: Placing images in Illustrator CS5 When I place images in Illustrator CS5, I face the following problems. I have a AI-CS5.1 file which is 902 KB in size. I have a image file in JPG format

@Gloria351

The reason your files are getting smaller is because you are saving them at 180 DPI. Illustrator runs at 300 DPI consistently. So when you open it in illustrator it is going to automatically resize your file to 300 DPI. Which will, in turn make it smaller. Do this test in photshop. Open your file and click image and scroll down to image size. While in image size turn off scale styles and constrain proportion and resample. Now change your file's DPI from 180 to 300... Keep an eye on your image size and you will see how the files dimensions will change. This is what Illustrator is doing to your file. So just save your file at 300 dpi. This will make the image a little blurry but it will keep your file size.

Just a tip! If you are going to be creating for print always start your file out at 300 DPI.

Also if you save your files as .eps files or even .pdf when you place them the file should not jump up in size. Unless you are dragging the files to the illustrator program and letting it open them. There is a difference between placing a file from the file drop down, and actually placing the file on the illustrator icon to let it open it for you.

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@Nimeshi706

JPG is a compressed format. When you place images in Illustrator they are uncompressed. File sizes increase.
You may not want to use jpg for print production. It would be much better to use a simply .psd file to ensure quality is correct.
If you re-open a jpg image in something like Photoshop and then re-save that image as a jpg you damage the image quality. This happened each and every time you open a jpg, then save it as a jpg. The quality continually will get worse. You should never open a jpg, then save it as a jpg.
Illustrator, being a vector application, is resolution independent. The resolution, document raster effects settings, etc. you see within Illustrator refer directly to how Illustrator will handle its own raster content when you ask it to create something like a drop shadow or a glow. It does not refer to placed images. What this means is any placed raster image is placed at its existing Pixels Per Inch (PPI). Illustrator does not alter raster image PPI. Therefore an image with a low PPI will place as a larger file (width and height). And an image with a higher PPI will place as a smaller file (width and height).


Traditionally with print design file sizes (kb) are unimportant. Can I ask why you are eyeballing the file size so closely? It's very, very common for files to increase to hundreds of MB or a few GB in some cases. This is the nature of print design where resolutions need to be much higher than on-screen work. When designing for print, you need to watch image quality and resolutions. Print design should never be about file sizes (kb).

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