questions about: "Snap to" ,circle tool & DPI output

[Crumb]

Hello;

I was looking for software to do artwork for electronic panels. After
looking at AutoCad, Quark Xpress, and Illustrator, I chose
Illustrator. I am extremely familiar with Photoshop as i used to use
it on a daily basis at my last job and figured that there are some
operational similarities between the two. Adobe was always very
intuitive, however, I am somewhat confused in a few areas.

1) is there a way to get a circular object to snap to the the grid
using it's center instead of it's edge? That is to say, suppose I draw
a 1/4" circle and hae my grid set up so that there is a line every
1/2", and I want to place the circle centered *on* the grid instead of
adjacent to it - using the "snap to grid". Is this possible?

2) When I select and drag a circle, a little "x" shows on it's center.
Is there a way to show this x at all times and also have it print out?
I know of a long way to do it by actually drawing the "x" and merging
it with the circle. Is there any other way?

3) My laser printer can print at a 300 DPI max resolution. Illustrator
defaults to 72 DPI when I start a new project. Is there a place to
adjust this 72 DPI or is the 72 DPI arbitrary? In other words, the 72
DPI screen output does not affect the print output since Illustrator
uses scalable vector graphics, therefore, they will be scaled based on
my printer driver's 300 DPI output setting? I did notice that the
print output of a circle which is stroked at .25 pt, is a bit ragged.
Am I missing something here?


Thank you

[Crumb]

Hello;

I was looking for software to do artwork for electronic panels. After
looking at AutoCad, Quark Xpress, and Illustrator, I chose
Illustrator. I am extremely familiar with Photoshop as i used to use
it on a daily basis at my last job and figured that there are some
operational similarities between the two, and therefore, lessen my
learning curve. Adobe was always very intuitive, however, I am
somewhat confused in a few areas.

1) is there a way to get a circular object to snap to the the grid
using it's center instead of it's edge? That is to say, suppose I draw
a 1/4" circle and have my grid set up so that there is a line every
1/2", and I want to place the circle centered *on* the grid instead of
adjacent to it - using the "snap to grid". Is this possible?

2) When I select and drag a circle, a little "x" shows on it's center.
Is there a way to show this x at all times and also have it print out?
I know of a long way to do it by actually drawing the "x" and merging
it with the circle. Is there any other way?

3) My laser printer can print at a 300 DPI max resolution. Illustrator
defaults to 72 DPI when I start a new project. Is there a place to
adjust this 72 DPI or is the 72 DPI arbitrary? In other words, the 72
DPI screen output does not affect the print output since Illustrator
uses scalable vector graphics, therefore, they will be scaled based on
my printer driver's 300 DPI output setting? I did notice that the
print output of a circle which is stroked at .25 pt, is a bit ragged.
Am I missing something here?


Thank you