Use Illustrator for multi-page document?

[jaggedpeak]

I'm usually in the FrameMaker and, to some extent, InDesign areas, but a potential client asked me to work on a document for them.

They are doing a quick reference guide (I would assume either a single sheet folded into six panels, or several sheets folded and stapled into a booklet), and are planning to do it in Illustrator.

I've done these before in InDesign, but wanted to know if there is some capacity in Illustrator for doing the document there, for either of the formats mentioned above.

Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!

[_scott_]

Sure you can. It's not the most efficient method for text-heavy documents, but it can be done.

Illustrator's Character and Paragraph styles pale when comparied to Indeisgn and Framemaker. However, you can set up multiple-artboards and use symbols for reoccurring items.

[Guest]

Scott, a bit of a hijack here, but…

I don't use InDesign. Can you say (generally if need be) in what ways InDesign surpasses Illustrator in text handling? (If that's too much of a bite to chew in this forum, I'll understand.)

[dunaz]

Doug... well, InDesign's style sheets for one are heads above Illustrator's. But, really, it's all up to the user. I LOVE InDe, but I've learned to get by working with type in Illustrator. I would never choose Illustrator for a document longer than a few pages.

Yes, I'd have to say that maybe this topic should be another thread. Hot buttons you're pushing sir! LOL! 

[_scott_]

Doug,

Generally....

1. Once a style (character or paragraph) is assigned to text in AI, that link can not be broken easily
2. IIndexing, TOC, Bookmarks... all in ID.. none in AI
3. Assigning Paragraph and Character styles to the same text in AI can be confusing due to reverse hierarchy of the styles when comparred to other apps.
4. Reassiging or altering the assignment of styles in AI is a bit unreliable. It's not as simple as "Apply and override exceptions" in ID.

I really don't use AI for anything with more than a paragraph of text because I just find text handling clunky in AI in comparison. The AI styles do work, but it's just a slightly differnt midset if you are accustomed to Framemaker or Indesign.

[Guest]

Thanks, Scott. I have InDesign on my machine as part of the Suite. Opened it maybe 10 times in all these years, through all the versions. You do stir my interest though….

[chazdesimone]

Doug, did you ever jump into InDesign? I'm a typographer, so I love everything about Indy. It's very easy to master--once you realize a container must be created before you can set a single character of type! (I'm self-taught and that was the most frustrating lesson.) If you need any free "lessons" on InDesign feel free to contact me at chaz@desimonedesign.com. What do you specialize in?

(BTW I landed here because I too needed to turn several .ai docs into a multi-page piece. This forum is superb.)

[dunaz · Accepted solution]

Jagged:

Yes!

For that you use the artboard feature in Illustrator. When you create a new document, specify the number of artboards (aka pages) you need, and the amount of space between, etc. Once you have your document set up, zoom out and you'll see all the artboards laid out in the grid you specified. If you don't see them, make sure "show artboards" is checked in the view menu.

You won't be able to create a master page like you can in InDe, but you can paste in the same place on all the artboards--I believe the command (mac) is command+shift+option+V. You cut the original item (command+x) and then paste in place on all pages.

Interesting tidbits:

• If you open the artboard palette, you can name the artboards. When you export, say to outlined EPS, you can choose to "use artboards" and you'll get a separate eps file for each artboard WITH THE NAME from the artboard palette, plus a file with all the artboards together. Saving as PDF makes a multi-page PDF as you would expect. You can choose to output just one artboard.
• Also, with the artboard palette open, you can double-click on an artboard name and Illustrator will jump to that artboard at full screen size. Quite handy when you have a lot of artboards.
• You can change the layout of your artboards by clicking in the upper right corner of the artboard palette and choosing rearrange artboards (or something close to that). Make sure everything is unlocked, otherwise they won't move with the re-jigger.
• And finally, you can change the size of an artboard by using the artboard tool from the tool palette or by double-clicking on the artboard's icon in the palette, which will bring up a dialog box...

I am an InDesign lover, so I feel your pain. One of my clients is a manufacturer of retail items for which we design and prepare for print many packages/backer cards/etc. Before the artboard feature existed, we had a separate Illy file for each SKU. It has allowed us to be a lot more organized, and you don't get hit with seven gazillion files when you open up a folder. (I tried to get them to convert to InDe, but really, it's not set up for this kind of use, so I've had to learn the ins and outs of Illustrator and have come to appreciate it for many things. Alas, type manipulation isn't one of them, but it's designed to draw pictures, not set type.)

Good luck and best regards--D