This post is, start out with one of those “back in my day I used to have to walk 10 miles in the snow traveling uphill both ways” kind of stories. It used to be really difficult to export your graphics and icons from Adobe Illustrator. In past videos I’ve shared scripts that you can use to do this more efficiently. Those scripts can save you hours of time, but they had a lot of bugs in them. Also, usually when they were done exporting, it caused Adobe Illustrator to freeze up. Those days are long gone, with the integration of the export assets panel. In today’s tutorial video I’ll be showing you how to use the export assets panel in Adobe Illustrator to export multiple file formats for multiple files, all from one window.
To find the export assets panel, go to window, and you’ll find it as one of the top options, considering that all the panels are listed alphabetically. This new panel pops up, and you’re able to drag and drop shapes icons and grouped objects one by one in this panel. From there you’re able to handle exporting graphics in different formats. Everything is tucked away in a neat and tiny panel.
However, as you’ll see in the video, if you click the icon to expand the panel into a full window, you’ll get access to all of the options available. You can select files one by one with check marks. This makes it easy to know and understand which icons and graphics you have selected for the exporting process. Next, you can select the different sizes of each graphic that is exported, by selecting the scale of the exported graphic. You also get several file formats to choose from, including PNG, JPEG, SVG, and PDF.
In this panel, you also get the option to select where your graphics are exported. This is a little more visual in the expanded window, then in the compact panel. Surprisingly, the entire export process is quick and painless. Another upside to using this method is that your files are very small in size, which means they are highly optimized for the web.
Got the Hang of the Asset Export Panel in Illustrator?
All in all, I’m very impressed with the export assets panel and the different options that you can choose from. You can export multiple file formats in different sizes, exporting them in a matter of seconds. If you create a lot of custom graphics or icons, this panel is a lifesaver. You can export regular size icons and retina ready graphics at the same time with just a couple of clicks of your mouse. If you have any questions about the export assets panel, it’s options, or anything else about Adobe Illustrator, post your questions in the comments section below and I may just make it into next week’s video post.
