Learn how to import and export artwork between Illustrator and Photoshop.
Importing Illustrator files for editing in Photoshop and vice versa opens up exciting possibilities when designing artwork involving a combination of vector and bitmap objects. The editing capabilities for your imported assets and their final output quality depend on their export properties.
Read on to learn how to choose a workflow suited to your design outcome. You can also explore the best practices to optimize the size and quality of your artwork.
Familiarize yourself with these concepts before you choose a workflow that suits your design needs:
Just like you can work with Photoshop designs in Illustrator, there are multiple ways to use Illustrator files in Photoshop, depending on how you plan to modify your artwork.
Read on to learn how best to work with Illustrator files within Photoshop:
You can use the PSD format to export your Illustrator files into Photoshop that preserves layers, resolution, and color profiles.
When you export a .PSD file, the Illustrator layers are preserved as rasterized layers. In contrast, the layer groups and sublayers are converted into folders and subfolders. If your Illustrator artwork contains unsupported Photoshop® Elements like colors, themes, brushes, graphics, and text, Illustrator preserves the appearance of the artwork.
To export your Illustrator artwork into Photoshop, follow these steps:
To edit your artwork, ensure that you have not applied Overprint fill or Transparency effects, and Export using these settings:
You can easily move artwork between Illustrator and Photoshop with Smart Objects, which preserve the source content with its original characteristics. This allows you to edit your artwork nondestructively.
When you resize a smart object, the clarity is retained, unlike pixel-based layers that increase the document resolution and size.
To create a smart object, choose one of the following options:
If you want to reuse design elements without increasing the file size, linked artwork is your best option. However, if you do not want to relink your files, you can embed your artwork.
To place your Illustrator artwork in a Photoshop document, Select File > Place as linked or File > Place as embedded based on your requirements.
A. Linked B. Embedded
When you link your artwork, any changes you make to the source file in Illustrator are reflected in Photoshop, but you can save your files in smaller resolutions.
If the files are embedded, they are saved as large documents.
For more information on how to place an Illustrator artwork in Photoshop and vice versa, watch this 25-second video.
The editing capabilities of your imported assets and their final output quality depends on how you export your artwork. While you move your artwork from Illustrator to Photoshop, ensure to optimize the size and quality of your artwork.
Now that you have started moving artwork to Photoshop, take a step forward and learn how to package files and collect assets.
To ensure that your artwork is the single source of truth and make it available in other Creative Cloud software, copy it to Creative Cloud Libraries.
If you have a question to ask or a creation to share, come and participate in the Adobe Illustrator Community. We'd love to hear from you and see your creations.