Artboards are like a blank canvas in Illustrator, giving you the space to create your designs. In this tutorial, you will learn how to move, copy, reorder, and rearrange your artboards in Adobe Illustrator.
What You'll Learn in This Illustrator Tutorial
In this tutorial, I'll teach you how to manage and move artboards in Illustrator. Topics we cover will include:
- How to create artboards in Illustrator
- How to reorder artboard numbers in Illustrator
- How to cut, copy, and paste artboards
- How to change the size of your artboards
1. How to Add an Artboard
Step 1
Before we begin to learn how to reorder artboards in Illustrator, we first need to become familiar with how to create the artboards. This is usually done automatically when selecting what type of project you want to create when you select New Document.
Step 2
To create an artboard from scratch, click on the Artboard Tool (Shift-O) located in the tool panel. Then click and drag your mouse along the grey area to create your artboard.
Step 3
Use the Artboard Options button if you want to modify the dimensions, rename your artboard, or apply a preset.
Step 4
To change the size of your artboard manually, simply use the Artboard Tool and hover over the edges of the artboard with your mouse until the cursor shape changes, indicating that you can resize your artboard. Then simply click and drag to resize.
Step 5
You can add new artboards to your document by going to the Artboards Panel (Windows > Artboards) and then clicking the Add New Artboard button.
2. How to Move, Cut, and Copy Artboards
Step 1
First, we'll learn how to move an artboard in Illustrator. To move an artboard, first you must select the Artboard Tool (Shift-O) located in the tool panel. Then hover your mouse cursor over the artboard you want to move.
Click and drag the artboard to move it to your desired location.
Step 2
To move an artboard to a specific location, change the X and Y values in the Properties panel.
You can also deselect Move artwork with Artboard to move the artboard without moving the contents within it.
Step 3
To copy/cut and then paste an artboard, first have the Artboard Tool (Shift-O) selected. Then select one or multiple artboards and press Control-X to cut or Control-C to copy the artboard. Then press Control-V to paste the artboard, creating a duplicate.
Step 4
You can also duplicate an artboard in the Artboards panel by selecting the artboard you want to duplicate and clicking More Options > Duplicate Artboard.
3. How to Rearrange Artboards in Illustrator
Step 1
Now we'll learn how to reorder artboard numbers in Illustrator. Go to the Artboards Panel, select one of the artboards, and click the up or down arrows to rearrange the order.
Step 2
Now we'll learn how to change the order of artboards in Illustrator within the work interface. Select the Rearrange All Artboards button located at the bottom of the Artboards panel.
Step 3
This new window will allow you to select four different layout options (Grid by Row, Grid by Column, Arrange by Row, and Arrange by Column). Choose the number of Columns or Rows you want for your new layout, and then specify the spacing between each artboard.
Also make sure that you have the Move Artwork with Artboard checked if you want to move your designs as you move the artboards together.
Awesome! You're Finished!
Congratulations! And that's how to rearrange artboards in Illustrator. I hope you found this Illustrator tutorial helpful and that you've learned some new tips and tricks that you can use for your own projects. See you next time!
Top 5 Items From Envato Elements
Fill up your artboards with graphics and illustrations from Envato Elements. Here are five of my favourites.
Easel Art Board Painting Cartoon Illustration (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, SVG)
And here's the featured graphic that we used for this tutorial! This fun, easel art board illustration has easily editable colours, is scalable without losing quality, has well-organised layers for easy accessibility, and boasts high resolution.
Cute Creative Mascot Pack #05 (AI, EPS, JPG, PDF, PNG, PSD)
In this mascot pack, you'll find three cute characters created in a fun, flat design style. This file is easy to edit and customise and is perfect to use for your logo, mascot, banner, sign, and more!
Set Of Various Painting Elements (EPS)
This graphics pack contains a set of various elements related to painting. It includes paint brushes, paint splashes, an easel, an artist character, and more!
Man Paints Charts (AI, EPS, PNG, SVG)
And here's another painter character, this time in a line art style! This illustration is easily editable and customisable in Illustrator. Its vector format also allows you to scale it to any size without any loss of quality.
Art Scene 3D Character Illustration (PNG, PSD)
If you're looking for a 3D art style to use for your project, here's a 3D character painter illustration that you can use. This art scene includes a PNG transparent file so that you can easily import it into your projects with any background.
I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial on how to move artboards in Illustrator. If you'd like to learn more cool Illustrator or Photoshop skills, we've got more tutorials for you:
