Don't waste your time opening unwanted templates

When you install Illustrator CS2 the program copies over 150 MB worth of templates and sample files to your hard drive. You can use the artwork as is or as a starting point for your creative muse. And there’s another 170 MB of excellent clip art and stock photos sitting on the installation CD.

There are two ways to open the freebie templates: the first way is through the Open/Save dialog box and the other way is using the Finder/Explorer. The problem with either of the two methods is neither can show you previews of the Illustrator templates. You still have to open the file in Illustrator to see what it looks like.

To provide for you a way to preview Illustrator’s templates without the hassle of opening them individually in Illustrator, you can make your own Illustrator freebie online image catalog using Bridge.
To create an online image catalog:

1. Open Adobe Bridge. Switch to the default workspace by choosing Window > Workspace > Reset To Default Workspace, if necessary.
2. Locate and select the Cool Extras folder in the Adobe Illustrator CS2 program folder from the Folders panel to the left of your workspace. This reveals the folder’s contents, the two subfolders called Sample Files and Templates.
3. Click on each subfolder and choose File > Add To Favorites.
4. Locate the goodies you copied over from the installation CD in the Folders panel, if you wish to preview those, too.
5. Add the folders Clip Art and Stock Photos to your Bridge Favorites as well.

From now on, whenever you want to browse through the free artwork Adobe included with Illustrator CS2, just click on that folder in your Favorites panel in Bridge. Thumbnails of the contents appear in the large area on the right. Double-click on the one you want to open in Illustrator.