Illustrator Libraries usage question for production

iraszl · September 13, 2018, 6:06am

I love the Adobe Illustrator Libraries feature, because I can create a library for each brand I work on, and add all the design assets and colors to it, then access this library from multiple Adobe apps.

However, I’m not 100% sure about how it should be used when preparing for production. As I understand these design assets (for example a logo) are stored in my Adobe Cloud. Do I have to embed such design assets into an illustrator file for example before giving a file to the printer, or would the file include the design asset even if I don’t embed it?

Thanks for your help!

PrintDriver · September 13, 2018, 12:21pm

If doing Native File handoff, you have to package the files. It isn’t automatically embedded, unless you are doing PDF handoff. With a PDF, everything is embedded. It isn’t a good idea to embed images in native file handoff. Always link.

One thing to be really careful of, we’ve been seeing a lot of packaged fonts come over as zero byte files when packaged over any kind of network, including the cloud. It doesn’t always happen and we haven’t quite nailed down the common denominator for those that do yet, but always check yer package (ahem) to be sure the collected files have some bytes in them.

iraszl · September 13, 2018, 11:46am

Thank you! So, let me test a file with you if you don’t mind. Can you check if you can open this .ai file and see the logo below:

test-file

Carlo · September 13, 2018, 12:08pm

Hello Ivan,

The linked file was an eps and that works OK.

The shapes of the logo were converted to their original drawings

If it would be an AI file the logo would have cross over it, which means that it is a linked file.

In that case when the receiver has no access to your library the link would be broken.

What you could do if you wan’t an AI file to hand off is to share your library, or make a pdf with everything embedded…

But I don’t think that sharing is a good option when having lots of clients.

iraszl · September 13, 2018, 12:21pm

Great! Thank you!

PrintDriver · September 13, 2018, 1:12pm

I’m a little leary of .eps file formats these days. If that fire logo was created as transparent overlays (I doubt it, but for discussions sake, if it was,) the eps format would flatten the transparency, convert the overlaps to CMYK colors and break the shapes apart. In some instances, the colors may even become masked fills. IOW, messy.

Sometimes even worse when placed as an .eps into an Indesign layout file.

Speaking strictly from a Signage/wide format perspective, logos for output should remain .ai, should be linked in native files, and the native files packaged. All fonts in logos should be converted to outlines (including the little TM, or ® symbols, which are often left as text and often in some arcane typeface.) Your mileage will vary for conventional print.