Adobe Illustrator CS4 - Manual (Page 59)

52 USING ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CS4
Workspace
You can install any commercial plug-in designed for use with Photoshop or Illustrator. To install an Adobe Systems
plug-in module, use the installer if one is provided. Otherwise, drag a copy of the module to the Plug-ins folder inside
the Illustrator folder. Then restart Illustrator for the plug-in to take effect. To install a third-party plug-in module,
follow the installation instructions that came with the plug-in module.
Note: The open architecture of the Adobe Illustrator program allows developers outside of Adobe to create features that
are accessible from within Adobe Illustrator. If you are interested in creating plug-in modules compatible with Adobe
Illustrator, see the Adobe Systems U.S. website at www.adobe.com.
Recovery, undo, and automation
Undo and redo changes
The Undo and Redo commands let you undo or redo operations, allowing you to correct mistakes as you work. You
can undo or redo an operation after you select the Save command (but not if you have closed and then reopened the
file).
❖ Choose Edit > Undo or Edit > Redo.
You can undo an unlimited number of operations (depending on memory) by repeatedly choosing the Undo
command. If an operation cannot be undone, the Undo command is dimmed.
Revert to the last saved version
You can revert a file to the last saved version (but not if you have closed and then reopened the file). You cannot undo
this action.
❖ Choose File > Revert.
Automating tasks
Graphic design is a field characterized by creativity, but there are some aspects of the actual work of illustration that can
be repetitious. In fact, you’ll probably notice that the time you spend placing and replacing images, correcting errors,
and preparing files for printing and web display often reduces the time you have available for doing creative work.
Illustrator provides a variety of ways to automate many of the repetitive tasks you have to do, leaving more time to
concentrate on the creative aspects of your work.
An action is a series of tasks that are recorded while using the Illustrator application—menu commands, tool options,
object selection, and so on. When you play an action, Illustrator performs all of the recorded tasks for you.
Illustrator provides prerecorded actions to assist you in performing common tasks. These actions are installed as a
default set in the Actions panel when you install the Illustrator application.
A script is a series of commands that tells your computer to perform a sequence of operations. These operations may
involve only Illustrator, or they may involve other applications, such as word-processing, spreadsheet, and database-
management programs. Illustrator provides default scripts to assist you in performing common tasks. You can access
these scripts by choosing File
> Scripts.
Data-driven graphics streamline how designers and developers work together in high-volume publishing
environments.