Setting the crop area


    The crop area defines a bounding box that artwork can be cropped to. There is at most one crop area in a document and it is indicated by a set of visible, non-selectable, non-printing marks. You can specify the crop area in your artwork with the Object > Crop Area > Make command.

    Note the following:

    • If you select Use Japanese Crop Marks in the General Preferences dialog box, any crop area you define in your file will appear as Japanese-style crop marks. These crop marks have double lines, which visually define a default bleed value of 8.5 points (3 millimeters).
    • If you plan to separate a color Illustrator file, you may want to first define the crop area in the artwork. (See Step 4: Define the print area.)
    • You can set trim marks around the crop area, as well as around the artboard or the artwork. (See Setting marks and bleed options.)

To specify the crop area in the artwork:

  1. Draw a rectangle to define the boundaries of where you want the crop area to appear. (It doesn't matter if the rectangle is filled or stroked.)
  2. Select the rectangle.
  3. Choose Object > Crop Area > Make.
  4. Tip iconTo view the crop area or reset it to its default location of the artboard, choose Select > Deselect and then apply the Crop Area > Make command. If you do this, changing the Crop Artwork To setting in the Print dialog box from Artboard to Crop Area will show no change, because you've already made the artboard the crop area.

    Any previous crop area is replaced by the new one. If you have selected a rectangle as the border, the crop area replaces the selected rectangle. If no rectangle has been selected, the crop area is placed at the corners of the artboard.

To edit the crop area:

  1. Choose Object > Crop Area > Release.
  2. Edit the rectangle that defines the crop area boundary.
  3. Choose Object > Crop Area > Make.

To eliminate the crop area:

    Choose Object > Crop Area > Release.

    The original rectangle reappears with its fill and stroke removed. You can then delete or move the rectangle.

To specify Japanese crop marks:

  1. Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (Mac OS).
  2. Select Japanese Crop Marks, and then click OK.