5.2 Configuring Application Preferences
Key Takeaways
Cmd+K (macOS) or Ctrl+K (Windows) opens Illustrator's preferences, which apply to the application rather than to a single document.
General preferences hold Keyboard Increment, Scale Corners, and Scale Strokes & Effects, which change how nudges and scaling behave.
With Scale Strokes & Effects off, scaling an object to 25% leaves an 8 pt stroke at 8 pt; with it on, the stroke becomes 2 pt.
Appearance of Black chooses whether pure 100% K displays and outputs accurately or as rich black, without changing color values.
File Handling controls data recovery and whether modified links update automatically, manually, or after a prompt.
5.2 Configuring Application Preferences
Quick Summary: Objective 3.1.c lists the General, Type, Units, Guides & Grid, User Interface, File Handling, Appearance of Black, and Smart Guides preferences. Preferences change how Illustrator behaves for every document, so a live-in-the-app task may ask you to change one before completing a drawing or scaling step.
Opening and Resetting Preferences
- Windows:
Edit > Preferences. macOS: the Illustrator application menu. On both platforms,Cmd/Ctrl+Kopens the dialog, and recent versions include a search field for finding a setting by name. - When nothing is selected, the Properties panel shows a Preferences button in its Quick Actions.
- To reset every preference, choose Reset Preferences in the General category and restart Illustrator.
Preferences vs. Document Setup: preferences apply to the application. Settings such as the current document's bleed, artboards, and units for that file belong in File > Document Setup. If a task says "change this document's bleed," Document Setup is correct; if it says "change how far the arrow keys move objects," that is a preference.
The Preference Categories on the Exam
| Category | Settings to know | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| General | Keyboard Increment, Constrain Angle, Corner Radius, Scale Corners, Scale Strokes & Effects, Use Preview Bounds, Double Click To Isolate, Reset Preferences | Controls nudging, default angles, and how scaling treats strokes, effects, and corners |
| Type | Size/Leading, Baseline Shift, and Tracking increments; Fill New Type Objects With Placeholder Text; Auto Size New Area Type; Show Font Names in English; number of recent fonts | Shortcut nudges and new text frame behavior |
| Units | General, Stroke, and Type units; Identify Objects By (object name or XML ID) | Numeric entry and object IDs in exported SVG |
| Guides & Grid | Guide color and style; grid color and style; Gridline Every; Subdivisions; Grids In Back; Show Pixel Grid above 600% zoom | Layout precision and pixel-level checking |
| Smart Guides | Alignment Guides, Anchor/Path Labels, Object Highlighting, Measurement Labels, Transform Tools, Spacing Guides, Construction Guides angles, Snapping Tolerance | Which dynamic cues appear while drawing and moving |
| User Interface | Brightness from dark to light, Canvas Color (match the interface brightness or white), Open Documents As Tabs, UI scaling | Visibility and comfort |
| File Handling | Automatic recovery data saving and its interval, Update Links (Automatically, Manually, Ask When Modified), recent file count, background save and export | Crash recovery and link behavior |
| Appearance of Black | On Screen and Printing/Exporting options for displaying or outputting blacks accurately or as rich black | How pure black looks on screen and in RGB output |
General: Keyboard Increment
Keyboard Increment sets how far a selection moves each time you press an arrow key. With the default of 1 pt, each press moves the selection 1 pt; holding Shift while pressing an arrow key moves ten times that distance, so 10 pt. If a task requires precise nudging in millimeters, set the increment to the needed value, such as 0.5 mm, before nudging.
General: Scale Strokes & Effects and Scale Corners
These two checkboxes decide what happens to strokes, effects, and live corner radii when you resize an object:
- Scale Strokes & Effects off: stroke weights and effect values stay the same. A 2 in square with an 8 pt stroke scaled to 25% still has an 8 pt stroke, which now looks very heavy.
- Scale Strokes & Effects on: the stroke scales with the object, so the same 8 pt stroke becomes 8 × 0.25 = 2 pt, and drop shadow offsets and blurs scale too.
- Scale Corners: when on, live corner radii scale proportionally with the object instead of keeping their original radius.
The same checkboxes appear in the Transform panel and in the Scale tool's dialog, so you can change them for a single operation. A frequent exam trap is a logo that looks too heavy after it is reduced; the fix is to turn on Scale Strokes & Effects and redo the scale.
Type, Units, and Guides & Grid
- Type increments control keyboard shortcuts: the Size/Leading increment for
Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+>, the Baseline Shift increment, and the Tracking increment (20/1000 em by default) forAlt/Option+arrowkerning and tracking. - Fill New Type Objects With Placeholder Text decides whether new frames start with sample text.
- Units sets the General unit for rulers and transform fields, the Stroke unit, and the Type unit separately. A file can therefore measure objects in millimeters while showing type in points.
- Guides & Grid changes guide and grid colors and styles, the spacing between major gridlines and their subdivisions, whether the grid sits behind artwork, and whether the pixel grid appears above 600% zoom.
Smart Guides and User Interface
The Smart Guides category turns individual guide types on or off and sets the snapping tolerance and construction angles. If Smart Guides feel overwhelming, turn off Measurement Labels or Object Highlighting rather than disabling Smart Guides completely with Cmd/Ctrl+U. User Interface preferences change the overall brightness and canvas color, choose whether documents open as tabs, and scale the interface for high-resolution displays.
File Handling and Data Recovery
Data recovery automatically saves recovery data at the interval you choose. After a crash, Illustrator reopens the recovered document with "[Recovered]" in its name. Update Links chooses whether modified linked files refresh automatically, only when you update them manually, or after a prompt.
Appearance of Black
| Setting | Option | Result |
|---|---|---|
| On Screen | Display All Blacks Accurately | Pure 100% K displays as dark gray, so you can tell it apart from rich black |
| On Screen | Display All Blacks As Rich Black | All blacks display as jet black |
| Printing / Exporting | Output All Blacks Accurately | Pure black is output from its actual color numbers |
| Printing / Exporting | Output All Blacks As Rich Black | All blacks are output as jet black |
These options affect how blacks look on screen and when you print to non-PostScript printers or export to RGB formats; they do not change the color values stored in the document. Use them to check whether a large black area was built as 100% K or as a rich black.
Exam-Style Tasks
- "Make the arrow keys move selections 2 pt at a time." → General > Keyboard Increment = 2 pt.
- "Ensure stroke weights scale when the badge is resized." → General (or the Transform panel) > Scale Strokes & Effects.
- "Display the interface with a light theme and a white canvas." → User Interface > Brightness and Canvas Color.
- "Change guides to green dots." → Guides & Grid > Guides Color and Style.
A badge with a 6 pt stroke is scaled to 50%, but the stroke stays 6 pt and now looks too heavy. Which setting should be enabled so the stroke scales to 3 pt?
Use Preview Bounds
Snap to Pixel
Scale Strokes & Effects
Double Click To Isolate
Where do you change how far a selected object moves each time you press an arrow key?
Preferences > General > Keyboard Increment
File > Document Setup > Units
Preferences > Guides & Grid > Subdivisions
Window > Transform > Reference Point
With Appearance of Black set to Display All Blacks Accurately, how does a pure 100% K fill appear on screen?
As jet black identical to rich black
As transparent
As an out-of-gamut warning
As a dark gray, unlike rich black
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.