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Creating a custom startup file


    Adobe Illustrator provides two different startup files: a startup file for the CMYK color mode and a startup file for the RGB color mode. When you create a new document, you are asked to choose a color mode for the new document. Depending on the startup file you choose (CMYK or RGB), your new document will contain the default settings for that particular startup file: brushes, swatches, gradients, patterns, and styles. The startup files are called Adobe Illustrator Startup_CMYK and Adobe Illustrator Startup_RGB, respectively, and are found in the Plug-ins folder inside the Adobe Illustrator application folder.

    You can create a custom startup file that defines the contents of the Swatches palette by default, including any custom color libraries that you want to appear in the Swatches palette. In this way, you can have easy access to the patterns, gradients, brushes, graph designs, colors, and color libraries that you use most frequently. By adding these elements to one or both of the startup files, you make them available in every new Adobe Illustrator file you create.

    In addition, any files you create have the same Document Setup and Page Setup settings as those found in the CMYK or RGB startup files, and they use the same zoom level, window size, viewing preferences, and scroll position as that of the startup file when it was last saved.

To create a custom startup file:

  1. Make a backup copy of the current default startup file, Adobe Illustrator Startup_CMYK or Adobe Illustrator Startup_RGB, and then save the backup file outside of the Plug-ins folder. This action saves the original startup file in case you need it again. The startup files are located in the Plug-ins folder in the Adobe Illustrator application folder.
  2. Open one of the default startup files (either CMYK or RGB, depending on which type of document you intend to use) as a template for the custom startup file. This file contains squares filled with the default colors, patterns, and gradients available in the Swatches palette.
  3. Delete any existing colors, patterns, and gradients you don't want to retain. Note that you must delete them from their respective palettes as well as from the artwork in the startup file.
  4. Add new paint style attributes to the startup file as follows:
    • Create any colors, patterns, and gradients you want. You can also import swatches using the Swatch Libraries command and then move the swatches you want in the startup file into the default Swatches palette. (See Loading colors from other files.)
    • Save any graph designs that you want available in your files using the Graph Design dialog box. As with the new paint style attributes, add the graphs to the artwork in the startup file so you can see and refer to the graphs later if necessary.
  5. Select the options you want as default settings in the Print Setup (Windows), Page Setup (Mac OS), and Document Setup dialog boxes, as well as the view preferences, the ruler origins, and the page origins.
  6. Save the new file as Adobe Illustrator Startup _CMYK or Adobe Illustrator Startup_RGB, and place it inside the Plug-ins folder.

    Important: Make sure that you select the correct type of startup file (that is, CMYK or RGB) and that you save it with the exact name for its color mode. Also, you must quit the Illustrator application and restart it before the new startup settings are applied to a new document.