The four heights
The same task, four distances: today's deadline, the next reviewer, the stuck moment, the pattern.
Execute — do the immediate task
+I need the poster art with the photographer's full-res files linked and ready to hand to print.…
Execute — do the immediate task
+I need the poster art with the photographer's full-res files linked and ready to hand to print. Place and link the supplied TIFFs into the layout, in the folders Art -> Posters -> June launch, make sure none are embedded, and save a copy as Poster_Places_2026-06-17.ai. Do not rasterize linked files; check links panel for missing fonts or break warnings before sending to Ben in production by Friday afternoon.
Pasted it? When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Improve — make it easier to accept
+Before I hand this to production, make the placed photos impossible to miss and explain any risks.…
Improve — make it easier to accept
+Before I hand this to production, make the placed photos impossible to miss and explain any risks. Show the link status and file paths up front, surface any images under 300 ppi when scaled at final size, and call out if any links are embedded or missing color profiles. If a photo is low-res, suggest whether to upsample, swap for the alternate high-res, or crop for safety.
Pasted it? When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Decide — diagnose the stuck moment
+I just placed the photographer's TIFFs and the Links panel shows a red question mark next to three…
Decide — diagnose the stuck moment
+Placed files show a red question mark in Links.
I just placed the photographer's TIFFs and the Links panel shows a red question mark next to three files. Ben in production is waiting; I can't tell if the raws got moved or if I embedded them earlier. What's the likely cause, what checks should I run in the next ten minutes, and what do I tell Ben so I keep the job moving without lying?
Pasted it? When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Become — change the pattern
+On three projects this quarter I’ve lost hours relinking images because photographers and I kept…
Become — change the pattern
+Too many moved or embedded images breaking links across projects
On three projects this quarter I’ve lost hours relinking images because photographers and I kept moving folders or embedding images to make smaller files. I want a habit that stops the churn and the 'sorry we can’t print' panic. Which rules and simple folder conventions should I adopt with photographers and with the studio so links never break and production gets a clean package?
Pasted it? When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Next to this one
Other vector design work people do in Adobe Illustrator.
Measure spacing and align preciselyOptimize file size and performanceOrganize assets with layers and sublayersPackage files with linked assetsPerform boolean shape operationsPrepare PDFs for printingPrepare print-ready layoutsRasterize vector elements selectivelyRecolor artwork globallyRecord and run scripts
Every task here came from the work, not from a feature list — which is why the prompts name what you want done and never the button that does it. The tool changes; the work does not.
Copyright © LLOS.ai · 2026 — original pedagogy, voice, and design — all rights reserved.
The rest of the map
Same library, five ways in.