Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
17. Customizing the Way You Work
What You'll Do
Set General Preferences
Change Selection & Anchor Display Preferences
Set Type Preferences
Change Units & Display Performance Preferences
Set Slices and Hyphenation Preferences
Select Plug-Ins
Select Scratch Disks
Set User Interface Preferences
Set File Handling & Clipboard Preferences
Work with Appearance of Black Preferences
Define Shortcut Keys
Use Drawing Tablets
Introduction
No description of Adobe Illustrator would be complete without that well-known, but little
utilized area called Preferences. Illustrator preferences serve several purposes. They help
customize the program to your particular designing style, and they help you utilize avail-
able computer resources to increase the overall performance of the program.
As you use Illustrator, you'll come to realize the importance of working with units and
rulers. Precision is the name of the game when you are working with images. What about
the color of your guides, grids, and slices? No big deal, you say. Well, if you've ever tried
viewingablueguideagainst predominantly blueartwork,youknowexactly whyguidecol-
or is important. By working through preferences, such as Display Performance and Scratch
Disks, speed increases of up to 20% can be achieved.
In addition, customizing the program helps make you more comfortable, and studies show
that the more comfortable you are as a designer, the better your designs. Plus, being com-
fortable allows you to work faster, and that means you'll accomplish more in the same
amount of time. What does setting up preferences do for you? They make Illustrator run
faster, you work more efficiently, and your designs are better. That's a pretty good combin-
