Permanently merge objects into one object (Adobe Illustrator)
In Adobe Illustrator, I have a file that has many dots lined up closely, so that it looks like they form a line. The ".ai" file is very large (55MB). To reduce file size, is there a way to permanently merge the dots that are lined up, so that they are one object?
Note that I am aware of the following options, which I am explicitly not looking for:
groupthem,- Turn them into a
compound path, - Manually replace the dots for a line.
The first two options do not work for me, because they do not reduce the file size. The third option does not work for me, because I have many such separate 'lines of dots', so it would be too laborious to replace them all.
Selecting each of the lines of dots separately and then somehow converting them into one object may be doable, however.
In short, to reduce file size, how can I permanently and irreversibly merge objects into one, please? Thank you.
2 Answers
Option 1: Rasterize
You lose edit ability, but this will reduce file size cost the most. You can try making pixel perfect and using the same dpi as your intended output for your final illustration to reduce blurring.
Option 2: Create a Symbol
Select your dot line and, in the symbol panel, click the new button. This keeps editability but, by itself, won't reduce file size. Once you have created your symbol double click to isolate it then select its contents and apply a rasterize filter... same rules as above.
Why do you need the rasterize filter? How does adding more instructions reduce file size? I have no idea but it works. Someone at Adobe was on some serious shrooms when they developed the .ai file format.
@CliffArmstrong - I also found out that if you do "File" > "Save As", then, before you save the file, in the Save Options that pop up, you can tick off the option "Create PDF Compatible File". This reduced my file size from 56.9 MB to 4.8 MB.
This is reversible, because if you open that reduced-size file in Illustrator, you can then do "Save As" again and tick that option back on to get the large file size back.
This does not really resolve my problem, because the main reason for my question is to make Illustrator a little faster while working. It becomes really slow with large files (including, somehow, this reduced file size). Anyhow, I thought I point this out, as it may be useful for anyone else reading this post.
1
