PDF (adobe.com)

Save in Illustrator format

If your document contains more than one artboard and you want to save to a previous version of Illustrator, you can choose to save each artboard as a separate file or combine the content from all artboards into a single file.

  1. Choose File > Save As or File > Save A Copy.
  2. Type a filename, and choose a location for the file.
  3. Choose Illustrator (*.AI) as the file format, and click Save.
  4. In the Illustrator Options dialog box, set the desired options and click OK:
    Version
    Specifies the version of Illustrator with which you want your file to be compatible. Legacy formats don’t support all the features in the current version of Illustrator. Therefore, when you select a version other than the current version, some options for saving aren’t available, and certain kinds of data will be changed. Be sure to read the warnings at the bottom of the dialog box so that you are aware of how the data will be changed.

    Subset Embedded Fonts When Percent Of Characters Used Is Less Than
    Specifies when to embed the entire font (as opposed to just the characters used in the document) based on how many of the font’s characters are used in the document. For instance, if a font contains 1,000 characters but the document only uses 10 of those characters, you may decide that embedding the font is not worth the extra file size.

    Create PDF Compatible File
    Saves a PDF representation of the document in the Illustrator file. Select this option if you want the Illustrator file to be compatible with other Adobe applications.

    Save Each Artboard To A Separate File
    Saves each artboard as a separate file. A separate master file that includes all of the artboards is also created. All of the content that touches an artboard is included with the file for that artboard. If artwork needs to be shifted to fit it onto a single artboard, a warning appears to let you know. If you don’t select this option, the artboards are combined into a single document and are converted to object guides and (in Illustrator CS3) crop areas. The artboard used for the saved file is based on the size of the default document startup profile.

    Include Linked Files
    Embeds files that are linked to the artwork.

    Embed ICC Profiles
    Creates a color-managed document.

    Use Compression
    Compresses PDF data in the Illustrator file. Using compression increases the time required to save the document, so deselect this option if you’re experiencing very slow (8 to 15 minute) save times.

    Transparency options
    Determines what happens to transparent objects when you choose a version of Illustrator format earlier than 9.0. Select Preserve Paths to discard transparency effects and reset transparent artwork to 100% opacity and Normal blending mode. Select Preserve Appearance And Overprints to preserve overprints that don’t interact with transparent objects. Overprints that interact with transparent objects are flattened.
    Important: If your artwork contains complex, overlapping areas and you require high-resolution output, click Cancel and specify rasterization settings before continuing.