You don’t have to create artwork from scratch in Adobe Illustrator—you can import both vector drawings and bitmap images from files created in other applications. Illustrator recognizes all common graphic file formats. Tight integration between Adobe products and support for a wide variety of file formats, makes it easy to move art from one application to another by importing, exporting, or copying and pasting.

When you place a graphic, you will see a screen-resolution version of the file in the layout, so that you can view and position it, but the actual graphic file may be either linked or embedded.

• Linked artwork is connected to, but remains independent of, the document, resulting in a smaller document. You can modify linked artwork using transformation tools and effects; however, you cannot select and edit individual components in the artwork. You can use the linked graphic many times without significantly increasing the size of the document; you can also update all links at once. When you export or print, the original graphic is retrieved, creating the final output from the full resolution of the originals.

• Embedded artwork is copied into the document at full resolution, resulting in a larger document. You can update the document whenever you like; as long as the artwork is embedded, your document is self-sufficient.

To determine if artwork is linked or embedded, or change its status from one to the other, use the Links panel.

If the embedded artwork contains multiple components, you can edit them discretely. For example, if the artwork contains vector data, Illustrator converts it to paths, which you can then modify using Illustrator tools and commands. Illustrator also preserves the object hierarchy (such as groups and layers) in artwork embedded from certain file formats.

Place (import) artwork files

The Place command is the primary method of importing, because it provides the highest level of support for file formats, placement options, and color. After you place a file, use the Links panel to identify, select, monitor, and update it.

Place linked Photoshop documents

To place your artwork created in Photoshop directly into Illustrator artboard, do the following:

Import text into a path/shape

Introduced in Illustrator CC 2017 release

Place text from a supported file right inside an object, such as a shape. You can place text from files in the .txt or .rtf formats, or files from word processing applications. For example, you can place text from a .rtf file into a polygonal shape.

Embedded and linked artwork in the Links panel

Links panel overview

You use the Links panel to see and manage all linked or embedded artwork. The panel displays a small thumbnail of the artwork and uses icons to indicate artwork’s status.

File status options for the Links panel

A linked file can appear in the Links panel in any of the following ways:

An up-to-date file displays only the file’s name and (in Adobe® InDesign®) its page in the document.

A modified file is one for which the version of the file on disk is more recent than the version in your document. This would occur, for example, when someone modifies a Photoshop graphic that you have already placed into Illustrator.

A missing file is one for which the graphic is no longer in the location from which it was imported, although it may still exist somewhere. This can happen if someone moves the original file to a different folder or server after it’s been imported into a document. You can’t know whether a missing file is up to date until its original is located. If you print or export a document when this icon is displayed, the file may not print or export at full resolution.

Embedding the contents of a linked file suspends management operations for that link.

Work with the Links panel

• To display the panel, choose Window > Links. Each linked file and embedded file is identified by name.

• To select and view a linked graphic, select a link and then click the Go To Link button , or choose Go To Link in the Links panel menu. The display is centered around the selected graphic.

• To change the size of the thumbnails, select panel Options from the Links panel menu, and select an option for displaying thumbnails.

• To sort links in a different order, choose the desired Sort command in the panel menu.

• To hide thumbnails, select panel Options from the Links panel menu, and choose None.

• To view DCS Transparency information, select panel Options from the Links panel menu, and choose Show DCS Transparency Interactions.

View and save metadata via the Links panel

If a linked or embedded file contains metadata, you can view the metadata using the Links panel. You cannot edit or replace metadata associated with a linked file; however, you can save a copy of the metadata in a template and apply it to other files.

View file information about linked or embedded artwork

Update modified links

• To update specific links, in the Links panel select one or more modified links , and then click the Update Link button  or choose Update Link from the Links panel menu.

• To update specific links, select the linked artwork in the illustration window. In the Control panel, click the filename, and then choose Update Link.

Restore a single missing link or replace a link with a different source file

You can restore or replace a missing link—one that shows the missing-link icon  in the Links panel—or any linked file with a different source file.

Set placement options for linked artwork

Embed a linked file

Rather than linking to a file that you’ve placed in a document, you can embed (or store) the file within the document. When you embed a file, you break the link to the original. Without the link, the Links panel doesn’t alert you when the original has changed, and you cannot update the file automatically.

Keep in mind that embedding a file, rather than linking to the original, increases the document file size.

The file remains in the Links panel marked with the embedded-link icon .

Unembed or relink an embedded file

Edit original artwork

The Edit Original command lets you open most graphics in the application in which you created them so that you can modify them as necessary. Once you save the original file, the document in which you linked it is updated with the new version.