How to export your designs from Adobe Illustrator so you can use them on social media and your website

The export function, inside Adobe Illustrator is, by far, what makes it the best design tool ever made. Not only can you create high quality, vector designs, but by using the Export feature you can also instantly create high or low resolution raster versions of your designs too!   I tell ya... I can't say enough great things about Adobe Illustrator and how it helps me save time designing every single day.  If you haven't already snagged your free 30-day trial, go ahead and grab it here.

Below you will find a basic guide to exporting your Illustrator designs for use on social media and your website.

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You've probably already noticed the limited number of format options when you "save"  your Illustrator design. The options you have include native vector formats only (.pdf, .ai, .eps ). There are also template and SVG formats but I have honestly NEVER used those so we are going to skip them! ha  The problem you're probably running into now is the realization that you can't upload any of those formats into social media or your website!  Have no fear!  

First you will want to go to FILE-->EXPORT--EXPORT FOR SCREENS

That will bring up a window that looks like this....

1. If you have multiple artboards within your document, you will see a thumbnail for each artboard on the left hand side. My document only has one artboard so I only have 1 thumbnail. 

*NOTE: Your artboard name will be the file name of your design when you export it. So my final JPEG image name will be "Artboard 1.jpg" if I leave the name as shown above. 

By default Illustrator names your artboard "Artboard 1" and so on and so forth but you can change your artboard names by going to WINDOW-->ARTBOARDS and then double click on the arboard name to retype a new name. ​

2. You will need to specify where you want your new image exported to by clicking on the folder icon which is located next to the image path under "Export to:". Just click on the folder icon and it will prompt you to locate the exact location you would like your image(s) exported to. If you want the location and image to pop up after you export it just check the box next to "Open location after export".  I always leave this checked and view the files after I export them just in case I forget where I saved them :)

3. Next you will want to choose your image format. There are multiple options (PNG, JPEG & PDF) so choose which one you prefer. I use PNG format because it's a loss-less format so the quality is bit better but the file size will be larger as well so tweak these settings to your liking.  You can also use the ADD SCALE feature if you want to increase the size of your exported image.  So for example, maybe you created a 2"x3" design but you'd like to export is 3 times that size, just hit ADD SCALE button and choose the X3 option. 

4. The last thing you need to do is hit the EXPORT ARTBOARD button and VIOLA!  You have successfully created a raster (pixel) version of your design all set and ready to upload to social media and/or your website! 

​See? It wasn't that hard :)

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