If you’ve ever created a document in Adobe Illustrator that includes picture files that you’ve added to it and given it to someone else, it’s likely that you’ve encountered a situation where the recipient is unable to view the photos because they are not embedded in the document.
You can either embed an image from the Links panel or simply click Embed on the Quick Action panel.
My name is Aly, I am a graphic designer with over five years of experience in Adobe Illustrator, and in today’s article, I will show you two ways to embed images in Illustrator.
Key Takeaways
- A picture that is linked indicates that Illustrator is making a reference to an image file that is located on your computer. The Illustrator file will no longer be displayed or linked in that working file once it has been split from the picture.
- If you are working on a project that has several photos or design components, linked images are incredibly helpful since they keep the file size substantially lower.
- In Illustrator, embedding an image entails adding it to a document as a graphic object. Once the picture has been inserted, you may edit it with the Object tools, change its settings with the Properties panel, construct pathways and text with the Paths and Expressions tools, and add or remove layers with the Layer tools.
Method 1: Quick Action
The quickest way to embed an image in Adobe Illustrator is by using the Quick Action panel. When you place an image in Adobe Illustrator and have the image selected, you’ll see an Embed option on the Quick Actions panel under Properties.
Click on that option and that’s it!
Method 2: Embed an Image as a Link
Follow the steps below to embed an image from the Links panel in Adobe Illustrator.
Step 1: Open the project in Illustrator where you need to incorporate the picture or create a new one. Drag and drop an image file into the workspace to import it, or use the File > Open menu option.
Step 2: Go to the overhead menu and choose Window > Links to open the Links panel.
Step 3: A list of the pictures used in your Adobe Illustrator work will be displayed in this window. By clicking on the image in this list that you want to embed, you may choose it.
Step 4: The Links window has a drop-down menu that may be accessed in the top right corner. Activate this menu, then select Embed Image(s).
If you want to unembed your image, just go back to the options where you embedded it, and it should now say “Unembed”.
Final Thoughts
One benefit of embedding your picture is that while your photos are in Adobe Illustrator, you can open the AI file on a variety of devices and still see the images.
Creating great projects in Adobe Illustrator requires the ability to embed pictures. Make certain you fully understand embedding images in Adobe Illustrator as you can do this by practicing what I showed in this article.
Any questions about embedding images in Adobe Illustrator? Leave a comment and let me know.
