Using pages designed in Ai for an Id book going to print - Export options?

[janinet27071651]

Hey guys,

I am putting together an 80 page yearbook for a client which has lots of images, text and graphics. The client has provided me with 30+ pages that have already been designed in Illustrator... but InDesign is what I will be using to finish the document and package it up for print.

The illustrator pages have been created using high-quality images and clipping masks to get them to the right size/orientation for the design. The text has been converted to outlines.

My question is - can I export these Ai pages as a high-quality JPEG and just place the full page JPEG straight onto the InDesign page? Will the quality of images and text be crisp when it goes to print? Would a PDF be better? Is there a better way of doing this without having to redesign 30+ pages in InDesign?

Thanks in advance!

[BobLevine]

Place the AI files but why in the world did they convert the text to outlines?

[janinet27071651]

BobLevine  wrote

Place the AI files but why in the world did they convert the text to outlines?

No idea! Not all of the pages copy has been converted to outlines so for the ones that haven't I can just place the actual .Ai file into Indesign? Will the image links carry over with the file?

For the ones that have had text converted to outlines will exporting as a JPEG have the desired outcome by treating it as a full page image?

I just can't get my brain around it and as my printer doesn't offer a physical proof I want to be sure the end result is perfect before I send the Id package over.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Eugene Tyson · Accepted solution]

Honestly - you're better off designing the whole thing properly in InDesign.

Yes, you can place the Illy files, and yes you can do other things.

But the only way to do it right is to do it right.

It's a pain - and time consuming - but at least you will have an editable properly constructed file.

I suspect some pages are outlined and others aren't, because the client possibly opened PDFs in Illustrator to make edits, and this can sometimes force fonts to outline.

It's hard to know. But if the client did open a PDF in Illustrator then you may have a whole bunch of issues come printing.

[BobLevine]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Eugene+Tyson  wrote

I suspect some pages are outlined and others aren't, because the client possibly opened PDFs in Illustrator to make edits, and this can sometimes force fonts to outline.

If they weren't Illy files to begin with, that could be, but if they were PDFs created with AI and maintained AI editing compatibility, they would open just fine in Illy.

[Eugene Tyson]

Absolutely!

[BobLevine]

I agree with Eugene. Just do it right and be done with it.

But...when you place an AI file in InDesign you are in fact placing a PDF, not the actual AI file itself. Everything is embedded so there's no worries about links, fonts, etc, as long as the AI file was saved with PDF compatibility.

[Geоrge]

>> can I export these Ai pages as a high-quality JPEG and just place the full page JPEG straight onto the InDesign page?

Can, but this is crazy idea. Just place Ai into indd (CTRL+D) and don't worry about it.

>>  Would a PDF be better?

Equal to ai, better than jpg

[Test Screen Name]

Almost anything would be better than using JPEG! It's hard to imagine any choice more damaging; both rasterising and lossy compression in one package.

[Luke_Jennings]

The 30+ pages from your client could have come from many sources, some pages could be ads that have outlined type, some pages could have unembedded fonts, some pages could be missing bleed, etc. Ask them to give you a PDF saved from Illustrator using the Illustrator default settings, If that file is OK, you should have no problems placing it into InDesign, adding your work, and exporting to a new PDF. If there is a chance you will need to edit the supplied 30+ pages, ask them to package their Illustrator file, including all links and fonts. You can place the .ai file into InDesign, but the illustrator links and fonts will not be included in your packaged InDesign file. This won't prevent the InDesign file from exporting correctly to a PDF, however the illustrator file cannot easily be edited without the links and fonts. You can, of course, copy the packaged Illustrator file into the InDesign package. At any rate, your printer should be happy with a properly prepared print ready PDF, with packaged files as a back-up.