Illustrator/Package Designer Integration: The Workspace

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The workspace

Loading the workspace

Restoring the workspace

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About the workspace

The EngView/Adobe Illustrator integration comes with its own workspace, which consists of the panels that control the integration's functionalities. The workspace features eight panels as follows:

Native Illustrator panels

EngView panels

The following graphics show the integration's workspace.

  1. The canvas holds the artwork-containing artboards for the drawings (1ups) in the project and artworks.
  2. The list of artwork-containing artboards in the project.
  3. Layers panel (native AI panel), which lists all the layers in the file. A special layer for the project's structural design appears automatically when an EngView file is opened. Here, the layer holding the structure is locked and cannot be immediately processed. The reason is that any change could result in disruption of the connection between Package Designer and Illustrator. That is why editing of the structure is done in Package Designer.
  4. Swatches panel (native AI panel)
  5. Parameters panel. The panel lists all the parameters as they were defined when the structure was created. In Illustrator, you can edit parameter expressions, but you can neither create nor delete parameters. To do so, switch to editing the structure in EngView. NOTE: This panel displays information only if the EngView file that you are working with carries this data — that is, if the structure is resizable.
  6. Processes panel. The list of surface processes used in the project. Here you can set finishing process associations — for example, varnishing and imprint.
  7. Step and Repeat panel. The list of the project's layout drawings as created in EngView. From here, you generate files for printing.
  8. Articles panel. The list of the drawings (the project 1ups) in the project, the articles created for them, and the indication of the currently used article. The articles' artworks appear in the Front and Rear columns. In the panel, you can create and delete articles and associate artworks to them. If you need to create, edit or delete drawings, you can do that in Package & Display Designer.
  9. 3D panel. Visualization of the structure with the article selected in the EngView Articles panel.

 

Loading the EngView workspace

The workspace is loaded automatically if the EngView plug-in is loaded on your system. If for any reason the workspace is not loaded, in the upper right corner of the application, click the workspace drop-down list, and then check EngView.

NOTE: If you have upgraded to a new version, to see the EngView workspace, reset the workspace (see below).

Restoring the workspace

Regardless of what changes you have made to the EngView workspace, you can always go back to the default state of the workspace — the one you see when you start using Illustrator with the EngView plug-in for the first time.

To restore the EngView workspace