Practical Guide for Graphic Artists: How to Embed Photos in Illustrator

By Lilian Garren
September 15, 2023
10:29 am

Table of Contents

Understanding Illustrator’s Interface

Let’s dive right into the heart of Adobe Illustrator – its interface. It’s not just a collection of tools and panels, it’s where all the magic happens. When you’re learning how to embed photos in Illustrator, understanding this interface is your first step.

At first glance, the interface might seem overwhelming with its myriad tools, menus, and panels. But don’t worry! Each element has a specific purpose designed to help you create stunning designs. For instance:

The Toolbar on the left holds all the drawing tools.
The Control Panel at the top is context-sensitive (changes based on what tool or object is selected).
The numerous Panels on the right are used for color selection, layer control and more!

Once you understand these key parts of Illustrator’s interface, embedding photos becomes a breeze. We’ll walk you through each step so that by the end of this article; you’ll be an expert in maneuvering around Illustrator like a pro.

Preparing Your Photo for Embedding

We’re about to dive into one of the most essential parts of using Illustrator: embedding photos. But before we do, there’s an important step you’ll need to take – preparing your photo. Don’t worry, we’ve got a handle on this and we’re here to guide you through it.

First off, let’s talk about why it’s so critical to prepare your photo before you embed it in Illustrator. Well, think of your picture as a raw diamond; sure, it may have some sparkle already, but with a little careful polishing (or in our case, editing), its true beauty can be unveiled.

So how exactly do you go about this ‘polishing’? We suggest starting by cropping your image down to the necessary size. When working with larger images in Illustrator, things can get messy real quick if they aren’t appropriately sized initially. Additionally, large file sizes slow down the program and make your work tedious and frustrating.

Next up is adjusting the resolution of your image. For print projects, we recommend a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch), while for web projects 72 dpi should suffice. Remember that increasing resolution after embedding will not improve quality; instead it may distort the image.

Now let’s touch base on color correction – another crucial element in preparing your photo for embedding in Illustrator. The last thing you want is colors that are too saturated or washed out when printed or viewed on different screens.

Finally, save your edited image as a .jpeg or .png file type before embedding them into Illustrator; these formats are compatible and won’t compromise quality during transfer.

How to Embed Photos in Illustrator

Let’s dive right into how you can embed photos in Illustrator. It’s an essential skill that can really enhance your design work, and we’re here to guide you through it.

First off, open up Adobe Illustrator and start a new document. Now, locate the ‘File’ menu at the top of your screen. From there, you’ll want to click on ‘Place’. This is where you’ll find an option to navigate through your files and select the photo you want to embed.

Once you’ve chosen your photo, make sure the ‘Link’ checkbox is unticked. This ensures that the image gets embedded into your Illustrator file instead of just being linked from its original location. Then hit ‘Place’. Your image will now appear in your document, ready for manipulation.

Now comes the fun part – manipulating your image! You can resize it by dragging its corners while holding down shift (to maintain proportions). Rotate it by hovering just outside a corner until a curved arrow appears then drag as needed. If ever you need to edit or replace this embedded photo later on, simply go back into ‘File’, then select ‘Links’, followed by ‘Embed Image’. Here are some quick steps for reference: