Note that Flatten Transparency and Flatten Artwork are slightly different.įlatten Transparency is combining all objects (layers) into one single-layer image. You never know, maybe you’ll need to edit it again. Again, maybe I’m sounding like a granny, save a copy of your file before flattening it. It can really save you trouble when you need to print out your artwork.

Conclusionįlattening an image is very simple and useful. Also, it really saves you trouble when it comes to printing, it makes sure that you don’t miss a single layer from your artwork. It’s easier for you to save, export, and transfer files because large files can take ages. You can choose the image quality when you flatten and save the file. Does flattening an image reduce quality?įlattening an image reduces the size of the file, not directly affecting the quality of the image. That’s it! Now you have flattened your layers. As you can see in the Layers panel: Shape, image, and text.

I have an image, text, and a shape on my Artboard, created in different layers. Note: Screenshots below are taken from the Mac version of Adobe Illustrator, Windows versions may look slightly different.įlattening an image in Illustrator can also be described as flattening transparency, which is a two-clicks process.

So it’s always nice to save an unflattened copy file just in case you need to make further changes to your work. Keep in mind that once an image is flattened, you cannot edit the layers anymore. Well, flatten artwork can be a solution in this case. You probably have experienced this already, when you save a file as PDF for print, but some fonts don’t look the same? Wonder why? Probably you are not using a default font.

It’s always good to flatten your image for printing to avoid missing fonts and layers issues. It’s also called Flatten Transparency in Illustrator.įlattening an image can reduce file size which will make it easier for saving and transferring.

Does flattening an image reduce quality?įlatten an image means combining multiple layers into one single layer, or image.

How to Flatten an Image in Illustrator?.

Flat illustrator