Select File > Save As.
Last updated on
Oct 22, 2026
Learn how to save or export Adobe Illustrator artwork as Adobe PDF files for editing, sharing, or print production.
Save an Illustrator document as Adobe PDF
If prompted, select On your computer.
Enter a filename and select Adobe PDF (*.PDF) from the Save as type drop-down menu.
Select Save.
Select a preset from the Adobe PDF Preset menu from the Save Adobe PDF dialog box or customize the PDF settings.
Select Save PDF.
Note
After saving, Illustrator opens the PDF file. To keep the original Illustrator document open, choose File > Save a Copy instead.
Export artwork as Adobe PDF
Select File > Export > Export As.
Select the location where you want to save the file.
Enter a filename and select Adobe PDF (*.PDF) from the Save as type drop-down menu.
Select Export.
Select a preset from the Adobe PDF Preset menu from the Export Adobe PDF dialog box or customize the PDF settings.
Select Export PDF.
Create a multipage PDF from artboards
Create multiple artboards in your document.
Select File > Save As and choose Adobe PDF (*.PDF) from the Save as type drop-down menu.
Under Use Artboards, select one of the following:
- All to include every artboard
- Range and then specify the artboards to include.
Select Save.
Configure additional PDF options in the Save Adobe PDF dialog box.
Select Save PDF.
Create a layered PDF
Organize adjustable elements into separate top-level layers, not nested within sublayers.
Select File > Save As and choose Adobe PDF (*.PDF) from the Save as type dropdown menu.
Select Save.
In the Save Adobe PDF dialog box, choose Acrobat 8 (1.7) or Acrobat 7 (1.6) from the Compatibility menu.
Select Create Acrobat Layers from Top-Level Layers.
Configure additional PDF options in the Save Adobe PDF dialog box.
Select Save PDF.
Tip
Layered PDFs let users show or hide layers in supported applications such as Adobe InDesign and Acrobat. This is useful for creating variations, such as multilingual documents, from a single PDF.
Create a PDF/X file
Select File > Save As and choose Adobe PDF (*.PDF) from the Save as type dropdown menu.
In the Save Adobe PDF dialog, choose a PDF/X preset from the Adobe PDF Preset menu, or select a PDF/X format from the Standard menu.
Select Output from the category list on the left.
Configure PDF/X-specific output options for your print workflow.
Select Save PDF.
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