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lemon008976
Participant
July 30, 2025
Question

asking for a new feature: one click flatten button (Expand for text and line for print/sharing)

  • July 30, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 170 views

Hi everyone,
I'm a computer graphic design teacher at NABA. While teaching Adobe Illustrator, I’ve found it challenging to explain the concept of Expand Appearance and how to properly flatten text and lines for final output.

It would be incredibly helpful to have a one-click solution that automatically handles proofing—expanding appearances, flattening both text and lines—and clearly indicates that the AI or PDF file is ready for print or delivery.

I hope this suggestion makes sense. Many thanks!

    2 replies

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 30, 2025
    @lemon008976  schrieb:

    and clearly indicates that the AI or PDF file is ready for print or delivery.

     

    Whether or not a file is ready for delivery depends on a lot of variables in the printing process. There are no options of where to even enter that in Illustrator. On top of that, the requirements might be different from country to country or printer to printer even for the same process. So as a teacher it's your job to explain your students how to prepare their files.

     

    Text and strokes do not have to be expanded for every kind of file handoff. But if they have to, you can set up an action for that.

     

    A preflight panel would still be nice to have. But it won't be an automatic solution to whether or not the file is ready for press.

    L
    lemon008976Author
    Participant
    July 30, 2025

    Dear Monika, I appreciate your insights. I believe our focus here should be on how we can simplify the app and make it more intuitive for users—especially beginners—instead of framing this around a teacher's responsibilities.

    Even with proper instruction, many students and new users still struggle to export their files correctly. This is often because, in other design tools, much of that process is either automated or simply not required. That's why improving the user experience around file preparation is so important.

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 30, 2025
    @lemon008976  schrieb:

    users still struggle to export their files correctly. This is often because, in other design tools, much of that process is either automated or simply not required.

     

    There is no single "correct" export. It depends on so many variables. So you first need to know the variables, which in itself is difficult enough, because most of the time you need to get them from someone else and also things change over the years, so you need to keep your knowledge updated. But if you do not get them, you need to know a thing or two about the process yourself. There is not a lot that an application can do for you.

     

    It's about education and experience.

     

    When apps automate this thing for you, then most of the time the printed result is either crappy or nobody cares in the first place. That's why most of the time in other apps certain options don't even exist.

     

    As for outlining fonts: fonts can be embedded in a PDF and most of the time it's not required to outline them. It's certainly not good for acceessiblity.

     

    That doesn't mean that there is no room for improvement. But instead of automating stuff, finding potential issues should be made easier and more efficient for the professional users of this app.

     

    Abhishek Rao
    Community Manager
    Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    July 30, 2025

    Hi @lemon008976,

     

    Thank you for sharing your experience and the thoughtful suggestion. I completely understand how a one-click option to expand appearances, flatten text and lines, and confirm readiness for print would simplify the workflow.

    Currently, Illustrator does not offer a single-click feature for this, so manual steps like using Expand Appearance and Flatten Transparency are still needed. I would recommend posting this idea to our official UserVoice page here: https://adobe.ly/41lmyAH. Submitting your request there ensures that the product team sees it, and you can also get notified if it's considered or implemented in future updates.

    I appreciate your feedback and the use case you've shared.

     

    Make sure to drop the Uservoice link back here in this thread so other users can upvote it.

    Abhishek

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