Select the object you want to mark for trimming.
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Learn the basics
- Illustrator on desktop technical requirements
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App preferences and settings
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Learn the basics
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Add and import files
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Start new files
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Import from other apps
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Import other file types
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Start new files
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Use generative AI
- Common questions about generative AI features in Adobe Illustrator
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Draw shapes and paths
- Learn drawing basics
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Draw shapes
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Modify paths
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Manage objects
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Select objects
- Object selection methods and preferences
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Arrange objects
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Edit objects
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- About clipping masks
- Create clipping masks
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- Copy artwork using the clipboard
- Crop images in Illustrator
- Create and manage crop marks
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Reshape and transform objects
- Pathfinder panel overview
- Edit areas of overlapping objects with Pathfinder
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- Create compound paths
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- Transform panel overview
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- Shear objects
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- About perspective drawing
- Draw objects in perspective
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- Define and manage perspective grid preset
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- Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
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- Distort and transform effects in Illustrator
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Create traces, mockups, and symbols
- Vectorize images using Image Trace
- Image Trace panel options
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Select objects
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Measure and align
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Measure and plot
- Measure the distance between two points
- Measure the area of objects
- Area measurement scenarios
- About Dimension objects
- Plot the linear dimensions of objects
- Plot the angular dimensions of objects
- Plot radial dimensions of objects
- Dimension tool options and settings
- Snap a line perpendicular to a path in Illustrator
- Snap a line tangent to a curve in Illustrator
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Paint and fill
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Learn painting basics
- About fills and strokes
- Fill and stroke controls
- Apply fill colors
- Apply stroke colors
- Create multiple fills and strokes
- Convert strokes to compound paths
- Remove fills or strokes
- Select objects with same fill and stroke
- Paint tools overview
- Merge paths using the Blob Brush tool
- Blob brush options and best practices
- About Live Paint
- Create Live Paint groups
- Paint with the Live Paint Bucket tool
- Modify Live Paint groups
- Find and close gaps in Live Paint groups
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Apply and edit strokes
- About brushes
- Brushes panel overview
- Draw paths with brush strokes
- Apply brush strokes to paths
- Remove brush strokes
- Add arrowheads to paths
- Customize arrowheads
- Paintbrush tool options
- Create brush libraries
- Import brushes
- Create brushes
- Create dotted or dashed lines
- Modify brushes
- Change the caps or joins of a line
- Convert brush strokes to outlines
- Add arrowheads to strokes
- Apply stroke color, width, and alignment
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Create and edit gradients
- Gradients overview
- Apply predefined gradients
- Apply linear gradients
- Apply radial gradients
- Apply freeform gradients
- Apply gradients on stroke
- Apply gradients across multiple objects
- Control dither in gradients
- Control perceptual interpolation in gradients
- Fix banding when printing gradients, meshes, and blends
- Create and edit meshes
- Create and edit patterns
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Learn painting basics
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Manage colors
- Learn color basics
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Select and adjust colors
- About selecting colors
- Color Picker overview
- Select colors using the Color Picker
- Color panel options
- Select colors using the Color panel
- Convert color modes
- Make colors printable or web safe
- Change colors to their inverse or complement
- Get precise spot colors using lab values
- Adjust saturation of multiple colors
- Adjust color balance
- Blend colors
- Change color tints
- Select colors using the Eyedropper and Color Picker tool
- Print with color management in Illustrator
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Use swatches
- About Swatches
- Swatches panel overview
- Add colors to swatches
- Create swatches from the Color Guide panel
- Create process color swatches
- Create spot-color swatches
- Create gradient swatches
- Reorder swatches
- Duplicate swatches
- Replace, merge, or delete swatches
- Group swatches
- Move colors into swatch groups
- Create and open swatch libraries
- Edit swatch libraries
- Move swatches from swatch libraries to the swatches panel
- Share swatches between applications
- Add and use color assets in libraries
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Modify colors
- Recolor artwork
- Recolor options overview
- Edit colors using Edit Colors dialog
- Modify colors in swatch groups
- Apply local or global changes to color properties
- Assign new colors to selected artworks
- View original colors in artworks
- Limit colors in artworks
- Color reduction options
- Edit swatch groups using the color wheel
- Add or remove colors from swatch groups
- Edit an individual color in color groups
- Delete swatch groups
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Apply transparency and blending
- Transparency panel overview
- Adjust opacity
- Opacity mask overview
- Adjust transparency using opacity masks
- Clip and invert opacity masks
- Deactivate, reactivate, or remove opacity masks
- Create knockout shapes
- Create transparency knockout groups
- View transparency in the artwork
- Blended objects overview
- Blending mode types
- Change and manage blending modes
- Create blends
- Blend Options overview
- Modify the spine of blended objects
- Reverse the stacking order in blended objects
- Release or expand blended objects
- Blend panel overview
- Set up and manage overprinting
- Flatten and print transparent artwork
- Manage transparency flattener presets
- Preview transparency flattening before printing or exporting
- Transparency flattening in Illustrator
- Transparency flattener options
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Design with text
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Add and manage text
- Add or remove placeholder text
- Wrap or unwrap text around objects
- Resize the text area
- Add rows and columns to text
- Add margins to text and adjust the first baseline
- Create text threads between objects
- Remove or break text threads between objects
- Add text to vector artwork
- Add text in Illustrator with Type, Area Type, and Touch Type tools
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Work with fonts and scripts
- Font browser overview
- Find and apply fonts
- Organize fonts using Creative Cloud Libraries in Adobe Illustrator
- Apply the fonts organized in Creative Cloud Libraries
- Find, apply, and adjust variable fonts
- Supported font file types in Adobe Illustrator
- Edit fonts
- Find and replace fonts
- Preview, add, or replace missing fonts
- Edit text without replacing missing fonts
- Identify fonts using Retype
- Apply Retype-suggested fonts to live text
- About Adobe Asian composers
- Justify text using Kashida and hyphenation
- Format Japanese text in Illustrator
- Mojikumi and Kinsoku settings in Illustrator
- Mojikumi and Kinsoku overview for Japanese text formatting
- Create documents using Asian scripts
- Add and use text and character styles in libraries
- Fonts in Illustrator FAQ
- Change the default font in Illustrator
- Manage East Asian text layouts with Reflow Viewer
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Edit and format text
- Character panel overview
- Transform text
- Underline or strikethrough text
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- Vary font height
- Turn fractional character widths off or on
- Paragraph panel overview
- Align text
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- Create and edit character and paragraph styles
- Create type on a path
- Format East Asian characters in vertical text
- Use Kinsoku for Japanese line breaking
- Use Mojikumi for Japanese text composition
- Set hyphenation and line breaks
- Adjust line and character spacing
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Use special characters and glyphs
- About character sets and alternate glyphs
- Insert special characters
- Glyphs panel overview
- Replace characters with alternate glyphs
- OpenType panel overview
- Use ligatures and contextual alternates
- Use swashes, titling alternates, or stylistic alternates
- Add stylistic sets to selected text
- Insert white space and break characters
- Snap to Glyph options
- Snap with glyph guides
- Snap glyph to angles, anchor points, or text area
- Format text with OpenType features
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Add and manage text
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Create and manage artboards
- Add and edit artboards
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Organize and manage artboards
- Use the artboard context menu
- Cut, copy, and paste artboards
- Move artboards
- Rearrange artboards
- Reorder artboards
- Align and distribute artboards
- Lock artboards
- Modify display settings of artboards
- Set artboard views
- Apply colors to artboards
- Set video display options for artboards
- Export selected artboards
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Manage layers
- Create and organize layers
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Apply special effects and styles
- Apply filter effects
- Create 3D graphics
- Apply graphic styles
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Automate and visualize data
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Automate actions
- Actions panel overview
- Create new actions
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- Install and run scripts
- Merge data
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- Variable panel overview
- Work with variables
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Visualize data
- Data sets and label options
- Create graphs
- Add graph data
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Automate actions
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Save and export
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Export files to different formats
- Export to Adobe cloud storage
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- Manage native Adobe Illustrator AI file sizes
- Change page size and orientation for printing
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- Work with cloud documents offline
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- Adobe PDF presets
- Extract CSS code from Illustrator designs
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- Export file format options in Illustrator
- PDF compression and downsampling options
- Package files with fonts and linked images
- PDF marks, bleeds, and color output options
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- Add printer's marks and bleeds
- Create and manage print presets
- Print color separations
- Save artwork in EPS format
- Save files in the background
- Set up PostScript printing
- Save artwork in Illustrator AI format
- Create and manage slices for web graphics
- Create image maps for web graphics
- Print documents in Illustrator
- Export to other apps
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Export files to different formats
- Connect with other apps and tools
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Troubleshoot
- Known and fixed issues in Adobe Illustrator
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Application crash issues
- Recover Adobe Illustrator files after a crash
- Quick save, auto-backup, and recovery settings
- Illustrator won’t launch after Windows update
- GPU features are unavailable, artwork appears jagged, or Illustrator crashes
- Illustrator crash due to plugin issues
- Fix Illustrator crash issues
- Fix memory-related crash issues in Illustrator
- Fix network and removable media file issues
- Fix slowness with pasting artwork
- "An unknown error is detected" when saving Illustrator files
- Fix Wacom device crashes and performance issues in Adobe Illustrator
- Repair damaged Adobe Illustrator documents
- Share crash reports with Adobe
- Update GPU drivers for Illustrator
- Fix missing plugin issues in Adobe Illustrator
- Fix the preferences folder read-only error
- Troubleshoot file opening and placement issues
- Fix file save issues in Illustrator
- Fix preferences file issues in Illustrator
- Fix printer-related Illustrator crash issues
- Fix issues printing to non-PostScript printers
- Fix effects that won't render in Illustrator
- Fix DLL errors when launching Illustrator on Windows
- Resolve Image Trace command not available
- Use Safe Mode to diagnose startup crashes
- Cloud document issues
- Use AI Assistant in Illustrator
Create and manage crop marks
Last updated on
Oct 25, 2026
Learn how to create, remove, and configure crop marks in Adobe Illustrator desktop for accurate trimming, alignment, and print production workflows.
Crop marks indicate where printed artwork should be trimmed and help align artwork when exporting to other applications.
For document setup and print preparation workflows, configure artboards, and print boundaries in Set up documents before creating crop marks.
Create crop marks
Use Trim Marks to create editable crop marks that can be moved independently. Use the Crop Marks effect when crop marks should update automatically as the object changes.
Do one of the following:
- Select Object > Create Trim Marks to create editable crop marks.
- Select Effect > Crop Marks to apply crop marks as a live effect.
Note
Crop marks do not replace trim marks created with the Marks & Bleed options in the Print dialog box.
Delete crop marks
Select the trim marks and press the Delete key to delete an editable crop or trim marks.
Select Crop Marks in the Appearance panel, and click the Delete Selected Item Icon to delete a crop marks effect.
Enable Japanese-style crop marks
Japanese-style crop marks use double lines and indicate a default bleed value of 8.5 points (3 mm).
Select Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (macOS).
Select Use Japanese Crop Marks, and then select OK.
All crop marks you create use the Japanese-style double-line format until you disable this preference.
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