Using Help | Contents | Index Back 268
Adobe Illustrator Help Using Type
Using Help | Contents | Index Back 268
Wo r king with columns of text
Adobe Illustrator provides several commands that make creating and working with
columns or blocks of type easy. The various features enable you to import and export text
from non-Illustrator files, link text so that it flows from one column to another, create sets
of columns for text, wrap text so that it flows around a piece of artwork, and speed up the
display of type when you don’t need to read the text in your artwork.
Note: When you are importing or exporting text, make sure that the fonts used in the file
are available on the system where the text will be displayed or printed. Missing fonts and
font styles—including fonts that have the same name but different formats (Type 1,
TrueType, or CID)—may cause unexpected results. On Japanese systems, differences in
character sets may prevent text that was entered in Windows from appearing on-screen in
Mac OS.
Importing text files
You can import text into Adobe Illustrator from a file that was created in another
application. This allows you to format and spell-check your text in a word-processing
application before you bring it into Illustrator. (For a list of supported text formats,
see “
About imported artwork” on page 31.)
One advantage of importing text from a file, rather than copying and pasting it, is that
imported text retains its character and paragraph formatting. For example, text from an
RTF (Rich Text Format) file retains its font and styles in Illustrator. You can also set encoding
and formatting options when importing text from a plain text (.txt) file.
To import text into a new Illustrator file:
Choose File > Open, select the text file you want to open, and click Open.
To import text into an existing Illustrator file:
1 Do one of the following:
• Choose File > Place. Select the text file you want to import, and click Place.
• Drag the text file from your desktop onto the selected object on your artboard.
2 If you selected a plain text (.txt) file, do the following, and then click OK:
• Specify the character set and platform that were used to create the file.
• Select Extra Carriage Returns options to determine how Illustrator processes extra
carriage returns in the file.
• Select the Extra Spaces option if you want Illustrator to replace strings of spaces in the
file with tabs. Enter the number of spaces to be replaced by a tab.
Note: If the imported text uses an outline font that is not available on your system, a
message appears. If you choose to import the text, letterforms in the missing font are
converted to compound paths. (See “
Modifying letterforms as graphic objects” on
page 267.) You can modify these paths as graphic objects, but you can’t edit them as text.
Exporting text files
The Export command exports text from point type, type paths, and type containers to a
new text file in plain text format.
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