From Illustrator to Photoshop and Back Again!
Filed Under camera and photo
Illustrator and Photoshop are remarkable programs individually, but when they are both used together toward a common goal the results are nothing less than amazing. Artists can utilize features from both programs to create stunning artwork for publication. There are three basic methods for moving a document between Photoshop and Illustrator.
You can “place” a Photoshop image into an Illustrator document, or place Illustrator artwork into a Photoshop file a using the File > Place command found in both programs. This is the most traditional method of moving a file from one program to the other. The only issue of concern is that the image or artwork must be in a file format readable by the other program.
Photoshop is very good at reading multiple file formats. Illustrator is a bit more limited in the formats it understands, but once a Photoshop file is in a readable format (e.g. TIFF, GIF, JPEG, etc.) you can simply use the File > Place command and select the image. Illustrator will place the desired image inside of the Illustrator file, and you will have some ability to manipulate the file within Illustrator.
The second way to introduce a Photoshop file into Illustrator (or vice versa) is the tried-and-true Clipboard. Simply copy the file elements you want from one program using the Copy command, and paste it into the other program using the Paste command. There are limitations to using the Copy-Paste method. It doesn’t work so well for large files, and you can easily swamp the receiving program by pasting a large file into it.
The last method to consider in moving a file between these two programs is the Drag and Drop method. In order to do this, both programs must be open at the same time. Choose the artwork you want to transfer from Photoshop for example and simple drag it out of the Photoshop window onto the Illustrator window. To move artwork the other direction, simple choose the artwork form an open Illustrator window and drag and drop it into an open Photoshop window.
You can also place paths from Photoshop into Illustrator files. Using the Path Selection tool in Photoshop, choose and copy the paths you want to move and paste them into Illustrator.
