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How to Change the Canvas Size in Illustrator

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Andrei Marius
• 2 min read
Graphic Design Techniques & Workflow Drawing/Illustration Vectors Adobe Illustrator

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to change the canvas size in Illustrator.

Once you've learned how to change the canvas size in Illustrator, you can head over to Envato Elements where you can get unlimited downloads of stock videos, music, graphics, photos, fonts, and more.

What You'll Learn in This Tutorial

  • How to change the canvas size in Illustrator
  • How to change the artboard size in Illustrator

1. Canvas vs. Artboard

First things first, let's see what the difference is between a canvas and an artboard in Illustrator.

The artboard is where you create your design, and it's the area that's exported once you decide to save your artwork. The Width and Height that you set when creating a new document dictate the size of your artboard.

The canvas is the black space surrounding your artboard. As long as the artboard size does not exceed 227 in, the canvas size will always be 227 in.

the difference between canvas and artboard in Illustratorthe difference between canvas and artboard in Illustratorthe difference between canvas and artboard in Illustrator

2. How to Change the Canvas Size in Illustrator

Step 1

Increasing the size of your artboard to 228 in (or higher) will automatically change the canvas size in Illustrator.

228 inches artboard leads to a larger canvas228 inches artboard leads to a larger canvas228 inches artboard leads to a larger canvas

A 228 in (or higher) artboard will increase the canvas size to 2275 in.

large canvas large canvaslarge canvas large canvaslarge canvas large canvas

Step 2

Creating a set of artboards that exceed the 227 in limit (when combined) will also increase the size of your canvas.

large artboards can lead to a larger cavanslarge artboards can lead to a larger cavanslarge artboards can lead to a larger cavans

Keep in mind that 2275 in is the maximum limit. It's highly unlikely that you will need such a large workspace, but this is also the limit for the artboard size.

maximum canvas sizemaximum canvas sizemaximum canvas size

3. How to Change the Artboard Size in Illustrator

If you need to adjust the artboard size, you can either select the Artboard Tool (Shift-O) and adjust it manually or you can click the artboard button from the Artboards panel (Window > Artboards) and adjust the size numerically.

how to edit artboard size in Illustratorhow to edit artboard size in Illustratorhow to edit artboard size in Illustrator

Congratulations! You're Done!

Now that you've learned how to change the canvas size in Illustrator, feel free to use these techniques in your future projects.

You can find some great sources of inspiration at Envato Elements, with interesting solutions to improve your design portfolio.

Want to Learn More?

We have loads of tutorials on Envato Tuts+, from beginner to intermediate level. Take a look!

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Graphic Design Techniques & Workflow Drawing/Illustration Vectors Adobe Illustrator
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Andrei Marius
Andrei Marius
I'm a self-taught graphic designer and a vector fanatic. I spend most of my time working on all sorts of designs in Illustrator, Photoshop, XD, Figma, or Sketch. Everything from illustrations to UI designs and interfaces, icons, charts, infographics and diagrams, logos and badges, patterns, a few character designs, and a lot of text effects. You can find my entire portfolio at andreimarius.com.
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