How to Add and Use an Artboard in Illustrator

Ash (362)

Nov 19, 2020

1 minute

Artboards are used in Adobe Illustrator to help organize the design process. Artboards are sections of the workspace that hold exportable artwork; anything outside of the artboard won't appear when exporting. They can be any color and even set to transparent.

Adobe Illustrator

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You can add hundreds of artboards to your project. I can't say that I recommend it, but I trust you know your limits. Creating a new Artboard is easy.

Drag and drop method

Select the Artboard Tool tool from the left tool tray.
Drag and drop the cursor across the workspace to create a new artboard.

Precise method

Double click the Artboard Tool tool from the left tool tray.
Use the pop-up menu to set the height and width of your new artboard.

Artboards can be resized with the Artboard Tool.

Choose the Artboard Tool from the tool tray on the left.
Select the artboard you want to resize by left-clicking on it.
Click on a corner and drag it to resize the artboard.

The artboard color can't be changed, but you can adjust the background color in Illustrator while using the Transparency Grid.

Go to View > Show Transparency Grid.
Under the File menu, choose Document Setup.
Adjust the colors in the pop-up box.
Save the changes.

Artboards can be easily selected and moved.

Choose the Artboard Tool from the left tool tray.
Left-click on the artboard you want to move.
Drag and drop it to the desired location.

Artboards can be rotated by adjusting the artboard options.

Navigate to Window > Artboards.
Select the artboard you want to rotate in the pop-up.
Open the drop-down menu in the upper right and choose Artboard Options.
Rotate the artboard to a portrait or landscape by clicking the boxes next to Orientation.

If you found this guide useful, you may also appreciate our guide on how to crop an image in Illustrator.

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Show all in the Illustrator Basics series

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