Adobe Illustrator Essentials Guide: Create New Document

1. At the top of the window you will see preset options to choose from Adobe Stock. (‘Mobile’ ‘Web’ ‘Print’ etc.) Under each tab will be free templates to download and edit.

• Change ‘Color Mode’ if needed (‘CMYK Color’ is for printing, ‘RGB Color’ is for Web or Computer Screen Optimization)
• ‘Bleed’ is the outermost parts of the artboard that act as margins. This is important if you would like to print a poster at a specific size and not worry about the edges getting cut off.
• You can access and edit all of this information in the ‘Properties Panel’ once the document has been created.
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Reset your workspace: Choose ‘Essentials Classic’ and then ‘Essentials’ (This guide will be set in an ‘Essentials’ workspace) – Next make sure to select ‘Reset Essentials’ under the same menu to have a clean workspace.

Show Rulers: ‘View’ – ‘Rulers’ – ‘Show Rulers’ (Rulers will be in the unit you set the document)

Activate Smart Guides: ‘View’ – ‘Smart Guides’

• Smart guides are magenta display lines that show up near objects. They are temporary snap-to guides that appear when you create or manipulate object. They help you align, edit, and transform objects relative to other objects by snap-aligning and displaying X and Y locations.