# Darty Preview
The Preview mode enters Illustrator into a binding state between the active document and the data-source chosen in Darty-Ai.
In this state, clicking a data record will cause the rendition of that record in a preview document.
At this point it is possible to edit the artwork in the template and preview again, and/or edit the data to see how it impacts the resulting design.
# Temporary Preview Document
While in Preview mode, a new temporary document called [Darty Preview] is created.
This temporary document shows a preview of what a potential Export will be like, without editing the original source file.
Every time a data record is activated, the preview document goes back to its original state.
# Changing the Art Design
To change artwork for the next Preview, simply close the Preview mode to tab to your original document and make the changes. Then, turn Preview back on to view how the changes affected the rendition.
# Creative Experimentation
Although it is possible to edit the temporary document, most of the time the goal would be to actually perform the edits on the original source Illustrator document and not the [Darty Preview] document.
However, as the Darty Preview mode always reverts the temporary document back to original state, it is a perfect playground for experimenting with data and design.
Artwork can be changed to showcase 'throwaway' edits, all or only some of which could be manually carried over to the original template file to keep.
# Experimental "One-Off" Exporting
A common scenario is where data would affect the design in a certain way, but you'd like to show several options without heavily re-rendering the record or re-activating the Preview mode.
With the Preview on, the result can be rendered and then manually edited and exported again, to show differences of any kind.
# Unlimited "One-Offs"
Darty-Ai's Preview allows the user to render an unlimited amount of records for preview purposes without using up a Darty Credit.
Once the record is previewed, it could be screen-shot or exported/saved-as using Illustrator manually.
This feature can be used to maintain a library of free smart-documents powered with Darty's Preview as state-management as well as employ non-Darty-users to perform design work and share assets.
However, the one-off Preview workflow is limited to exporting only one record at a time without Darty Presets - meaning the format, file destination and anything else must be a manual Illustrator activity.
# Changing the Data
To edit the variable data using in a current Darty Preview, go to the spreadsheet application and edit the data there.
Save the data file and use the Reload button in the Data Tab to reload the data into the current preview state.
Now you are free to select the record of interest and view how this change to the data affected the design.
# Data Management Techniques
Spreadsheet applications such as Google Sheets and Excel can help create variable-data text-files, for any purpose, with their advanced formulas.
Here are some potentially useful techniques to use when working with variable data and Darty-Ai:
# Data Combination
Using a range formula to bring in a range from different workbooks and sheet-tabs.
Suppose that transformation data is in a current sheet, but colorization data is available for same columns in a library of other possible sheets.
It would be possible to use a range formula to bring in a specified data-sheet into just the right cells of a current sheet. This way, one can mix and match various columns of data from various data-sources to form a complete-and-latest data-source to use for exporting.
# Data Randomization
Major spreadsheet applications have an included formula for "randomize", which inputs an automatically-generated random value into a cell.
This is perfect for creating a dynamic transformation or set of color-values to edit artwork.
Also, in spreadsheet applications there is typically a "recalculate values" function.
After invoking this feature, any randomized values are updated and the Reload button can be pressed to refresh the Darty data.