Configurable Trim Marks
TL/DR: It would be incredibly helpful and relatively simple for AI's developers to let users configure the parameters of auto-generated trim marks.
I've been using AI for three decades and somehow, even though I have been doing this the hard way that entire time, it never dawned on me until today to request this: configurable Trim Marks, both in Object: Create Trim Marks and Effect: Trim Marks. This is similar to the following request except that that one doesn't include the why that I feel is important:
https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests/suggestions/41926273-set-the-size-and-offset-of-effect-crop-marks-whi
AI specifically creates trim marks in one very specific way: .5" .3pt lines that are .25" from the boundary of the selected element. That's fine for typical press output and "good enough" for most home/in-office usage, but far from great. That combined distance of .75" is pretty significant overkill for anyone printing a lot of small to-be-cut items on a single printed page (i.e., small designed pieces on a 13x19 sheet), forcing someone who wants to maximize their usage of the media and knows they only need very small marks/offsets for that purpose. When that person is me, for example, I will typically cut the marks down to .15" long with a .07" offset, vastly shrinking the footprint of the combined object.
A great set of configurable parameters would be:
- trim mark length
- trim mark offset
- trim mark stroke weight
- save/edit/delete presets (including Default, which would be what you currently have)
Thanks for your time!
Whit Gurley
shared this idea
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KidCre8ive
commented
well said! yes we had to find and refine a script in order to get what we needed for small format purposes. I would also include an option to add a white outline to your crops (it's essentially a duplicate of the black strokes sent to the back with a thicker weight. this helps for visibility of the marks no matter what color the design is. if you're interested in the script for now hit me up! oh and Adobe, please just remove the Crop Marks from the Effects dropdown - completely useless.
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Tom
commented
Title says it all. Allow users to set the size and offset of crop marks while retaining the Live Effect.