In this tutorial, we will continue discussing how to clean up your Illustrator^R vector files for submission to microstock sites. Most of these sites have the same submission requirements and guidelines. Below is a summary of the most important issues.

Clipping Masks
To find and remove clipping masks

1. Select - Object - Clipping Masks
2. Object - Clipping Mask - Release

Text Objects
To convert text to shapes

1. Select the text
2. Type - Create Outlines

Guides
To find and remove guides

1. View - Guides - Clean Guides

Swatches, Brushes and Other Panel Items
To remove all unused swatches and brushes

1. Go to the Actions Panel
2. Select Delete Unused Panel Items
3. Run the action

Overall Final Cleanup
Run this after you have made all changes, just in case you have missed something.

1. Object - Path - Cleanup

Select Menu Plugin

Select Menu is an Illustrator plugin by Rick Johnson at rj-graffix.com. This plugin adds several items to the Select menu. It is especially useful for those items not included in the Illustrator Select menu, such as open paths. By default, the Illustrator Select menu can select many items, including Bristle Brush Strokes, Brush Strokes, Clipping Masks, Stray Points and Text Objects.

This plugin will add the following objects to the list.

• Guides
  
• Paths
  
• Open Paths
  
• Closed Paths
  
• Filled Paths
  
• Unfilled Paths
  
• Stroked Paths
  
• Dashed Paths
  
• Undashed Paths
  
• Compound Paths
  
• Groups
  
• Symbols
  
• Meshes and Wraps
  
• Raster Art
  
• Live Object Groups
  
• Placed Art
  
• Plugin Art
  

Once you have identified the open paths, it's easy to cleanup. Just select the open path and click Add/Unite option in the Pathfinder. Another option is the menu command Object - Path - Join.

https://rj-graffix.com/software/plugins.html#SelectMenu

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