Hiya all,

I'm trying to figure out a few things and am hoping to get some direction
from this group.

I've had business card and stationery created for me and have received the
files.  I've also installed the 30 day trial period of Illustrator CS so I
can "experiment" with a real project.  What I'm working on right now, and
need to understand is how to modify text.

What I'm working on right now is some text that has been grouped.  So I
ungroup it and then either re-arrange it and/or try to edit the content.
What I notice is that the lines of text do not seem to behave like a word
processor.  In other words, each line has to be individually spaced and
positioned in reference to the other lines of text.  Is this "normal" or am
I missing something?  Is there a easy way to select several lines of text
and have them be spaced automatically?  For clarification, I'm working on
the contact information; ie..  name, address, phone, email, etc... which is
5-6 lines of text.

Also, in a word processor I can select (highlight) a word, and begin typing
over it.  The new text picks up the characteristics of the previous word,
ie...  font, color, size, etc... are retained.   So is this possible with
Illustrator?  In my experience so far it isn't.

And finally, what do I need to know in regards to "finalizing" the file.  Is
there something like compounding, or rasterizing, or etc...  that I should
be concerned with?

While I'd really appreciate some detailed instructions, if nothing else I'd
certainly appreciate at least a push in the right direction.  Right now I'm
not even sure what it is I need to be searching for.  If I did, then the
help files would be a bit more useful <g>

Thanks,

David...

DavidJ01 wrote:
quote:

>
> Hiya all,
>
> I'm trying to figure out a few things and am hoping to get some direction
> from this group.
>
> I've had business card and stationery created for me and have received the
> files.  I've also installed the 30 day trial period of Illustrator CS so I
> can "experiment" with a real project.  What I'm working on right now, and
> need to understand is how to modify text.
>
> What I'm working on right now is some text that has been grouped.  So I
> ungroup it and then either re-arrange it and/or try to edit the content.
> What I notice is that the lines of text do not seem to behave like a word
> processor.  In other words, each line has to be individually spaced and
> positioned in reference to the other lines of text.  Is this "normal" or a
m
> I missing something?  Is there a easy way to select several lines of text
> and have them be spaced automatically?  For clarification, I'm working on
> the contact information; ie..  name, address, phone, email, etc... which i
s
> 5-6 lines of text.
>
> Also, in a word processor I can select (highlight) a word, and begin typin
g
> over it.  The new text picks up the characteristics of the previous word,
> ie...  font, color, size, etc... are retained.   So is this possible with
> Illustrator?  In my experience so far it isn't.
>
> And finally, what do I need to know in regards to "finalizing" the file.  
Is
> there something like compounding, or rasterizing, or etc...  that I should
> be concerned with?
>
> While I'd really appreciate some detailed instructions, if nothing else I'
d
> certainly appreciate at least a push in the right direction.  Right now I'
m
> not even sure what it is I need to be searching for.  If I did, then the
> help files would be a bit more useful <g>
>
> Thanks,
>
> David...


It depends on how the original designer made the text. You
can make a paragraph, just using the hard return. My guess
is the designer made separate lines. I must admit I did that
often also. You can combine them if you want. Highlight the
line and copy and paste it behind the previous one.

Highligting and replacing the text in the same format never
gave me a problem.......I do not know what is up in your
case. Is it in a font you have??

If it is a business card I would say save it as an EPS and
let the printing office deal with it. Nothing else needed,
unless you have a rasterized (like from Photoshop) image in
it? But even then........
--
steg

DavidJ01 wrote:
quote:

>Hiya all,
>
>I'm trying to figure out a few things and am hoping to get some direction
>from this group.
>
>I've had business card and stationery created for me and have received the
>files.  I've also installed the 30 day trial period of Illustrator CS so I
>can "experiment" with a real project.  What I'm working on right now, and
>need to understand is how to modify text.
>
>What I'm working on right now is some text that has been grouped.  So I
>ungroup it and then either re-arrange it and/or try to edit the content.
>What I notice is that the lines of text do not seem to behave like a word
>processor.  In other words, each line has to be individually spaced and
>

Each line has been created as a separate text object, you can either
create a text box or just use the
hard return for each new line as Steggy suggested.
quote:

>positioned in reference to the other lines of text.  Is this "normal" or am
>I missing something?  Is there a easy way to select several lines of text
>and have them be spaced automatically?  For clarification, I'm working on
>

Use the align tool, it has a distribute spacing option, you will find
these in the align palette. You will need
to select an object to align the others to, so select all the objects
and then simply click on the one you
want to align them to (don't press anything other than the mouse
button), and finally choose the spacing
distance you want from the palette. You can keep changing the distance
until you are happy just don't
deselect the objects, otherwise you will have to start again.
quote:

>the contact information; ie..  name, address, phone, email, etc... which is
>5-6 lines of text.
>
>Also, in a word processor I can select (highlight) a word, and begin typing
>over it.  The new text picks up the characteristics of the previous word,
>ie...  font, color, size, etc... are retained.   So is this possible with
>Illustrator?  In my experience so far it isn't.
>

If you mean when you create a new text box/object then it may use the
defaults in the type palette instead
of the previous text options, check they are set correctly first or
simply use the eyedropper tool to copy the
characteristics to the new text object.
quote:

>And finally, what do I need to know in regards to "finalizing" the file.  I
s
>there something like compounding, or rasterizing, or etc...  that I should
>be concerned with?
>

As Steggy said.

Stuart
quote:

>While I'd really appreciate some detailed instructions, if nothing else I'd
>certainly appreciate at least a push in the right direction.  Right now I'm
>not even sure what it is I need to be searching for.  If I did, then the
>help files would be a bit more useful <g>
>
>Thanks,
>
>David...
>
>

Steg & Stuart,

Thanks for the replies.  It appears that the graphics were converted to
images which would explain all my AI problems.

So much to learn... <sigh>

David...