🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi All! Thanks for your feedback.

The maps don't use symbol libraries because I started them in FreeHand and some of the source art goes back a good 8 years; redoing the page-sized maps with libraries is arguably less practical than simply maintaining it. (I used to work with xrefs in AutoCAD so generally get the concept, but need to play with symbol libraries before I am comfortable with them). I like the directness of grabbing a symbol and editing it. Even if there is the occasional tradeoff of having to adjust all hundred of them. This client has a solid enough set of styles that I may use them as a test case.

A Solution and a Discovery:
Figuring the outskirts of the AI artwork were simply buggy, I solved my immediate problem by copying just the art I wanted onto a fresh page. I had not done this before because I thought AI was UNABLE to paste artwork and carry over the layers the art was on. Turns out it CAN, but the setting in the layers panel pulldown menu is turned OFF by default. I turned it on and was able to copy the art, layers and all. I sent a sample to my client, told them about this setting, and they were able to fix the rest of the files in-house.

In FreeHand the "paste remembers layers" setting is in one of the Preferences panels (another logical place to put it). Figuring such an obvious feature MIGHT exist, rather than wondering why Adobe hadn't yet added it, on a whim I looked up "layers" in the index of the Illustrator CS3 Manual, and there it is on page 306.

(The manual, purchased separately from Adobe, is a fairly handy little book and sometimes it's easier to find stuff that's called by different names than by browsing online help).