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Just a quick question - does anybody know if Mellel supports straight drops of Adobe Illustrator files (vector graphic) into text-documents?

This is one of the features that I really like about pages/keynote....

Yes, both Illustrator files and Illustrator selections can be dragged into Mellel documents, where they can be manipulated like any other embedded graphic --except that they stay sharp on scaling up.

The only drawbacks I have encountered are that graphics with no background in Illustrator import with a white background --not a problem unless you have a non-white background set in Mellel-- and sometimes individual selections appear slightly clipped at the extremities in Mellel.

Nick Sloan wrote: The only drawbacks I have encountered are that graphics with no background in Illustrator import with a white background

which is a limitation of Mellel as one could not import any graphic that has a transparent area without a fill colour (which is white on default).

Nick Sloan wrote: not a problem unless you have a non-white background set in Mellel

You can double click such a pasted image and change the fill color to the same as your background one and “fake” a transparent look. Not very elegant but possible.

Nick Sloan wrote: and sometimes individual selections appear slightly clipped at the extremities in Mellel.

which is Illustrator’s fault. ZeusDraw – for example – always copies selections with a small transparent border so nothing could be cut of here.

kga1978 wrote: This is one of the features that I really like about pages

Then you might test this behavior in Mellel by yourself as Mellel currently doesn’t support most of Pages’ or Keynotes graphic capabilites. You could not move images independently from text, as Mellel only supports “inline” images (that act like letters/words). Text flow around images, graphics in front of / behind of text and some other of those features that you may like in Pages aren’t currently supported by Mellel.

I have tried all 4 methods suggested in the manual and on this forum: insert image, drag file, drag graphic from AI, and copy/paste. All I get is a frame with a question mark. Using Illustrator 11. Would appreciate guidance. Thanks.

I’ve done my tests with Illustrator 12 so my suggestions may not work with your version. You could test 2 things:

1. Start Illustrator and open the preferences window (Illustrator › Preferences). Choose “Files & Clipboard” from the drop down menu at the top of the preferences window and select “Copy as PDF” in the lower part of this screen. This should ensure, that your Illustrator graphics would be copied to Mellel as PDF files. This is the format, that Mellel could work with. Having done this, you may need to restart Illustrator and to test copy & paste again.

2. As already mentioned, Mellel only could display the PDF format but not Illustrator’s own proprietary format. Since some versions, you could save Illustrator documents as editable PDF documents which will be called .ai documents. To do this, you have to check a box in the “save Illustrator file” dialog window (Save as PDF compatible file)*. Having done this, you should be able to drag those PDF compatible illustrator documents into your Mellel file.

* The exact option may be called slightly different as I’m using the German version and simply have translated its name.

Thanks so much for the prompt and useful response. The preferences (in v. 11) were already set at Clipboard o Quit: Cop as PDF (the only relevant preference I could find). However, I was able to get this to work by saving as a PDF. Not the most elegant solution, because it does not allow me to import a selection. Thanks again!

I could import .ai files in Mellel 5, but that doesn't work with Mellel 6 now. Anything missing or a bug?