Illustrator text for the web

[Joyce_E_Beck@adobeforums.com]

I brought my web page design into Illustrator from Photoshop so I could wrap text, etc. I made the text into a slice and under the slice options I chose HTML and saved the file as an SVG and imported it into Go Live. But no matter what other options I try the text continues to be an image file on export. It looks good as a gif but I want the text to be available to search engines. Any ideas about what I am doing wrong?

[Jacob_Bugge@adobeforums.com]

Joyce,

I think you should change the artwork into gif, because, as far as I know, SVG only works for about 2 - 5% of the users so it is (hopefully) a format for the future. I found out when I struggled to make SVG myself, and I dropped it.

This means that I have had to separate the searchable text from the graphics, choosing a tolerable standard font. However, it is possible to place and combine gifs so you get a seemless artwork, if you use transparent background in Illy with the right settings on a matching background image.

You may also post in the Golive forum.

[LenHewitt@adobeforums.com]

Joyce,

>>the text continues to be an image file on export. <<

It Will be! Text will NOT be saved in the HTML document, but rasterized when
you slice an image and Save for Web in either Photoshop or Illustrator (or
Save Optimized from IR.)

If you want text as text, you have to add that directly to the HTML either
in an HTML editor (such as GoLive or Dreamweaver) or even in a text editor
(Notepad, Textpad etc.)

[Joyce_E_Beck@adobeforums.com]

Thanks LenHewitt,

I kind of expected this as the problem. However I got the notion of being able to use Illustrator text from Total Training's Illustrator 10 tutorials by Deke McClellan where he said that by making a text slice the text would be able to be viewed by a search engine. But try to reach an author like Deke and you could wait till the next decade!

Jacob, the SVG format works very well and loads quickly. Try it again.

[LenHewitt@adobeforums.com]

Joyce,

>>the text would be able to be viewed by a search engine. <<

Via the alt= attribute to the image it can be, but it won't view as text on
the HTML page. Hovering over the image in IE will 'pop=up' the Alt attribute
contents (incorrectly - it should only do so with the title= attribute)

>>the SVG format works very well and loads quickly. <<

Yes it does. However, there is no native browser support for SVG and the SVG
plugin download is huge. The point Jacob was making is that very few web
users have the SVG plugin and even fewer will bother to get it, so the
number of folks that will actually see your SVG's is tiny.