How do you get Illy to open with a large drawing area?

I just got CS4 and I must be dim but I can't figure out how to make it open up like Corel does with a giant area to work in without setting up an "art panel" for everything. I can find a place to set the size of the art panel but it craps out at 227.54". Can someone steer me to the appropriate settings please?

 

And where are the #$@#&* help files?! I click help and I end up on a website with video tutorials? .......anyone?

 

Thanks Sebastien. Looks like I made a mistake. I bought Illy to tranfer files to from Corel so I could send them to the printers. If I have a rip I don't know where it is or how to use it. I don't think I want to send files that are the wrong size and ask him to resize them.
Anyone know where the help files are?

 

Not a whole lot at that size. The extended van I did last week was longer than 227" though. I just got used to drawing all over the screen at full scale in Corel. I always have multiple versions of designs on the screen so I can look at the differences in colours, fonts, etc. I also use photos at full size when I do vehicle designs so I know the graphics will fit when I cut them.

I guess I just got used to an unlimited drawing size in my CAD days and I can't really figure out the advantage of a limited drawing size. Seems to me like messing with dpi and % and scale drawings is inviting mistakes for no real reason. Anyway, if that's how it works then I can deal with that.

So do you know where the help files are?

 

Thanks guys. Pressin F1 gets the internet site. The files are in a pdf on the site where I found this:

"Search For Help box
Use the Search For Help box on the right side of the Application bar to search for Help topics and online content. If you have an active Internet connection, you can access all content on the Community Help website. If you search for Help without an active Internet connection, search results are limited to Help content that is included with Illustrator.
1 In the search box, type the name of the item on which you want to search (such as a feature, application, or tool).
2 Press Enter.
All topics available from the Community Help center appear in a separate browser window."

Checking this out now.

 

Sure enough. If you turn off your internet connection it opens a help file in Internet Explorer. Quite weird. Most of the help topics in it refer you to internet links to more detailed help.
Anyway....the drawing size appears to be limited to 227" x 227" and you are instructed to use pecentages to specify how big the printer (or, I presume, plotter)should make your project.

 

Now let's not start any of that!

In my CAD program I can draw the earth full scale if I choose to and all I have to do is open the program and start drawing. No setting up nuttin'.....just click new file and have at it.

Illy has some pretty neat looking tools in it but it's going to take a bit of study to be able to use them is all.

 

"So even if Corel has a bigger page size, it becomes a mute point when your out put is limited to your plotter/printer size isn't it?"

No it isn't a mute point.....
It doesn't matter to me how big my plotter is...... I always have multiple versions of designs on the screen so I can look at the differences in colours, fonts, etc. I also use photos at full size when I do vehicle designs or building signs so I know the graphics will fit when I cut them. The drawing I'm working on for a customers van is 670" wide for example. I have 3 versions of his van at full size spread over the screen.

I'm sure that it will become apparent why Adobe limits the drawing size as I get deeper into learning the program but I must admit, it's a total mystery to me so far.

I'm also having trouble finding the "zoom all" button. Oh, and the little box that tells you how big an object is when you select the object....

 

Thanks dbenec.....it turns out I can have up to 100 "art boards" at 227" x 227"....... I would rather have one art board at 11350"x 11350" square(100 x 227" artboards taped together). Like I said, I'm sure there is an advantage to having all these little artboards, I just haven't figured out what it is yet. The help files seem very cumbersome at this point but I'm sure I'll get more adept at using them over time too.