: Metadata in Illustrator I'm wondering if it's possible to create some custom fields of metadata to be saved with final art in Illustrator. My goal was to enclose data such as type of screen,

@Margaret771

A way to keep it simple without no custom technology:

Start a receipe book that holds different receipes as linkable elements - maybe a folder that consists your receipe files. The receipe files can easily be searchable by name and content.

Insert to your artwork file a link to all receipes that are applied. It can be in metadata or as a hidden object that is easy to find

Insert to the receipe a link to all artwork files where the receipe is in use.

This system can't stand any changes in your directory structure.

A more advanced hi-tech free receipe book system:

Establish a receipe folder that has a subfolder for each receipe. The receipe folder must live in a different disk volume than your actual artwork files

Into each receipe folder put the receipe as a separate file. Into the same folder paste as shortcut the names of the artwork files where that receipe is applied.

Into yor artwork file insert links to ali receipe folders that holds a receipe for something in this artwork file. The link can be a hideable object or it can be written into the metadata.

Why that complexity? It's because your shortcuts in a receipe folder updates automatically if you move the artwork file by dragging or by cut & paste.

More: You can make one windows shortcut of your artwork file and drag it to all used receipe folders without any need to open the receipe folders.

Even more: you can expand this beyond receipes. It can hold also information about file usage

Document management:

Described receipe linking capablities with business quality robustness and streamlined operation need a proper document management system. It is an extension for whole file system. Linking will be automatic and version management can be easy, too. The following is an example of commercial document management system: M-Files There also are available several free document management systems.

To corporate wide expandable document management system can be an overkill for small business. A homemade simple system as well can be a serious underkill for heavy use - for example, when version management and the co-operation of several artists must be supported. No system at all leads finally to a mess where it's easier to start new job from scartch than to waste the time for searching something maybe existent but forgotten what it was and where.

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@Courtney577

Depending on what you need the data for, another (basic) option would be to use a non-printing “template” layer with text positioned off-canvas and/or hidden:



Double click on the layer to get to the layer options:



If interested, I could share jsx that would show you how to parse the contents of this layer.

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@Alves566

File > File Info is the way to go, because among other things it plays well with Bridge which can show you the metadata you need - depending on your workflow!
This is the XMP metadata form, and various software are set up to expect such data inside that spot in the document.

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