Best method to export a file for precise Adobe Illustrator compatibility?

**gaftalik** · 29 March 2022, 08:48 AM

Hello everybody,

I've been using Xara since long and now i have Xara designer pro X18.
Now i need to send my design for a company and they asked me to send it as .ai format so i tried to export my .xar file to .ai and imported back to xara to check it but all i got were few images without the text.
Can anyone tell me please what is the best format to export all objects and details so once imported to Adobe Illustrator, all aspects and precise dimensions to the mm remain the same without any distortion?

Thank you.

**handrawn** · 29 March 2022, 08:59 AM

if you export from xara in .AI format you will lose all transparency effects and probably gradient colurs too - they will be flattened to bitmap, as you discovered; there is no way round this, the xara .AI export is compatible with solid colour vector only

youu would have better luck with .PDF export which the company may accept if you ask them, but even then, transparencies are going to be difficult

**gaftalik** · 29 March 2022, 09:12 AM

Thank you for your reply.
Is it only about transparencies when exporting to pdf ? would all other drawn objects aspects and mainly dimensions change?

**handrawn** · 29 March 2022, 09:17 AM

unfortunately that rather depends on the program they are going to be using; if it is CC illustrator you should be ok; if it is another program then it will depend on what .PDF version/spec it is compatible with

[and so, you are not going to get a definitive answer by re-importing your export into xara]

**gaftalik** · 29 March 2022, 09:34 AM

Sadly, AI is very complicated to learn and Xara is much more user friendly.
Thank you for your input !

**gwpriester** · 29 March 2022, 11:46 AM

PDF would be my recommendation. PDF is one of two native file formats for AI and is probably more up to date than the AI or AI EPS file formats.

PDF supports editable text, bitmaps and vectors. And PDF is a universal file format.

**gaftalik** · 29 March 2022, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by gwpriester

PDF would be my recommendation. PDF is one of two native file formats for AI and is probably more up to date than the AI or AI EPS file formats.

PDF supports editable text, bitmaps and vectors. And PDF is a universal file format.

Thank you Gary, do you know which pdf version compatibility is best or any other settings suggestions?

**handrawn** · 29 March 2022, 12:16 PM

following on...

when you export to PDF remember that xara will export everything that is on your page area, and nothing that is off page

I use the commercial print PDF setting - anything before PDF version 1.4 does not support transpaercy at all, I use the default

Not all fonts will save to PDF - if they do not then you can convert them to editable shapes before export, but they will then no longer be editable as text if you do

**gaftalik** · 29 March 2022, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by handrawn

following on...

when you export to PDF remember that xara will export everything that is on your page area, and nothing that is off page

I use the commercial print PDF setting - anything before PDF version 1.4 does not support transpaercy at all, I use the default

Not all fonts will save to PDF - if they do not then you can convert them to editable shapes before export, but they will then no longer be editable as text if you do

That is good to know, thank you much !

**gwpriester** · 29 March 2022, 01:40 PM

[X] Commercial Printing to start. I think this exports to PDF/X 1a

There are more recent filters that follow. But for all the book covers I have done I have used PDF/X 1a and the results have been excellent. For my last cover I used a lot of transparency without even thinking about it and the cover printed fine.