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Official Workbooks. Official T-Shirts. Designs that are saved as an AI file can be opened and edited with Illustrator. Considering that Adobe Illustrator is the most commonly used vector graphics application, having the ability to save as AI with Affinity Designer is crucial.
Believe it or not, not being able to save as AI with Affinity Designer is not the end of the world. This means that they can be created using any vector software. Examples of editable vector formats that can be opened and edited with Illustrator — or any vector software for that matter — are as follows:.
They read somewhere that they should have a file that ends in. What do we do? The good news is that, with a little smoke and mirrors, you can generate a file that looks and behaves just like an AI file, and nobody would know the difference! Use the presets depicted above when exporting your PDF document. In the export menu, make sure to choose 72 from the Raster DPI dropdown.
This is because 72 is the native dpi that Illustrator operates in. This will ensure that the sizes and dimensions of your design will remain consistent when opened with Illustrator.
As for the rest of the settings, you can leave everything else unchecked. The screenshot above depicts the ideal settings to use. In fact, the Illustrator format is essentially a glorified PDF document.
Changing our PDF document to an AI format is a matter of simply changing the extension of the file by renaming it. Open a folder in Windows, then look for where it says View at the top of the window and click on it to expand the view options.
Enable the preset that reads File name extensions. Make sure to enable the option to display file extensions in the file name. The option is located in the top-right of this image.
This will make it so that the file extensions are now displayed with the file name, making it easy to change. Simply change the file name so that it ends with. Once changed, you will now have a makeshift Illustrator file for your design that you created in Affinity Designer, and nobody will know the difference! As you can see, the file opened just fine with Illustrator and is editable just like any other AI file.
As a side note, this also works in reverse. This is okay though. This is also true for a file that you save as AI with Affinity Designer. For the most part, the properties and attributes of your design — like colors, gradients, text, etc. However, more advanced features that are specific to Affinity Designer may not transfer over as well. Some examples of such are as follows:. At the end of the day though, the only way to ensure that a design will be completely editable and functional in Illustrator is to create it with Illustrator.
However, if it helps in placating a client, then simply generating a PDF file and changing its file extension should do the trick. If you have any questions, or if any part of this lesson was unclear, just leave a comment below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read affiliate disclosure here.
Designer, content creator, and the founder of LogosByNick. I suggest trying a SVG file, it maintains layers and names. My vector brushes where outlined, but I was planning to do that anyway, it really solves me a step.
