AIXFormat

Summary

The AIXFormat object represents a collection of Adobe Illustrator Exchange (AIX) file properties that can be configured and used with the export method on the Layout, MapFrame, and MapView objects to create an output AIX file.

Discussion

AIX files are used with the ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud extension. With the extension, vector and raster map content is converted into editable, layered artwork for an improved editing experience in Adobe Illustrator . Once opened in Illustrator , the file can be used for high-end graphic design or map finishing workflows and migrated across the other Adobe Creative Cloud applications.

The createExportFormat method can be used to create a AIXFormat object if the format parameter is set to AIX. The returned AIXFormat object contains all the properties associated with generating an AIX file. These properties can be modified accordingly to produce different output results.

Caution:

Layers using some blend modes will be rasterized when exported to AIX format. See Apply visual effects for more information

Properties

Property	Explanation	Data Type
clipToElements (Read and Write)	If set to True, include the areas of the page that have map or layout element content only, rather than exporting the entire page. This property only applies when exporting a Layout object. The default value is False.	Boolean
convertMarkers (Read and Write)	Controls whether marker symbols based on font characters are exported as font characters or as polygons. Set this option to True to view the output on a machine that does not have the appropriate fonts installed when you cannot embed the fonts due to licensing or file format restrictions. This does not apply to text, only marker symbols based on fonts. The default value is False.	Boolean
embedColorProfile (Read and Write)	Include the color profile set for the map or layout in the exported file. This helps create consistency in colors when the file is viewed on different devices. If the profile is not embedded, or a non-color-managed viewer is used, the colors may be significantly different than what is seen on-screen. The default value is True. Note: This option is only available when color management is enabled. If color management is not enabled and the colorspace is set to CMYK, the CMYK colorspace is still included in the export. This may cause some colors to appear differently when viewing the exported file.	Boolean
embedFonts (Read and Write)	Include embeddable fonts in the exported file to maintain font consistency across different platforms. Fonts that do not support embedding are not included, regardless of this setting. The default value is True. Note: To correctly edit text as graphics, Illustrator requires fonts to be installed and accessible. Check the sharing permissions before embedding and sharing fonts.	Boolean
filePath (Read and Write)	A string that represents the system path and file name, including the extension, for the exported file.	String
height (Read and Write)	The height, in pixels, of the map area to be exported. This property only applies when exporting a MapView object. The default value is 960.	Double
imageCompression (Read and Write)	A string constant that represents the compression scheme used to compress image or raster data in the output file. The default value is ADAPTIVE. ADAPTIVE— JPEG and Deflate compression are combined, depending on the contents of the stream. This works well for most cases. DEFLATE— Lossless compression method that works well for most cases. JPEG— Lossy compression method that works well for photographic-type images. JPEG2000—Higher quality compression with file sizes smaller than JPEG. This compression is lossless if jpeg_compression_quality is set to 100. LZW— Lossless compression method using a code table. NONE—Compression is not applied. RLE— Run-length encoded compression, a lossless compression method that works well if there are large areas of the same color.	String
imageCompressionQuality (Read and Write)	The amount of image compression applied to the export. Low quality has a smaller file size but less clear data; max quality has a larger file size but crisper data. This only applies when certain compression types are used. The default value is 80.	Integer
imageQuality (Read and Write)	The amount of image resampling. The property determines the effective resolution of raster content on output. For instance, if imageQuality is set to BETTER, a resample ratio of 1:2, and the output resolution is set to 300 dpi, the raster content is output at approximately 150 dpi. In many cases, the raster data can be included at a lower dpi than the vector data without visibly affecting quality, reducing the output file size. The default value is BEST. BEST—An output image quality resample ratio of 1 BETTER—An output image quality resample ratio of 2 NORMAL—An output image quality resample ratio of 3 FASTER—An output image quality resample ratio of 4 FASTEST—An output image quality resample ratio of 5	String
removeLayoutBackground (Read and Write)	Remove the page background as a graphic when exporting. This property only applies when exporting a Layout object. The default value is True.	Boolean
resolution (Read and Write)	The effective dpi of the output vector data. The default value is 96. Note: When exporting a MapView, the dpi is calculated automatically using system dpi scaling and therefore this value will be ignored.	Integer
showSelectionSymbology (Read and Write)	Show selected features in the map or map frame as selected in the output file. Setting this value to False does not affect selection within the view, only in the output file. The default value is False.	Boolean
width (Read and Write)	The width, in pixels, of the map area to be exported. This property only applies when exporting a MapView object. The default value is 960.	Double

Method Overview

Method	Explanation
setImageCompression (image_compression)	A string constant that represents the compression scheme used to compress image or raster data in the output file.
setImageQuality (image_quality)	A string constant that sets the amount of image resampling.

Methods

setImageCompression (image_compression)

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
image_compression	Below is a list of valid strings. ADAPTIVE— JPEG and Deflate compression are combined, depending on the contents of the stream. This works well for most cases. DEFLATE— Lossless compression method that works well for most cases. JPEG— Lossy compression method that works well for photographic-type images. JPEG2000— Higher-quality compression with file sizes smaller than JPEG . This compression is lossless if imageQuality is set to 100. LZW—Lempel-Ziv-Welch, a lossless compression method using a code table. NONE—Compression is not applied. RLE— Run-length encoded compression, a lossless compression method that works well if there are large areas of the same color.	String

setImageQuality (image_quality)

Parameter	Explanation	Data Type
image_quality	Below is a list of valid strings. BEST—An output image quality resample ratio of 1 BETTER—An output image quality resample ratio of 2 NORMAL—An output image quality resample ratio of 3 FASTER—An output image quality resample ratio of 4 FASTEST—An output image quality resample ratio of 5	String

The value determines the effective resolution of raster content on output. For instance, if the output image quality ratio is set to 1:2, an image_quality value of BETTER, and the output resolution is set to 300 dpi, the raster content is output at approximately 150 dpi. In many cases, the raster data can be included at a lower dpi than the vector data without visibly affecting quality, reducing the output file size.

Code sample

AIXFormat example

The following script exports a layout to AIX format using default property values.

p = arcpy.mp.ArcGISProject('current')
lyt = p.listLayouts()[0]

aix = arcpy.mp.CreateExportFormat('AIX', r'C:\Temp\Output.aix')

lyt.export(aix)