Datasheet

Part I ✦ Illustrator Basics

Working with a drawing in Outline mode can be significantly faster than working

with it in Preview mode. In more complex drawings, the difference between Outline

mode and Preview mode is significant; on very slow computers, working in Preview

mode is next to impossible.

Outline mode enables you to see every path that isn’t directly overlapping another

path; in Preview mode, many paths can be hidden. In addition, invisible masks are

normally visible as paths in Outline mode. Outline mode is much closer to what the

printer sees — paths that define the edges of the objects you are working with.

Placed artwork is displayed in black and white only, and templates are grayer than

before. The main advantage to working in Outline mode is the speed increase over

Preview mode when you’re working with a complex image. The speed that you gain

is even greater when the artwork contains gradients, patterns, placed artwork, and

blends. In addition, you can select paths that were hidden by the fills of other

objects.

Outline mode can take some getting used to. To select paths in Outline mode, you

must click the paths directly or draw a marquee across them.

Outline mode can be better than Preview because it’s faster, and also because your

brain can learn to know what the drawing looks like from seeing just the outlines,

which show all of the paths.

Preview mode

Choosing View ➪ Preview changes the view to Preview mode. If you are already

in Preview mode, then the View menu contains only a menu option to change to

Outline mode. In Preview mode, the document looks just the way it will look when

you print it.

In Preview mode, the color you see on the screen only marginally represents what

the actual output will be because of the differences between the way computer

monitors work (red, green, and blue colors — the more of each color, the brighter

each pixel appears) and the way printing works (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black

colors — the more of each color, the darker each area appears). Monitor manufac-

turers make a number of calibration tools that decrease the difference between

what you see on the monitor and the actual output. You can also use software

solutions. One solution, CIE calibration, is built into Adobe Illustrator (choose

Edit ➪ Color Settings). Mac users can use ColorSync, which is part of the OS.

In Preview mode, you can see which objects overlap, which objects are in front and

in back, where gradations begin and end, and how patterns are set up.

Note

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