In a collaborative environment, coordination between team members is essential to the success of a project. For example, in a company that creates websites, the web designer is responsible for the look and feel of the site, while the web developer is responsible for the underlying code and scripting. If the designer changes the layout of the web page, those changes must be communicated to the developer. Likewise, if the developer needs to add functionality to the web page, the design may need to be updated.

Variable libraries enable designers and developers to coordinate their work through an XML file. For example, a designer can create a template for business cards in Illustrator and export variable data as an XML file. The developer can then use the XML file to link variables and data sets to a database and write a script to render the final artwork. This workflow can also be reversed, where the developer codes the variable and data set names in an XML file, and the designer imports the variable libraries into an Illustrator document.

To import variables into Illustrator from an XML file, choose Load Variable Library from the Variables panel menu.

To export variables from Illustrator to an XML file, choose Save Variable Library from the Variables panel menu.