Datasheet

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Chapter 1 ✦ Learning the Illustrator Interface
designing for the Web, 100 percent works correctly (the result will be at 100 percent
as well), because the Save for Web feature automatically converts images to 72 ppi
(the “standard” screen resolution for cross-platform viewing).
In Photoshop, 100-percent view is different from Illustrator. In Photoshop, each
pixel onscreen is equal to one pixel in the image. Unless the pixels per inch (ppi)
of the image match those of the screen (and they would if Web graphics were being
designed), the 100-percent view tends to be larger than the printed dimensions of
the image.
Using the Zoom tool
Perhaps the easiest way to control the magnification of your artwork is with the
Zoom tool. This tool (which looks like a magnifying glass and is located in the right
column of the Toolbox) can magnify a certain area of artwork and then return to the
standard view.
To use the Zoom tool to magnify an area, select it in the toolbox by clicking it once.
The Zoom cursor takes the place of the Arrow cursor (or whatever tool was previ-
ously selected). It looks like a magnifying glass with a plus sign in it. Clicking any
spot in the illustration enlarges the illustration to the next magnification level, with
the place you clicked centered on your screen. The highest magnification level is
6,400 percent — which, as all you math aficionados know, is 64 times (not 6,400
times!) bigger than the original.
Where you click with the Zoom tool is very important. Clicking the center of the
window enlarges the illustration to the next magnification level, but the edges (top,
bottom, left, and right) of the document (and possibly some or all of your artwork)
will disappear as the magnification increases. Clicking the upper-right corner hides
mostly the lower-left edges, and so forth. If you are interested in seeing a particular
part of the document close up, click that part at each magnification level to ensure
that it remains in the window.
If you zoom in too far, you can use the Zoom tool to zoom out again. To zoom out,
press the Option [Alt] key when you have the Zoom tool active (releasing the Option
[Alt] key restores the Zoom In tool). Clicking with the Zoom Out tool reduces the
magnification level to the next lowest level. You can zoom out to 3.13 percent (1/32
actual size). When you hold down the Option [Alt] key the Zoom cursor displays a
minus sign within the magnifying glass.
When you use the Zoom tool, you magnify everything in the document, not just
the illustration. You magnify all paths, objects, the artboard, and the Page Setup
boundaries equally. However, the way certain objects appear (the thickness of
path selections, points, handles, gridlines, guides, and Illustrator user interface (UI)
components such as palettes and windows) does not change when you zoom in.
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