Converting ARCMAP .shp to Adobe Illustrator .AI file


Hello dear Geo-geeks, Its been a while long time since I post geo stuff here, today I would like to take you through on how An ARCGIS .shp file can be converted to .AI file for further Graphic designs.

Exporting From ArcGIS to Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a vector drawing program that accepts files of type .AI. This software can be very useful if you wish to use geometry from GIS as the basis for diagrams that you would create in illustrator, or if you want to use illustrator to fix some of the awkward legends or labels that ArcMap makes for you.
TRICKY features of Adobe Illustrator includes;
  1. None of your layers can use transparency 
  2. If you are using special fonts or spot symbols, they must be converted to polygons in illustrator.
  3. There is a limit to the number of vertices that can be exported to illustrator.  
Those are the important rules to remember in arcmap document.

Setting up your ArcMap Document


You may have designed a map in ArcMap with a nice graphical hierarchy that uses transparency and group layers. Don;t worry, whatever transparency effects you had applied to your ArcMap layers, van be re-applied in Illustrator. What we are going to do now is save the map document as "Illustrator_Exporter.mxd" or some name like that -- so you aren't;t writing over your nice ArcMap composition. Then we will alter our special map as follows:
  1. Open up all of your grouped layers in the ArcMap table of contents.
  2. Turn off any layers that you don't want exported to illustrator
  3. If there are raster layers (such as the image layers from ArcMap On-line) leave them at the bottom of the order.
  4. Check the Display properties of each layer and make sure none are transparent.
Now you should be ready to export to illustrator!

Exporting to Illustrator

Exporting to Illustrator uses the File->Export Map function. It works both in Layout View and Map View. One advantage of doing this in Layout View is that you can set up a page size and add a scale bar in layout view, and this make it easier to predict things like how your line weights are going to look. There are a few settings to look after when you are in the midst of this export process.
  1. Choose File->Export Map.
  2. Use the Save as Type pull-down to choose AI (adobe Illustrator.)
  3. Click the Options button on the lower left corner of the export dialog to reveal the export options.
  4. Under the General Options tab, the setting for DPI reflect the resolution of whatever information is going to pass to Illustrator as Pixels. If you intend your map to appear in illustrations at the same dimensions as your ArcMap Layout, then you can get away with, say 150 - 200 DPI. If you intend for people to zoom in on your illustration then you may want to set it higher. Of course you will check the detail in illustrator to make sure that you have not lost anything.
  5. Under the Format Options tab, you will want to set the Picture Symbol pull-down to Vectorize Bitmap or Picture Symbol Fills
  6. Check the box to Covert Marker Symbols to Polygons
  7. Click Save to begin your illustrator export! you can now open your file in adobe Illustrator for more designings. for more info, visit  http://pbcgis.com/illustrator/

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