Illustrator, then you know that your resolution will be less than 300 dpi. You can now better assess the quality of your image reproduction.

Why do placed images in illustrator print a different shade of black than the black in the document?

It has happened to me more than a few times. For example, I'll place artwork that was created in photoshop into an illustrator document, and the blacks are inconsistent. Any advice?

Your blacks may have different CMYK values. The default value for foreground swatch in photoshop is 75c 68m 67 y 90k and many people don't realize that is not 100%k. A common Rich black value is 60c 40my 100k, which makes the black darker, and still neutral by having cyan above my.
If you specify 100 k in photoshop & 100k in illustrator, and the colors print different, you may have a color destination profile assigned to your placed CMYK image.

Dimensions changes when placing image in Illustrator

I had a problem while placing an image created in photoshop into illustrator, dimensions of the image was changed in Illustrator (shorter in hight and longer in width). My image size in Photoshop is 30.6 cm x 6 cm, Resolution: 300 pixels/inch, it changed in illustrator to 30.4969 cm x 6.0029 cm.
After few tests, I found out that if I change image resolution from pixels/inch to pixels/cm, resolution hence will convert from 300ppi to 118.11. Here I just rounded resolution to 120ppc, only then this image will keep its dimensions in illustrator as 30.6 cm x 6 cm without any change when I drag it or place it in Ai again!
Apparently keeping resolution as rounded figures in pixels/cm will fix this issue… any one had this problem or had solved it in a different way?

I think this is down to specifiying metric dimensions in an imperial resolution, coupled with the fact that there's no such thing as a fraction of a pixel.
300dpi equals 118.1102362 pixels per cm. Therefore, 6cm equals 708.6614173 pixels. Because you can only have whole pixels, Photoshop rounds this up to 709 pixels. 709 divided by 118.1102362 equals 6.002866668 which accounts for the discrepancy that you're seeing.
As you've discovered, the only way around this is to use a metric resolution that your chosen dimension fits in exact pixels.

Why are my placed images in Illustrator dimmed?

I just got a fresh install of Illustrator CC and every time I place a raster image into my document, it appears dim or very light. When I go to export the image, the PNG file displays the image correctly.

No. I mentioned I am currently on CC which changed it. Double-clicking a link shows the following.

Brush on placed image

Is it possible to apply a pattern brush to a placed image in Illustrator?

Illustrator cannot directly edit the pixels in a placed image. You can draw anything possible above a placed image and adjust its transparency and opacity settings, so perhaps that is all you are after.
If you want Photoshop-like editing of the raster date in a placed image, you will need a raster image editor like… Photoshop. You could draw out your desired artwork in Illustrator, then hide or delete the placed image and place that .ai file into Photoshop on its own layer, rasterize it, and edit it as pixels.

My InDesign program is printing my placed images lighter than illustrator.

I am trying to print a colour logo in Indesign with black type on my inkjet printer. The colours are appearing fine on screen and so is the black but when I print everything is washed out. I tried just printing a black box and it appears black on screen but in print it is grey. I have tried changing the preferences Appearance of Black to rich and accurate but that did not make a difference. Do I need to do anything in color management I am using Indesign CS2. How can I solve this problem?

Acrobat worked, thanks for that advice. I set my Convert to Profile under the Edit Menu to Color
Match RGB. That helped a little bit but it is not printing like the
pdf. I would like to get this problem resolved. I normally use
illustrator most of my work. But I would like to have InDesign working
properly as I need it to do other jobs.
Take Care,
Jen
Take Care,
Jen
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:24:47 -0600
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: My InDesign program is printing my placed images lighter than illustrator.
Jen,
This is a problem that you have no time to fool with, correct?
When printing from InDesign and all looks hopeless, export to PDF and print from the PDF.
Why?
I don't know for sure but it seems all printers made recently accept PDF better than straight from InDesign. It could be the printer driver and it could be InDesign but you don't have time to mess with it now. Wait for some free time to sort it out, but for now output to PDF and print from Adobe Reader or Acrobat.
>

Placing images in Illustrator

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