Designing a Letterhead in Illustrator.

[Dal123]

Another silly question .
I have designed a logo for my company attached please feel free to critique my logo. I previously designed this but without the metal effect, I laid it all out in Quark.

Now however I would like to use Illustrator and have my details; address etc at the bottom in a polished metal effect. The thing is; how do I import an ai. file into illustrator. I have tried copy and pasting but it's too much for the computer to handle. I could export it as a jpg of something but then I'm loosing the editibability of the image.

 

[LeviG]

um last time I checked .ai was an illustrator file and so you just open it normally

 

[Dal123]

The logo was designed in illustrator, I am wanting to set-out the whole page and the rest of the letterhead in illustrator also. When you open the file it opens in the artboard.
What I did was created a new file with the set-out as I wanted, then dragged the file itself (making sure it was not open at that time) onto the set-out page and created a link to the original file. Did not embed the file as wanted to make changes to it, with the link it automatically updates.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

If copy/pasre isn't working, then you could create a duplicate of the logo file (either in Finder or Save As from Illustrator), and then change the page size for the new "Letterhead" file in the Document Setup option under Illustrator's File menu.

I would strongly suggest not using "polished metal effect" for the contact details. They will need to be smaller type size and so is probably best left as a normal, more readable style.

 

[Designer Dale]

Hi.

Design stuff set aside, can't you just make a new doc for your letter sized page and use File/Place to drop the .ai file for the logo into it?

Dale

 

[Dal123]

It seems that you can 'place' every other format apart from an .ai file.

 

[decksnap]

If your computer is really that broken, just make a separate illustrator file for the contact info and compose the final piece in Quark.

 

[Designer Dale]

It seems that you can 'place' every other format apart from an .ai file.

If you can't Place an AI file into an AI doc, then something is mucked up with the software. I tried this with my copy of CS3 before my post to keep from sticking my foot in my mouth.

Dale

 

[Buzz Bumble]

I don't know about the newer versions and the original person didn't mention what version they're using, but my old Illustrator 9 is the exactly same. It can Place all sorts of file types (including Freehand), but won't Place Illustrator files either. You have to copy / paste or duplicate the original file.

There could be two reasons why Copy / Paste isn't working. It could be a very complex image that there isn't enough memory to copy and fully process, or if trying to open the second file via double-clicking in the Finder then Illustrator will try to "export" the clipboard contents to a different format which may take up even more memory.

 

[Kwill]

Increase word spacing when you get AI working.

 

[Dal123]

Illustrator CS2

I'm using Illustrator CS2 and it's not broken, it's working fine. Like you say you need to copy and paste (Which I don't think I have enough RAM). What I did was carry the file from a thumbnail and placed it onto the document (Open window) that I was working on. This created a link (which was good for me as I could still edit then the file would be updated) there was still an option to embed the file (actually place it onto the document with no link and edit it there).

 

[sigmadog]

Why not simply open the artwork file (the one you are trying to import), and do "Save As" and give it a new name (say, "letterhead.ai") and work that up as your letterhead layout?

Out of curiousity, can you give some details as to your system (model, storage capacity, RAM, etc.). I find it odd that you cannot copy and paste what seems to be fairly simple artwork into another Illustrator file.

 

[Jim Campbell]

Increase word spacing when you get AI working.

These are wise words.

Cheers

Jim

 

[THX1139]

This is a no brainer. Just open the .ai file into Illustrator and save it as an .eps file. You can import the .eps file into Illustrator or place into a layout program like Quark or InDesign to do your letterhead.

 

[Dal123]

Increase word spacing when you get AI working.

What's the deal with word spacing? Surely it isn't just the gap inbetween words?

can you give some details as to your system (model, storage capacity, RAM, etc.)

I am using Mac OS X 10.4.11 (1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 Powerbook with 1GB of RAM) Illustrator CS 2.

I did originally layout in Quark but I think that program is vastly overated, and like the 'Align' panel in Illustrator also the graphics available in Illustrator and ability to edit.

 

[arkitect]

What's the deal with word spacing? Surely it isn't just the gap inbetween words?

Kerning (and tracking) is an art and once mastered seperates you from the amateurs.

I am using Mac OS X 10.4.11 (1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 Powerbook with 1GB of RAM) Illustrator CS 2.

That should be more than adequate for simple cutting and pasting…
How large is that file you're trying to paste?

 

[Dal123]

It's only about a MB

It's only about a MB and to be honest I'm having lots of problems trying to select all the artwork. It's on about 4-5 different layers and on one of the layers all the 'target column' are selected with grey dot and don't know why . I can't manage to select everything without tediously going selecting all items which will take me years (and not lazy just want to know how to do it properly as I really am going to try to get a job in graphics / web design as soon as I've completed my website). If I can manage to complete it.
Once I select the layers on one layer whilst holding shift I then try to get the other layer and loose the other.

 

[sigmadog]

Strange. That gray dot you mention indicates the object has been given some advanced appearance effects (like transparency or warp). If it was just a solid line or path without anything fancy applied, the dot would be plain, and not gray.

You can find out what has been applied by selecting one of the objects with the gray dot, and opening the Appearance panel and checking to see what effects may have been applied to that object. You can select individual effects within that panel and adjust or delete them as needed. Basic objects generally will have Line and Fill applied only, and will be represented in the Layers palette as an unfilled dot. Advanced objects may have effects applied such as Warp and Opacity (lower than 100%), and these objects will be represented as a gray dot in the Layers palette.

My advice is to simplfy the objects to Basic (an unfilled dot in the Layers palette) and see if it can then be copied and pasted into your other document.

 

[Dal123]

Cheers Sigmadog, It's been baffling me for a couple of days now. Maybe (at an earlier stage) I edited some artwork on that layer. Have only just started to really start to use layers properly this year.
I'll do what you suggested. There are a few other layers where gradients and opacities have been played with, but only a couple.
Thanks again.

 

[JonnyNumber5]

hello.

Shouldnt it just be easier and more staright forward to just place the logo into quark/indesign and go from there i just skimmed through the thread very quickly, maybe i missed something

also i reckon the logo itself shouldnt have a background or shading, both them alone make your logo, well, not a logo.