Navigate to the New Document Profiles folder for your operating system:Windows: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator Settings\\x64\New Document ProfilesmacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator //New Document Profiles
Last updated on
Oct 20, 2026
Edit profile files to set default assets and settings for new documents.
Customizing document profiles lets you create new documents with your preferred assets and settings already in place, streamlining your workflow for recurring projects.
Document profiles define the default assets and settings for new documents in Adobe Illustrator. When you create a document using a preset from the New Document dialog, Illustrator applies the settings stored in the corresponding profile file. Customizing these profiles is useful when you consistently work with specific color palettes, brushes, graphic styles, or other assets across multiple projects. This approach saves time compared to manually setting up assets for each new document.
Document profile files are stored in version-specific folders on your system. The exact version number in the file path corresponds to your installed Illustrator version (for example, "28" for Illustrator 2024 or "29" for Illustrator 2025).
- Administrative permissions to modify files in the Illustrator settings folder
- Basic familiarity with creating swatches, brushes, graphic styles, and symbols
- Backup of existing profile files (recommended)
Locate and open a document profile
Replace with your Illustrator version number and with your language code (for example, en_US).
Open the profile file you want to customize in Illustrator.
Profile files use the .ai format and contain all the default assets and settings for their corresponding presets.
Remove unwanted default assets
Open the Swatches panel and delete any swatches you don't want in new documents.
Open the Graphic Styles panel and remove unwanted styles.
Open the Brushes panel and delete brushes you won't use.
Open the Symbols panel and remove unnecessary symbols.
Tip
Keep only the assets you use regularly. Removing unused assets reduces file size and makes your panels easier to navigate.
Add custom assets and settings
Create colors, patterns, and gradients, then add them to the Swatches panel. You can also select Window > Swatch Libraries to import swatches from existing libraries.
Create custom graphic styles and add them to the Graphic Styles panel. Learn more about creating and applying graphic styles.
Create custom brushes and add them to the Brushes panel. For detailed instructions, see working with brushes.
Create symbols and add them to the Symbols panel. For more information, visit creating and working with symbols.
Configure your preferred default settings for View preferences (select View menu options), ruler origins, page origins, and print settings (select File > Print).
If you use actions regularly, set up any actions you want available by default.
Save the profile and apply changes
Select File > Save to save your changes to the profile file.
Close and restart Illustrator to apply the customized profile.
Select File > New and choose the preset corresponding to your customized profile to verify your changes.
Your custom assets and settings now appear by default whenever you create a new document using that preset. You can repeat this process for other document profiles to create different starting points for various project types.
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