How to Save an Illustrator File as a JPG or PNG

This page may contain links from our sponsors. Here’s how we make money.

Saving a file as a JPG or PNG in Adobe Illustrator is different from saving in the default AI file type. To save a file as PNG or JPG, you need to export it rather than save it. In this step, you'll choose how you want your file to be saved, its resolution, and the color type.

In this article, I'll show how to save an Illustrator file as JPG or PNG.

Method 1: Saving an Illustrator File as a JPG

Step 1

Go to File, choose Export, and select Export for Screens.

Export for Screens

Step 2

You'll get a dialog box divided into two parts. One is where all your artboards are, and the other one has various options regarding export.

Export for Screens Settings

Step 3

Check the artboard you want to export from on the left part of the dialog box. You can also choose from the Select option on the right side. Just enter the artboard number you want to export.

Selecting the artboard

Note: you can get the artboard numbers from the Artboard Panel or choose the Artboard Tool, select an artboard, and it will show you the number on top of it.

Step 4

The next option is “Export to,” which indicates the file's location. Choose where you want to save the file. There are also some checkboxes. You can check them if you want to save your files in a subfolder and open the folder right after exporting the file. You can also choose the folder to be created by scale or format.

Export to

Step 5

After choosing the location and folders, we'll determine the file's format. The scale option determines the resolution of the image. The Suffix and Prefix options are where you'll write the file's name.

Finally, you can choose the format from the Format option. Once you finish all the settings, hit the Export Artboard button.

Selecting the JPG format

Note: You can also make some changes from the settings. Click on the gear icon on the right side to open the settings.

Gear icon

Method 2: Saving an Illustrator File as a PNG

Step 1

Go to File> Export> Export as

Export as

Step 2

Write the file name in the File Name box.

File name

Step 3

Select the file format in the Save as Type option. Here we're saving the file in PNG format.

File type

Step 4

Select the Use Artboard check box. If you want to save one particular artboard, enter the number. Otherwise, you can choose all or choose a range of specific artboards.

Use artboard checkbox

Step 5

Now click on Export to save the file as a PNG.

Export button

Method 3: Saving a File Using “Save for Web Legacy”

While using Save for Web Legacy, you can only save one particular artboard at a time.

Save for Web Legacy Settings
  • Go to File > Export > Save for Web Legacy
  • Choose the file format
  • Choose the resolution
  • Selecting Progressive will allow people to see a low-quality version of the image as they first visit the website, and it will gradually get shaper and become a full image
  • You can also choose the image size in the Image Size option
  • Click Save once you're done with all the settings

Now you can easily save your Illustrator file as a JPG or PNG using the above-mentioned methods. I hope this article was helpful.