Real World Print Production with Adobe Creative Suite Applications

Linked and Embedded Images

When you place raster images in an Illustrator file, you can choose to link or embed those images. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

Linking an image results in a smaller Illustrator file than embedding. Additionally, since images are externally stored, they are easily color corrected or retouched. To open an image linked in an Illustrator file, hold down the Option (Mac) or Alt (Windows) key and then double-click the image. The image opens in Photoshop, where you can make your edits and save the file. When you return to Illustrator, you’ll receive an alert asking if you’d like to update modified images. Click Yes to update the image.

As you might expect, embedding an image increases the Illustrator ...