Updating Legacy Text in Illustrator CS
Adobe® Illustrator® CS introduces an impressive new text engine that makes it easier than ever to set great-looking type. When you open legacy Illustrator files (those created in previous versions) the text appears as an uneditable object until you update it—you don’t have to update the text if you don’t need to edit it. Updating is easy, and once you update you have access to all the exciting new text features in Illustrator CS such as new paragraph and character styles, optical kerning, and full OpenType font support.
When you update text in Illustrator CS, you may notice some minor reflow changes. You can easily readjust the text on your own, or with the guidance of a reference copy of the original text. When you open a legacy file, Illustrator automatically appends "[converted]" to the end of the filename, effectively making a copy of your document to preserve the integrity of your original file.
1. Consider all your options.
Illustrator provides several options for working with legacy text. The first option, of course is to leave the text as it is—even though it is not editable, it will print correctly as text. This is the best and easiest option if you don’t need to edit the text.
If you do want to edit the text, you can choose to update all the text at once as you open a file; update text on an object-by-object basis after you open and view the file; update text on an object-by-object basis and create a copy of the text for reference after you open and view the file; or update all text blocks at once after you open and view the file.
2. Update all legacy text when you open a file.
Updating all legacy text when you open a file is the quickest and easiest way to update text. To use this option, simply open a file created in a previous version of Illustrator. Before the file opens, a dialog box appears and prompts you to select one of two options: Update, which updates all of the legacy text as the file opens, or OK, which leaves legacy text blocks as objects for you to update later. Choose Update.
As the file opens, Illustrator reflows the text using the new type technology. You may notice some reflow changes, but these will be minor. You can adjust the text by using the Selection tool and moving the text blocks. Check all text blocks to make sure that text is not overflowing the bounding box. If text is overflowing, the overflow icon will appear on the text box.
3. Update text on an object-by-object basis.
If you choose not to update all the legacy text as you open the file, you can update each text block individually after the file is open. As you decide you want to edit text, either select the text box with the selection tool and choose Type > Legacy Text > Update Selected Text, or click the text box with the Type tool and click Update in the dialog box that appears. (This dialog box also provides an option to create a copy of the legacy text; see the next step for more information.)
Updating text this way allows you to preview the text before updating it.
4. Update text object-by-object, and create a copy.
Another option is to update text blocks individually and create a copy of the legacy text for comparison. To use this option select the Type tool and click in a text block. In the dialog box that appears, click Copy Text Object. Illustrator updates the text and creates a dimmed copy of the legacy text below it. Use this copy as a reference for precisely repositioning the updated text to its correct location.
When you’re satisfied with the updated text, simply choose Type > Legacy Text > Delete Copies. From the same menu, you can also choose to select or hide the copies. For example, you may want to hide the copy if you want to view the new text alone but aren’t ready to delete the legacy copy.
5. View file, and then update all text at once.
After opening the file, you may decide it’s more efficient, easier, or faster to simply update all the text at once. If this is the case, you can choose Type > Legacy Text > Update All Legacy Text to update all the remaining text blocks.
You may often find that the flow of text does not change upon updating or that updating on an object-by-object basis is not necessary for a particular file. Consequently, Illustrator provides a variety of options such as Update All Legacy Text to make the process faster.
6. Export an Illustrator CS file for use in an earlier version.
If you want to open an Illustrator CS file in an earlier version, such as Illustrator 10 or Illustrator 8, export it as a legacy .ai or .eps file. Choose File > Export, and then from the Save as Type menu, choose either Illustrator Legacy (*.AI) or Illustrator Legacy EPS (*.EPS). Once you export a file to a legacy format, Illustrator converts the text to point type (default) or outlines, depending on the Export option selected in the Type section of the Document Setup dialog box. Once you export, the text is no longer editable in any version of Illustrator. If you choose to export a file, make sure that you keep a copy of the original, in case you want to edit the text in the future.
If you are concerned about critical work and text reflow issues, you can continue to work with existing text files in Illustrator 10, and use Illustrator CS only for new content creation and for legacy files that don’t contain text. Remember, if you choose not to update legacy text in Illustrator CS, that text will print correctly as text.
