Place Only What You Want From an AI file.

CATEGORIES: Illustrator, InDesign | Justin Finley | February 08, 2007

Recently, I was designing a new logo in Illustrator. Many of the designs I preferred had possible alternate versions in the same file. To present my one favorite logo from each file, I decided to show the client how the logos would work centered at the bottom of an existing ad. Is there a way to make InDesign ignore my alternate logo designs when using the centering feature (Object > Fitting > Center Content) to center just my favorite logo from each Illustrator file?

Sure! I set up a Crop Area in Illustrator with just the favorite logo centered in the Crops. (Select preferred logo with Selection tool, drag Ruler Guides to the center Bounding Box points horizontally and vertically to find the logo’s center. Draw a Rectangle from this center outward by click-dragging using the Rectangle tool with the Option (Alt) key pressed. With the Rectangle still selected, go to Object > Crop Area > Make and Save the file. When bringing the logo into InDesign (File > Place), check Show Import Options and in the window that opens in the General Options section choose Crop in the Crop To section. InDesign will place ONLY the part of the Illustrator file within the Crop Area, ignoring all of the alternate versions as if they don’t exist. So when I go to Object > Fitting > Center Content, it works perfectly to center my preferred logo.

Tip provided by Jeff Witchel, Certified Adobe® Training Provider.

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