The document provides instructions for creating a new file in Adobe Illustrator. It describes the various options that appear when starting a new file, including selecting between templates or a blank document, choosing a page size and orientation, setting the number of artboards and bleed settings. It also explains the different color modes of RGB for digital/screen and CMYK for print, and provides recommendations for raster effect and document resolution settings based on intended use.

1. Creating a new file
Illustrator

2. Illustrator document
creation
Overview

3. Restoring default preferences
The preference fire controls how command settings appear on your
screen when you open Adobe Illustrator program. Each time you quit
Adobe Illustrator the position of panels and certain command
settings are recorded in difference preference files. If you want to
restore the tools and settings to their original default settings, you
will need to delete the preference file. Adobe Illustrator will create a
new one the next time you start the program and save.
Adobe Illustrator CC Classroom in a Book

4. Restoring default preferences MAC USERS:
As soon as the Application’s
Icon is clicked, hold down the
Shift, Control, Option, and
Command keys. Continue
holding until after the
application is open.
WINDOW USERS:
As soon as the Application’s
Icon is clicked, hold down the
Alt, Control, and Shift keys.
Continue holding until after
the application is open.

5. Adobe Illustrator New Document
Print presets
After opening the application you are presented with a
variety of options. At the top left of the screen you have
two view options, Home and Learn.
Home will show you recent files that you have worked
on (if you have deleted your preference file, this may be
empty). You have the option of sorting these by date,
name, size, or kind. There are also a row of common
preset sizes.
Learn will offer you Hands-on tutorials and tutorials on
the web. Some of these we will cover in this course.
VIEW OPTIONS

6. Adobe Illustrator New Document
Print presets
Under Home and Learn areas are two buttons, Create
new and Open. They are pretty self-explanatory, to
start a new black document, you will select Create new
and to continue working on a document, select Open.
For now, select the Create new button.
CREATE NEW
& OPEN

7. TOP BARYou should see a
screen similar to this.
The Template area
might be different
since this is updated
regularly. There are 4
major areas, the top
bar, the Blank
Document Presents,
Templates, and on the
far right, Present
Details.
BLANK
DOCUMENT
PRESETS
TEMPLATES
PRESET
DETAILS

8. TOP BAR
The top bar repeats
the ability to to see
your recent files and
saved files along with
preset groups. The
groups are Mobile,
Web, Print, and Film &
Video. Each of these
have a common size.
For instance, Print,
shown here, has
letter, A4. legal, and
tabloid as its presets.

9. These are the Print
presets. The most
common sizes in the
US are letter, legal,
and tabloid. You will
need to know these
three sizes. Letter is 8
½ by 11, legal is 8 ½
by 14, and tabloid is
double letter size or
11 by 17 inches. Most
professional in-house
personal printers can
handle these paper
sizes.
BLANK
DOCUMENT
PRESETS

10. Templates are a good
place to find
inspiration. You’ll
notice the on this
screen, the three
shown are free and
these can be
downloaded and
modified. Others may
be available, but cost.
They can still provide
inspiration for your
own design.
TEMPLATES

11. This shows the
setting for the
selected preset, in
this case, letter size.
Here is where you’ll
set up your new
document, picking the
size, orientation,
artboards, and bleeds.
PRESET
DETAILS

12. Since you’re not a professional graphic designer,
you’ll probably not want to work in Points.
Points were devised for type with 72 points to an
inch. It’s great for small measurements like with
type.
You’ll probably want to switch this setting to
inches instead. The other options are picas
(another form of measurement used by graphic
artist), Millimeters, Centimeters, and Pixels. If
you were designing for Adobe After Effects or
Adobe Premiere, you would probably choose
pixel for your unit of measurement.
UNIT OF
MEASUREMENT

13. Here is where we decide the orientation of our
new document. There are three choices
although you only see two. They are Portrait,
Landscape, and Square.
Portrait orientation has the longer part on the
left and right sides, Landscape has the longer
part on the top and bottom. Square, of course is
equal on all sides.
When you choose a preset the width and height
are automatically filled, but these can be
changed to whatever dimensions you want.
ORIENTATION
WIDTH &
HEIGHT

14. Artboards are like individual pages. They can
always be added later in the document. In a later
lesson, we will cover artboards in detail. For
now, keep the setting at 1.
ARTBOARDS

15. The bleed is the amount of area the extends beyond the
document edge. It's difficult for printing equipment to apply
ink up to the cut edge of a sheet of paper. So an extra .125"
(3mm) margin is typically added on each side of the design,
enabling the background color, graphic, or image to extend
past (i.e., "bleed off") the paper's final trim edge. This extra
bleed area will be cut off the printed sheet. BLEED
The illustration on the left shows a page printed with bleed, before
trimming. will be 8.75" x 11.25" before being trimmed to a finished size of
8.5" x 11". The illustration on the left shows a page printed with bleed,
before trimming. When trimmed, the finished piece will have color or
graphic content extending to the finished, cut edge on all four sides. The
illustration on the right shows a page designed without any bleed. When
trimmed, the finished piece will have an unprinted border on all four
sides.

16. Whether you’re a designer or you’re getting a design, it’s
important to know the difference between the RGB and
CMYK color modes so you can plan and optimize each stage
of the design process. That goes beyond just knowing what
the letters stand for because it’s more about knowing which
one is the best for your project. Depending on where and how
the final result is displayed, one color space is always better
than the other.
Both RGB and CMYK are modes for mixing color in graphic
design. As a quick reference, the RGB color mode is best for
digital work, while CMYK is used for print products. But to
fully optimize your design, you need to understand the
mechanisms behind each.
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/correct-file-formats-rgb-and-cmyk/
COLOR
MODE

17. RGB (Red, Green and Blue) is the color space for digital
images. Use the RGB color mode if your design is supposed
to be displayed on any kind of screen.
A light source within a device creates any color you need by
mixing red, green and blue and varying their intensity. This is
known as additive mixing: all colors begin as black darkness
and then red, green and blue light is added on top of each
other to brighten it and create the perfect pigment. When red,
green and blue light is mixed together at equal intensity, they
create pure white.
Designers can control aspects like saturation, vibrancy and
shading by modifying any of the three source colors.
Because it’s done digitally, the designer manipulates how the
light on the screen manifests to create the color they want.
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/correct-file-formats-rgb-and-cmyk/

18. CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black) is the color space
for printed materials.
A printing machine creates images by combining CMYK
colors to varying degrees with physical ink. This is known as
subtractive mixing. All colors start as blank white, and each
layer of ink reduces the initial brightness to create the
preferred color. When all colors are mixed together, they
create pure black.
Use CMYK for any project design that will be physically
printed, not viewed on a screen. If you need to recreate your
design with ink or paint, the CMYK color mode will give you
more accurate results.
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/correct-file-formats-rgb-and-cmyk/

19. Sometimes you may use an effect in Adobe Illustrator, such
as a drop shadow, and Illustrator will render it as a raster
effect. This part will not be a mathematical element like most
of Illustrator, but more like Photoshop using pixels instead.
In this case, Illustrator needs to know what resolution to
render these effects. You have three choices; High at 300 ppi,
Medium at 150 ppi; and Low at 72 ppi. Generally, if you are
going to print the design on a printer, you’ll need high. If you
are going to only use the design on a screen, such as for web
design, then low will work fine.
The higher the raster effect, the larger the file will become. I
usually keep it at high and adjust resolution on exporting the
file.
RASTER
EFFECTS

20. The Preview Mode is who you want to view your
document. You will mostly like not change it from
Default. Later, if you wish to view you document in
another mode, you can switch it in the application.
PREVIEW
MODE

21. If you select More Settings, you will see this
screen. It is all the previous options on a single
screen.
Your final step would be to select Document.