Are Illustrator effects allowed in our vector items ?

Am I allowed to submit a vector graphic that makes use of shadows, glows and feather effects ? I mean, these are probably raster effects even if you’re working with Illustrator, right ? So I don’t know if these would affect scaling or not, and neither do I know whether vector items with such effects are rejected or not.

OK, after searching through all Envato knowledge base, the only thing I could find is that we can’t use raster effects in .eps files.. and my next thought was “OK, so I’ll just submit the .ai file”, but this just raises other questions:

- are we required to submit an .eps file ? - if so, can we submit a package that contains an .ai with the raster effects and an .eps version without raster effects (even tough these two would look a bit different) ?

I still hope that someone will help me sort this big dilemma of mine.. I would really appreciate it!

A question I have often pondered. I would love to know the answer to this too for an upcoming project. If you get or find an answer, please share. Thanks.

Would like to know the answer to this too. Can anyone help?

Thanks.

I have also been watching this thread since it began but it seems to have been overlooked by the moderators?

In lieu of someone in the know answering – I would have thought it was okay, in .ai files to use raster effects. Logic being that if you’re offering an .ai file (ignoring the .eps thing for a minute) then the buyer has Illustrator, right? The raster effects are mostly unchanged from version CS3 upwards…so that wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Effects offer so much scope for exciting graphics, it’s a shame to not know whether we can use them or not.

.eps files a different story though. Still need some clarification??

Hi Everyone, I think I can help here.

Most effects in AI will render when you apply them to an object or shape, when you change the object or shape that has these effects added, the effects will re-render to match the object. These are Appearances.

There are two sections to the Appearance panel in the Fx drop down box. One is Adobe Illustrator Effects (things like warps and offsets), these are non raster, and then there’s Photoshop effects (things like grain effects and textures), these are raster.

Any raster effects in an Ai file will render as flattened in EPS files. Guidelines for the Vectors category says that the main file has to be an EPS (version 10 is best) This is so the EPS is compatible with all vector software and can be opened in PDF readers and Photoshop.

Vector effects are ok because when they open in non compatible software they become regular vectors (the effect settings cannot be chanced), Raster effects are not ok as when they are opened in non compatible software they will render as bitmap.

Vector effects can sometimes render pixelated as you can set the resolution of the effects by going to Effect > Document Effect Raster Settings and change it depending on the output you want. Some people change these to low while they’re working on complex illustrations to stop the program from crashing (from too many effects) If you’re working on something for print, set this to 300dpi.

We’re currently working on a more comprehensive set of guidelines for vectors. The best thing to do is to use your best judgement on how editable something will be and always add as much information as you can to the item details so people who purchase your vector will know exactly how editable it is before they download.

For more tips on preparing vectors for distribution and sale, Vectortuts has some great Quick Tips written by Martin Malchev, you can find them here…

• Saving Files from Corel Draw for Microstock Agencies
  This one is about how to save files from Corel Draw to Adobe EPS format
  
  
• Microstock Illustrations with Corel Draw, Tricks and Tips
  This one is good for Corel and Illustrator – it’s how to make effects as editable as possible without needing to use raster settings.

If anyone has any other questions about vector let me know and I’ll do my best to explain (for those who don’t know, I’m also the Associate Editor of Vectortuts+)

Thank you very much for that.

A great explanation. There is a clear divide in Illustrator between the two groups of effects, so no reason to confuse them – but knowing we can use the vector-based effects (in the menu from CS3 upwards, labelled as ‘Illustrator effects’) does open a much wider world of possibilities for artwork. (e.g. Dropshadows, warps, feathering etc). Yay.

Thanks again.

Interspace said
knowing we can use the vector-based effects (in the menu from CS3 upwards, labelled as ‘Illustrator effects’) does open a much wider world of possibilities for artwork. (e.g. Dropshadows, warps, feathering etc). Yay.

Yep… but remember, if you don’t describe the item properly for the buyers (version, effects used, how editable it is) we will be asking you to do so

loungekat said

Interspace said
knowing we can use the vector-based effects (in the menu from CS3 upwards, labelled as ‘Illustrator effects’) does open a much wider world of possibilities for artwork. (e.g. Dropshadows, warps, feathering etc). Yay.

Yep… but remember, if you don’t describe the item properly for the buyers (version, effects used, how editable it is) we will be asking you to do so

Roger that.