This document provides an overview of key concepts for working in Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud. It discusses how to set up and customize new document settings, explaining options like image size, orientation, bleed, and color mode. It also covers Illustrator's interface elements like panels, tools, and workspaces. Additional topics include importing and linking assets, working with layers and masks, and managing colors, brushes, symbols and patterns. The document is intended to help users understand Illustrator's interface and prepare to create new vector graphic designs in the software.

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Adobe Visual Design 1
Objective: 3.0
Understand Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud interface and program settings.
ADOBE VISUAL DESIGN
Orbit Cyber School
Prepared By Collins

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QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE
YOU
BEGIN:
● How large should my image
be?
● What resolution should it be?
● What file naming structure
can I

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use to easily locate my
files?

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Creating NewDocuments in Illustrator
• New Document Settings
• Use of appropriate
document settings for
print and onscreen work
• Width/height,
orientation, artboards,
bleed, raster effects,
resolution, color mode

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Creating a New Document
Project Name
The title of your project. When you save, it will default to the Project
name and add the proper file extension to it.
Image Size
Determines the size and resolution of your artboard. You can change
units of measure (i.e. pixels, inches, picas, etc.) in the drop down to the right.
Orientation
Portrait is when the image is taller than it is wide. Landscape is when
the image is wider than it is tall.
Bleed
Bleed is the amount of artwork that falls outside the printing area or
artboard and will display when printed.
Color Mode
Limits the amount of colors available to match the output settings of
your project. For instance, RGB color is meant for screens; whereas
CMYK is meant for printers.
Raster Effects
The resolution your art will be created in. This can be adjusted to High,
Medium, Low, and for Complex Art

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Illustrator
Layout:
c
A. Control panel
displays options for the currently selected tool.
B. Menu Bar
gives you access to a wide range of functions and extra commands.
C. Collapsed Panel Bar
a series of useful panels which provide extra functionality and give you
quick access to many tools that make modifying artwork easier.
D. Toolbar
contains tools for creating and editing images, artwork, page elements, and
so on. Related tools are grouped.
E. Document Window
displays the file you’re working on. Document windows can be tabbed
and, in certain cases, grouped and docked.
F. Artboard
where you design your art, artboards can be adjusted, and you can have
multiple artboards.
G. Properties panel
this will change based on the tool you are using and give you a variety of
useful options and commands.
D

7. Creating New Documents in Illustrator
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• Artboard
• The pages in Illustrator which
represents the printable area in
which you design your art. You can
have multiple artboards (up to 100)
in a variety of sizes, which can be
adjusted.
• Bleed
• The amount of artwork that falls
outside of the printing bounding box
that gives the printer a small amount
of space to account for movement of
the paper, and design inconsistencies.

8. Creating New Documents in Illustrator
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ARTBOARDS
• Artboards represent the regions that
can contain printable artwork.
• Can have 1 to 100 artboards per
document depending on size.
• You can create artboards in different
sizes and resize them by using the
Artboard tool.
• Options to reorder and rearrange
artboards are in the Artboards
panel.

9. Illustrator Interface
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• Menus Bar
• Gives you access to a wide range of functions and extra commands.
Menus include the File, Edit, Object, Type, Select, Effect, View, &
Window menus.
• Collapsed Panel Bar
• A series of useful panels which provide extra functionality and give you quick
access to many tools that make modifying artwork
easier.
• Panels
• A group of related commands and options.

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Illustrator Interface
• Toolbar
• Contains tools for creating
and editing images, artwork,
page elements, and so on.
Related tools are grouped.
• Control Panel
• Displays options for the
currently selected tool.

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TOOLS PANEL
Tools grouped
and hidden
similar to
Photoshop.
Note new Illustrator tools.

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• Libraries Panel
• Allows the user
to store different
design elements
that can be
easily accessible
across other
projects.
• Properties
Panel
• This will change based
on the tool you are using
and give you a variety of
useful options
and
commands.

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Illustrator Interface
• Document Window
• Displays the file
you’re working
on. Document
windows can
be tabbed and,
in certain cases,
grouped and
docked.

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Illustrator Interface
• Workspace
• The user interface of the
software with specific panels,
bars, and windows which can be
adapted and saved for future
use.
• Default
workspace:
Essentials
• Navigate, organize, and
customize the workspace,
switching between workspaces,
nesting, hiding, and docking
panels, shortcuts

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Creating Documents
• Creating Documents
• The process of creating new files and documents.
• Create a new Project
• Creating a new document in Illustrator to be used for
graphic design.
• Document Presets vs. Custom Document
• Document presets are predetermined settings (dimensions,
color mode, units of measurement) used to create new
documents. Custom documents require the user to establish
those settings.

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Creating Documents
• Setting up and editing artboards
• In Illustrator you can set up different
artboards for different designs. These
artboards can be the same dimensions, or
each artboard can have separate
dimensions and orientations.
• Units of measure
• Pixels, Picas, Points, Inches,
Centimeters, Millimeters.
• Bleed
• The area outside of the printing
boundaries.

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s.
d
Non-Printing Elements
• Rulers
• Allows the user to create
guides based off of
document dimension
• Guides
• Can be created from objects
or from rules. Used for
alignment an snapping.
• Smart Guides
• Temporary snap to guides
that aid in alignment and
distribution of objects on an
artboard.
• Grids
• Creates a proportional grid
of squares that can be
adjusted and used for
alignment.

20. View Modes
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• View Modes
• Various modes available in Illustrator to preview your artwork
• Outline
• Preview
• Screen
• Presentation
• Isolation
• Drawing modes

21. Import assets into a
project
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• Import assets into a project
• There are multiple ways to import assets into a project such
as embedding, linking, and copying and pasting.
• Embedding
• Permanently placing an asset into a project. If the project
moves, the asset moves as well.
• Linking
• Placing an asset into a project where the asset is not permanent.
If the project moves the asset will not stay with the file. If the
original asset is updated the asset is updated in the project as well.

22. Import assets into a
project
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• Replacing
• Swapping an asset in a project with a different asset.
• Copying and pasting
• Copy an asset from an external source into a project.
• Import options
• When importing images, you can decide if you want to
embed, link, or import as a template.

23. Color in Illustrator
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• Color
• The element of art that is produced when light strikes a specific
object. Consists of three aspects: hue, saturation, and
brightness.
• Color Models
• Additive color is used for screens and subtractive color is used
for printing

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RGB CMYK
Color Modes
• RGB
• Red, Green, Blue color model is used for screens.
• CMYK
• Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, & Black color model used for
printing.
• HSB
• Hue, Saturation, and Brightness color
model.
• LAB
• More accurate color model that measures color as
well as brightness.
• Grayscale
• Monochromatic shades of grey from white to
black.

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Color in Illustrator
• Color Spaces
• A specific organization of colors.
• Color Gamuts
• Range of colors within a color model.
• Spot Colors
• Uses a unique code to create a specific color.
• Process colors
• Uses CMYK to produce colors.

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Color in Illustrator
• Swatches
• Predefined, easy to access
colors.
• Global Swatches
• Colors that are automatically
updated within a project.
• Gradients
• A gradual change of color in
an object. Can be two
colors or multiple colors.

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Color in Illustrator
• Color Guides
• Allows the user to
select
colors that work well together
such as complementary
colors, contrasting colors,
analogous colors, &
monochromatic colors.
• Color Libraries
• Preselected sets of colors
such as PANTONE, Nature,
Metal, Food. You can also
create your own color
library.

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• Fill
• Fill is the inside color of a closed shape.
• Stroke
• Stroke is the outline of a shape, text or image.
Use the black arrow
key (selection tool)
and click on the
object you want to
adjust. Once the
object is selected
change stroke and
fill. Click off when
done.
Color in Illustrator

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Illustrator
• Create and Manage Brushes,
Symbols, Graphic Styles, and
Patterns
• Using panels in Illustrator to create,
edit, delete, and use brushes symbols,
graphic styles, and patterns.
• Can be created from scratch or using
existing artwork on the artboard.

30. Layer in Illustrator
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• Layers
• The ability to separate
components of a design into
separate, selectable, sections.
• Layer Options
• Can change the name of layers as
well as the layer color. Layer color
affects the highlight color of
selected items on an artboard.
• Stacking Order
• The order of the layers directly
affects the appearance of the
design. Layers at the top of the
stack hide layers beneath them.

31. Layer in Illustrator
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• Clipping Masks
• Hiding parts of an artboard within the boundaries of other paths.
• Opacity Masks
• A combination of clipping masks and gradients that creates a gradual
change in the opacity of an object

32. Tools in Illustrator
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• Sublayers
• Each layer can contain sublayers for separate paths and shapes.
Every new shape or path creates a new sublayer.
• Merging & Grouping Layers:
• Placing graphics from multiple layers into a single layer using the
Layers panel functions.

33. Tools in Illustrator
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Selection
Tool
• Selection Tool
• Allows you to
select paths,
objects or
groups by click
or dragging over
them.
• Direct Select Tool
• Allows you
to select
individual
points of any
path. Direct Selection
Tool

34. Drawing Tools in Illustrator
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•Pen Tool
• It allows you to create and
edit anchor points and paths.
• Curvature Pen Tool
• Allows you to simply
create paths with curved
anchor points.
• Anchor Point Tool
• Allows you to add or remove
handles to create a curve on an
anchor point.

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Pen Tool

36. Drawing in Illustrator
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• Paths
• These are created when 2 or more points are connected, these are
created using the pen tool.
• Anchor Points
• A point on a path indicates a change of direction.
• Curves
• Can be applied to an anchor point using handles to create an arched
line.

37. Anchor points
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• Use the pen tool to draw
a line by clicking
anywhere you want a
point
• A point on a path
indicates a change of
direction.
• You can add anchor
points or delete anchor
points to change the
shape of a path.

38. Drawing in Illustrator
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39. Drawing in Illustrator
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• Open Path
• A path that does not end, not connected back to the
original anchor point.
• Closed Path
• A path that has the same beginning
and ending point. It forms a complete
shape that can be filled with color or

40. Drawing Tools in Illustrator
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• Pencil Tool
• This tool is used to create free-form shapes or lines, the accuracy of the lines can be
adjusted.
• Paintbrush Tool
• This tool is used to create free-form paths that can have a more hand-drawn feel.
• Blob Brush Tool
• This tool is used to create free-form objects that can have a more hand-drawn feel.

41. Shape Tools
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• Shapes Tools
• A group of tools to create basic shapes without using
the pen tool (rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star, etc…).
• All basic shapes can be drawn using the
shape tool rather than the pen tool
• Shapes can be found stored by clicking and
holding the “square” button
• To draw you can click and drag after the tool is
selected
• Holding shift keeps the shape in proportion (like when you
need a perfect square or circle)
• If you need your shape a set size you can select
the tool and then just click on the live space,
fill in the information and push ok

42. Using Colors
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• Swatches
• This is a saved color that can be
applied in a design via the swatches
panel and can be grouped, these can
include gradients and patterns.
• Global Swatches
• This is a color swatch that will be
automatically updated throughout
your artwork when you change them,
indicated with a white
triangle in the corner of the swatch.

43. Using Illustrator
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• View Modes
• Ability to view projects and adjust the display on the screen.
• Modes include:
• Outlines
• Presentation
• Full Screen

44. Type in Illustrator
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• Type Tool
• This tool allows you to create
text in a design.
• Point Type
• This occurs when when using
the type tool and you click
once, the text will continue
without wrapping.
• Area Type Tool
• This occurs when using the
type tool and you click and
drag a text box, the text will
automatically wrap inside
the box.

45. Type in Illustrator
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created path.
• Type on a Path Tool
• This tool allows you to add text along any previously • Touch Type Tool
• This tool allows you to
adjust individual letters in a
previously created text box.

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• Placeholder Text
• Text that is placed in a text box that
"holds a place" in a design to allow for
creating a layout or adjust the text
design.
• Readability (aka legibility)
• The characteristics of fonts and styles
that make test easy to identify and read.

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Type in Illustrator
• Tracking
• This is the
adjustment of
the overall
spacing
between letters.
• Leading
• This is the adjustment
of the space between
lines of text.
• Kerning
• This is the
adjustment
of the space
between
two
individual

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49. Type in Illustrator
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• Hierarchy
• To create visual order in design,
controlling what the viewer
looks at in order using size, color,
contrast, etc…
• Alignment
• Formatting the appearance
of text with the margins of
the text box.
• Paragraph Spacing
• The space that occurs between
lines of text.

50. Type in Illustrator
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• Create Outlines
• This command converts
text to closed paths and
can be found in the Type
Menu.
• Overflow Text
• This occurs when the text box is too small to house all
the text and is indicated by a small red plus sign in the
bottom right corner of the text box.

51. Type in Illustrator
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• Threading Text
• This is the ability to create 2 or
more text boxes that are
linked, when text is
added/adjusted in one box, it
will affect the other(s).
• Text Wrapping
• This is when the text in a text
box automatically wraps to
the next line when it reaches
the edge of the box.

52. Tools in Illustrator
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• Perspective Tool
• This tool allows you to place elements on a perspective grid to
adjust objects on a different perspective, automatically
snapping to the perspective grid.

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Objects in Illustrator
• Grouping
• This command allows you to link
objects together so that they can
be moved, scaled, rotator, or copy.
Groups can be nested inside other
groups.
• Isolation Mode:
• This mode allows you to adjust
single objects/groups inside a
group without ungrouping the
group.
• Expand Objects
• This allows you to divide a single
object into multiple objects that
make up its appearance.

54. Tools in Illustrator
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• Transform Objects
• This allows you to change the size of objects.
• Scale, Shear, Distort Objects
• This set of commands allows you to adjust the size and perspective of objects.

55. Command in Illustrator
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• Clipping Masks
• This command allows you to mask
objects to a shape so that only areas that
lie within the shape are visible, the mask
and objects that are masked are called a
clipping set.

56. Tools in Illustrator
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• Blend Tool
• This tool allows you to combine shapes/colors between two or more
objects to create a new object between the original,
blending the colors and shapes by inserting the middle steps to get from one
object to the next.

57. Tools in Illustrator
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• Live Corners
• This widget appears when using
the Direct Select tool and a
corner is selected, when used
this will create a rounded corner.

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Tools in Illustrator
• Shape Builder Tool
• This interactive tool allows you
to create complex shapes by
merging and erasing simpler
objects.

59. Tools in Illustrator
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• Smooth Tool
• This tool will smooth a complex
path and reduce the number of
anchor points

60. Tools in Illustrator
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• Scissors Tool
• This tool allows you to split a path into 2 pieces.
• Knife Tool
• This tool allows you to split an object into 2
pieces along a freehand path you draw.

61. Tools in Illustrator
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• Join Tool
• This tool joins
paths and anchor
points together
quickly.
• Eraser Tool
• This tool allows you to
remove anchor points and
cut through paths.

62. Panels in Illustrator
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• Pathfinder Panel
• This panel allows you to
create complex shapes
by selecting 2 or more
objects and using the
buttons in the panel to
cut, combine, or divide
the objects.
• Align Panel
• This panel allows you to align one or more objects
the artboard or other objects.

63. Panels in Illustrator
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• Live Paint
• This command allows you to
quickly apply colors to
objects in a complex design.
• Eyedropper Tool
• This tool allows you to sample
color or text from an existing pa
artwork.

64. Panels in Illustrator
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• Appearance Panel
• This panel shows
you the fill, strokes,
graphic styles, and
effects that have
been applied to an
object, group or
layer and are able
to modify theses
from this panel
directly.
• Brushes
• Allows you to set the
appearance/style of a path, can be
applied to existing paths or used to
create new paths.

65. Commands in Illustrator
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• Image Trace
• This command allows you to convert a raster image
into a vector artwork.

66. Commands in Illustrator
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• Effects
• These can be added
to objects to create
quick dynamic
characteristics
• Graphic Styles
• A set of reusable appearance attributes
allow you to quickly change the look of

67. Commands in Illustrator
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Objective: 3.02
Apply procedures to save and export assets for specific
purposes using Adobe Illustrator
Creative Cloud.

68. Commands in Illustrator
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File Management
• Color Modes
• Different ways of displaying
colors in a graphic based on
the final deliverable. Modes
include RGB, CMYK, LAB,
Grayscale & Index.
• Document Raster Resolution
• Determines the resolution of
raster (Photoshop) effects in
a vector image. Effects
include Blurs, Texture,
Stylize, etc. etc.

69. File Management
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• Pixel Dimensions
• The horizontal and vertical measurements of an image
expressed in pixels.
• Cloud Documents
• Saving documents to the cloud so they can be accessed and
downloaded anywhere there is an internet connection. You can
save assets, colors, symbols, etc. etc. to the Adobe Libraries
which can be accessed from other Adobe Software.

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Exporting in Illustrator
• Exporting Assets
• Exporting individual
assets (shapes, paths,
groups, symbols) on one
artboard or multiple
artboards as different or
individual files based on
grouping. Can adjust the
file
type & size for different assets.
• Exporting Artboards
• Exporting multiple
artboards as individual
files.

71. Exporting in
Illustrator
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• Exporting Specific Selection
• Exporting only what is selected on an artboard to an individual file.
• Exporting for Screens
• The ability to export all or specific artboards to different files and formats.

72. File Types in Illustrator
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• .AI
• Native Adobe Illustrator file that saves work so projects
and individual components can be edited.
• .PDF
• Universal vector file format that all computers are able to
view using a PDF reader program.
• .EPS
• A meta format that contain vector and raster data that can
sued with a wide range of software

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File Types in Illustrator
• .SVG
• An XML-based vector image format for 2D graphics with support
for interactivity and animation.
• .JPEG/.JPG
• Popular bitmap photograph / image file format. A
compressed (lossy) image that has a small file size.
• .PNG
• Popular lossless (uncompressed) bitmap file that can
maintain transparency.

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File Management
• Font and Image Management
• When working in Illustrator it is important to keep track of all placed
images and non native fonts. Opening files on other computers might
cause links to break and fonts to disappear or appear differently.
• File Packaging
• Packaging a file in Illustrator creates a folder (that can be zipped) that
contains all fonts and linked images as well as the illustrator file, to be used
on a different computer. Solves font and image management problems.