Optimize performance |Illustrator |CS4, CS5 | Windows

Optimizing Windows
Optimizing hardware configuration
Using Illustrator features effectively

The performance of Adobe Illustrator depends on several factors, including the options you select, your workflow, and the operating system and hardware configuration. The performance improvements listed below are most noticeable when you work with larger files. Optimizing the operating system and hardware configuration improves performance in other applications as well.

Before you perform the steps below, make sure to install the latest version of Illustrator or any Illustrator updates to the version you are using. Illustrator updates often include performance-related fixes or enhancements. Current version information and updates are available on the Adobe website at www.adobe.com.

Note:The Windows procedures in this document are based on the default interface. If the interface is customized, then some procedures vary. For example, a commonly encountered difference is the navigation to Control Panel from the Start menu. You may choose Start > Settings > Control Panel instead of Start > Control Panel depending on the version of Windows.

Illustrator CS4, CS5

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

By configuring your system to run efficiently, you increase the amount of memory available to applications and ensure that they run smoothly. Increase the amount of memory available to Illustrator and quit applications you are not using or, disable non-essential startup applications or fonts to improve the performance of Illustrator.

Virtual memory allows the system to use hard disk space to store information normally stored in RAM. It takes longer to access information on a hard disk than it does to access information in memory. Using a portion of the hard disk as virtual memory can decrease performance.

Note: You need Administrator rights to change the size of your computer's paging file.

Windows manages virtual memory using a paging file; you define the minimum and maximum size of this file. Illustrator performs best when the paging file's maximum size is at least three times the amount of installed RAM. 

For instructions, see "Set the virtual memory paging file to the default size (Windows 7 and Vista)" (TechNote kb404939).

(Windows XP only) To create a paging file with a maximum size of three times your amount of installed RAM:

Note: To determine the amount of space available on a drive, click the drive letter; the amount of space available appears in the Paging File Size for Selected Drive section.

Some graphics card drivers offer advanced settings for accelerating or modifying graphics display. Sometimes these settings can adversely affect screen redraw performance in Illustrator. Try disabling driver-specific features to determine the best settings for use with Illustrator. For more information, see the documentation for your graphics card.

If you install only the fonts you need, then you improve system performance and the performance of applications that access fonts. Each installed font increases the amount of RAM used by the system. The amount of RAM available to open applications decreases, and the time applications take to display font menus increases. Use a font management utility to help you manage many fonts.

Applications that start automatically with Windows compete with Illustrator for available RAM. You can prevent programs from starting automatically with Windows by doing the following:

To disable programs from the Startup folder in Windows 7 and Vista, see "Restart Windows in a modified mode (Windows 7 and Vista)" (TechNote kb404913).

(Windows XP only) To remove programs from the Startup folder in:

To close applications specified to start automatically in the registry:

If the performance of Illustrator does not improve, then re-enable the icons and shortcuts in Windows Defender.

If the performance of Illustrator improves, then isolate the performance problem to one or more programs using Windows Defender to re-enable programs. Repeat this process until the performance of Illustrator degrades. When you have isolated the icon or shortcut that is causing the performance problem, remove it again. Contact the program's manufacturer to see if an update is available.

The hardware you use affects the performance of Illustrator: the faster the processor or hard drive, the faster Illustrator can process information. Other hardware enhancements, such as installing additional RAM, using a multiprocessor system, or optimizing and defragmenting drives, can also improve performance.

The speed of your computer's Central Processing Unit (CPU) affects the speed of Illustrator. Since Illustrator manipulates large quantities of data and performs many calculations, its speed is greatly dependent on the processor's speed. Using a computer with a faster processor increases Illustrator's speed.

If Illustrator has insufficient RAM, it uses hard disk space (that is, virtual memory, scratch disk, or both) to process information. Illustrator is fastest when it can process information in memory, without having to use a hard disk.

As you add, delete, and move files on a hard disk, available space is no longer a single, contiguous block. If the system does not have enough contiguous space, it saves fragments of a file to different locations on the hard disk. An application requires more time to read a fragmented file than one saved to a contiguous location. You can test your hard disk by using CHKDSK or "Check your hard disk for errors." You can defragment files and optimize available hard disk space by using Disk Defragmenter. For more information on these tools, see your Windows documentation.

Illustrator reads and writes information while working on a file. Therefore, the faster the access speed of the disk containing the file or the Illustrator scratch disk, the faster Illustrator can process file information. To improve the performance of Illustrator, work on files saved on drives with faster access speeds. For example, use an internal hard drive, rather than a network server (a network drive) or removable media (for example, Zip drive, or floppy disk). Removable media often have slower access times and are more easily damaged than internal hard drives.

When you want to save an Illustrator file to a network or removable drive, Adobe recommends that you first save the file to an internal hard disk. Close the file and use Windows Explorer to copy it to the external or network drive or, save the file to the network using Adobe Version Cue (CS4 only).

For best results when printing from Illustrator, use a PostScript printer. Most non-PostScript printers rely on display information, host computer resources, and proprietary printer drivers to relay print information to the printer. Therefore, they can take much longer to print than a PostScript printer.

The way you work in Illustrator, and especially the way you view artwork, can affect the performance of Illustrator. For example, modifying view options and linking images rather than embedding them affect performance. Optimizing scratch disk and startup options can also affect the speed of Illustrator and its memory usage.

Outline View hides paint attributes, displaying the artwork as unfilled paths. Working in Outline View can speed the display of complex artwork, such as objects containing gradients or patterns. Outline View can also make it easier to edit objects hidden behind other filled objects. In Illustrator, choose View > Outline to display a document in outline mode.

For more information on viewing artwork in Illustrator, see Illustrator Help.

You can create custom views of your document. Custom views allow you to quickly change the view mode, magnification, scroll position, and layer options by choosing a view from the View menu. To create a custom view, set the view attributes you want to save. Then, choose View > New View and type a name in the New View dialog box. The custom view appears in the View menu.

You can specify the quality and speed of the display when you use the Hand tool to move the artboard. To specify the display quality, choose Edit > Preferences > Units & Display Performance. Drag the Hand Tool slider to the left to improve the display quality when you use the Hand tool. Move it to the right to improve speed.

You can change the resolution of raster effects to optimize the performance of Illustrator. To change the resolution of raster effects, choose Effect > Document Raster Effects Settings, do one of the following, and then click OK:

• If you are editing files, click Screen. Illustrator uses a resolution of 72 ppi for raster effects, increasing display speed.
• If you are printing files, click High. Illustrator uses a resolution of 300 ppi for raster effects, decreasing printing speed, but increasing print quality.

The Layers panel lets you easily organize and modify artwork. When you hide layers that contain complex artwork or high-resolution bitmap images, Illustrator redraws the screen faster. To hide a layer, click the eye icon to the left of the layer name, deselect Show Layer, and then click OK. To hide all but the selected layer, Alt-click the eye icon.

Note: The Layers panel can display thumbnails for top-level layers, nested layers, groups, and objects. You can reduce the number of thumbnails so Illustrator redraws the screen faster:

• To remove all thumbnails from the Layers panel, select Small in the Row Size section, and then click OK.
• To remove thumbnails for specific elements in the Layers panel, deselect Layers, Groups, or Objects in the Thumbnails section, and then click OK.

Overprint Preview provides an “ink preview” that approximates how blending, transparency, and overprinting appear in color-separated output. To enhance performance, avoid using Overprint Preview. To enable and disable Overprint Preview, choose View > Overprint Preview.

Artboards represent the regions that can contain printable artwork. To optimize performance, consider deleting unused or unnecessary Artboards.

To manage your Artboards, use the Artboard panel (Window > Artboards).

When you work with an embedded bitmap image and your system does not have enough RAM, Illustrator uses hard disk space as a scratch disk. It takes longer to access information on a hard disk than it does to access information in memory. Therefore, using a portion of the hard disk as virtual memory can decrease performance. If you need more memory to work in Illustrator, Adobe Systems recommends installing more RAM.

By default, Illustrator uses the system drive as its primary scratch disk. Change the Illustrator primary scratch disk setting to your fastest hard drive.

To change the scratch disk preference:

Note: Adobe recommends that you use a disk utility, such as Disk Defragmenter, to optimize and defragment your hard disk on a regular basis. For more information, see your Windows documentation.

Illustrator Document Profiles contain the default patterns, gradients, graph designs, colors, color libraries, and brushes that appear in new Illustrator documents. These files also determine zoom level, window size, viewing preferences, and scroll position for new documents. You can minimize the file size of new documents by removing unnecessary swatches and brushes from Illustrator new document profiles.

For instructions on creating custom document profiles in Illustrator CS4, see Illustrator Help.

Templates let you create new documents that share common settings and design elements. For example, to design a series of business cards with a similar look and feel, create a template. Set the desired artboard size, view settings (such as guides), and print options. You can minimize the file size of new documents by removing unnecessary swatches, symbols, graphic styles, and brushes from templates.

Templates offer a powerful alternative to creating custom startup files. You can create an unlimited number of templates. In addition, you can store and access templates anywhere, as opposed to startup files, which must have a specific name and location.

For instructions on creating template files, see Illustrator Help.

Embedded bitmap images (for example, TIFF, BMP, or Photoshop EPS) can dramatically increase the size of an Illustrator document, causing slower performance. To improve performance, select Link in the Place dialog box when you place a bitmap image. The Link option references the placed image on the hard disk. (If a service bureau requires embedded images, then save a copy of the file. Select Include Linked Files in the Illustrator Native Format Options or EPS Format Options dialog box.)

If a document contains linked EPS images that have high-resolution previews, Illustrator redraws the screen slower as you edit artwork. To enable Illustrator to redraw the screen more quickly, use low-resolution EPS previews:

The Links Panel Options dialog box includes a Show DCS Transparency Interactions option. If this option is selected, the Links panel displays a yellow icon to identify linked DCS EPS graphics that are transparent or overlap transparent objects. Because this option forces Illustrator to regularly determine if linked EPS files interact with transparency, it can reduce performance.

To disable the Show Transparency Interactions option:

The Navigator panel displays a thumbnail view of your current artwork for easy navigation. The processing time required to update the thumbnail each time you change the document depends on the complexity of your artwork. To improve screen redraw speed and performance in a complex document, hide the Navigator panel by deselecting Navigator under the Window menu.

You can set up custom views to more efficiently zoom to particular areas of your document. See the Custom Views section of this document for more information.

The Anti-alias Artwork option smoothes text and graphics by blending the color of an object's edge pixels with the color of adjacent pixels. However, this process can cause slow screen redraw. To disable this option:

The Simplify command reduces the amount of anchor points in paths and path shapes, reducing file size and increasing performance. To apply the Simplify command, select the desired path or object, and then choose Object > Path > Simplify.

For more information on the Simplify command, see Illustrator Help.

Smart Guides allow you to create, align, edit, and transform Illustrator objects relative to other objects. If you have many objects in your artwork, Illustrator requires more time to display Smart Guides. To disable Smart Guides, uncheck Smart Guides under the View menu.

For more information on Smart Guides, see Illustrator Help.

Bristle Brush strokes are made up of several overlapping, filled transparent paths. These paths, like any other filled path in Illustrator, interact with the paint of other objects, including other Bristle Brush paths.

Test and experiment with Bristle Brushes and paint rendition before embarking on large-scale artwork. Changing brush attributes and reapplying them renders all used brushes over again.

When using Bristle Brushes you can reduce the complexity and file size of your document by:

• Rasterizing some Bristle Brush paths
  • If the artwork contains a large number (>30) of Bristle Brushes, reduce the complexity and number of the Bristle Brush paths. Select the Bristle Brush paths and choose Object > Rasterize.

Note: You are advised to save a copy of your original artwork before rasterizing the content.

• Disabling the PDF capabilities
  • By default Illustrator saves the PDF data that allows Illustrator (*ai) files to be compatible with other Adobe applications. Deselect Create PDF Compatible File in the  File > Save or File > Save As dialog box. Disabling this option reduces the file size and file data of your document.

The following websites provide troubleshooting tips and general information about Windows.

Adobe Customer Support: www.adobe.com/support/

Microsoft Knowledgebase: http://support.microsoft.com