I have hundreds of the same shape that needs to be converted into a symbol for easy editing. Is there a way to do this in Illustrator?
Background here may be relevant: The place I am working is currently using ai CS 3 & 5 and the files in question are converted Freehand files. I have never been a Freehand user, but apparently you were able to swap one shape for another in Freehand. The closest Illustrator equivalent that I am aware of is the symbols panel. I know how to swap one symbol for another, how to create a symbol from a piece of vector art and how to modify a symbol. What I am trying to do is convert several instances of the same object into several instances of the same symbol without having to replace hundreds of objects manually (ie. trying to get the right placement in a grid and everything).
Is there any efficient solution to the task I have in Illustrator CS 3 or CS 5?