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I initially drew a picture in Illustrator at 700 x 1270 pixels at 300 ppi. Unfortunately when converting...the pixels come out at 2915 X 5289 because of the 300 ppi. This is waaaay too big for the project I am working on. We need the pixels to be EXACTLY 700 X 1270.

72 ppi does not have this pixel conversion issue. I want to resize my illustrator document at 72 ppi. I know from now on I need to just start ALL my documents out in 72 ppi. It makes the pixels accurate to the initial size.

Now the only problem is with this first file I have at 300 ppi. When I try to just copy the inital illustrator file (2915 X 5289) into another illustrator document with 72 ppi- it automatically converts the ppi to 300 making the image larger again...

How can I just change the ppi of the illustrator document? Like resizing a photoshop document to be smaller? Is this possible?

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    Illustrator is vector based. There is no inherent PPI setting involved (outside of raster effects). You should be able to export at any pixel dimension you desire.
    – DA01
    Dec 11, 2014 at 18:29
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    You did not "draw a picture in Illustrator at 300ppi". As other comments point out, Illustrator is vector based. What you've posted doesn't make a great deal of sense when considering this.
    – Scott
    Jan 10, 2015 at 23:19

5 Answers 5

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Basics Illustrator is a vector program and it is resolution independent. (E.g. If you create an artwork on an Artboard of 300 x 200 pixels, you can export your artwork at 3000 x 2000 without loosing quality.

Short Answer to your question

Whenever you want to export an image (JPG, PNG etc), always use Save for web. Or save for screens.

File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy) > Image Size

If you have different size of artboard in (pixels) than your desired image size, you have two options.

  1. Scale up/down the artboard with artwork.
  2. Use File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy) > Image Size

Explanation

If you are producing an artwork for digital medium (Web, App etc), you are not dependant on ppi settings. Always use pixels as document units and use Export for Web Dialog box. So even if you want a different size (in percent or pixels) you can do it easily.

You can change your units from Document Setup OR Artboard Settings.

If you are working for a print medium (Printed Ad, Catalog etc), use metric or imperial system units (inch, centimeter, millimeter etc) and always send artwork in vector format. (AI, PDF etc).

Why use File > Export > Export As (set ppi)

Metric or imprerial system units depends on ppi factor before converting to pixel units.

One purpose of Export to JPEG dialog (File > Export > Export As) is to create a preview before sending artwork to print (Where exact number of pixels is not important).

Examples:

If you have a large artwork, say 40" 60" and you want to creat a preview image, don't try to use save for web or your computer will try to calculate your artwork in pixels and apply the default export algorithm and would take forever to respond because it makes the process very heavy to compute.

Rather use File > Export > Export As and use a smaller ppi (e.g 12, 15).

Similarly, if there is a smaller artwork (3" x 2", a Price tag or something) and you want to create a JPEG preview you can achieve an adequate size by setting the ppi to 300.

If the size of your artboard is the same in Pixels as your desired image size, using 72 ppi in the export dialog will produce the same number of pixels. If you want double the pixels, use 144. Use 72 as the scale factor of your desired image size in pixels.

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select the image, click object > rasterize, then input desired ppi.

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Open an Illustrator document and look 3 spaces over from the top left corner, it should say PPI. You can change these options prior to creating a document or clicking Document Setup > Transparency settings for vector/raster transparency. Your best option is to copy and paste it into a new document. Open > New > ADVANCED (drop down) > Raster Effects > Drop down select. Then just paste your images into the new doc. Hope this helps.

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Just open your illustrator file in Photoshop and resize it and save in the desired format... CC sweet. Remember Adobe Illustrator is vector based and Photoshop is bitmap.

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    that's not really necessary, see comments under the question
    – Luciano
    Feb 2, 2017 at 15:56
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It's simple. When you export the file, you define the resolution to screen (72 ppi): Menu > File > Export > choose the format you want > Resolution: screen (72 ppi)

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  • The Document Raster Effects Setting only adjusts raster effects such as drop shadows, glows, etc. It does not "change the resolution of the document".
    – Scott
    Jan 11, 2015 at 18:59
  • I've to agree with you. It was a coincidence to change the resolution at "Document raster effects settings" and the default resolution of exporting files be the same. Thank you for correcting me.
    – Raquel Fantasia
    Jan 12, 2015 at 21:30
  • This is a Question & Answer site, not a forum. If your answer is wrong, correct it (so long as not then a duplicate of another), or delete it.
    – user66001
    Jul 17, 2019 at 20:42

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