Due to differences in the approach of how a document is created in Adobe Illustrator, some restrictions might apply.

One way only

Due to differences in document setup, the conversion from CHILI publisher (back) to AI is not supported.

A CHILI publisher document is usually created at the end of the process, to enable end-user access (B2B, B2C).

Supported document properties

• Artboard measurements

• Multiple pages; only when all artboards have the same size

• Bleed

Locked Objects, flattening engine, effects

Many Illustrator effects and functionalities can’t be reproduced using native CHILI object model.

In order to preserve the visual aspect, complex items are converted to a PDF and placed inside a CHILI document as regular images. This process is called flattening. Flattened items are called “Locked objects”.

A converted document in CHILI editor would be a mix of editable items and locked objects.

The following items are always locked objects:

• Groups

• Clipped groups

• Text on paths

• Linked images whose format is not supported by the editor (see supported images)

• Embedded images

• Items that contains HSB colors

Objects managed by third party plugins

Illustrator documents can contain items managed by third party plug-ins, for example barcodes, variable data, custom marks. The CHILI AI converter has no access to these objects. They will be ignored during conversion.

Supported object properties

• Rotation

• Opacity

• Blend mode

• Stroke width

• Stroke color

• Stroke overprint

• Fill color

• Fill overprint

Supported blend modes

• Normal

• Multiply

• Darken

• Difference

• Hard light

• Lighten

• Overlay

• Screen

Other blend modes are converted to Normal

Rotation

For the following objects, the rotation matrix is used:

• Placed images

• Rectangle-shaped text frames

In such cases, rotation value in CHILI editor may be different from the rotation value in Illustrator, even if the visual aspect of the object is correct.

In all the other cases, rotation property is used.

Images

Placed images are converted to image frames.

Clipped images are converted to image frames; frame will have the shape of the clipping path.

Embedded images are converted as locked objects.

Placed vector images (EPS, PDF) are always saved as AI to guarantee full compatibility with CHILI publisher.

Supported formats for placed images are:

• JPEG

• TIFF

• PSD

• JP2

• EPS

• PNG

• GIF

• PDF

• AI

Colors

Illustrator can define swatches that are not global colors, while in CHILI publisher (like in Adobe InDesign) all defined colors are global.

Here is a comparison of the terms used by the two systems:

Locked layers

To reduce the complexity of CHILI documents, you can use the Locked layers function.
This will improve the Editor speed. You might not need all vector elements, to be editable.

A Locked layer is an Illustrator layer that is converted to a single PDF during the conversion process. This PDF is then placed as an asset in CHILI publisher.

This has some advantages:

• Faster conversion process

• Faster upload to CHILI publisher

• Visual aspect is always preserved

• The CHILI document will be light and simple to use

• Straightforward editing experience

Locked layer functionality is typically used on background layers, and on layers out of the editing scope.

To create a Locked layer, simply activate the lock icon in the Adobe Illustrator’s Layer panel.

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