Artboards

Illustrator has artboards instead of pages. Since Illustrator is more about creation and than it is about formatting books, we use artboards instead of page layouts. When creating a new document, you can specify how many artboards you would like, or you can easily add them later.

Artboard Panel

The Artboard panel is located under Window>Artboards. This displays the artboards in order and by name, and offers options to edit, add, or delete artboards.

Naming the artboard can be done by double-clicking on the name to open the edit field. Type in the new name and click Return. Options can be accessed by double-clicking on the artboard icon. Use the dropdown menu to access other options such as add, delete, or duplicate artboards.

Artboard Tool

The Artboard tool (Shift + O) is an easy way to edit, add, or modify artboards. When you click on the Artboard tool, the artboard(s) in your document will be directly editable. The background around the artboards will darken and one of the artboards will have a blue dashed line around it idicating it is ready for editing.

Click on any artboard with the Artboard tool to begin editing. You can pull the corner pull handles to change the artboard size and position. To exit out of editing mode, select any tool from the toolbar.

Artboard Options

To get more Artboard Options, double-click on the Artboard tool to open the options panel.

Layout Artboards

To layout and arrange the artboards, double-click on the zigzag icon at the bottom left of 
the Artboard panel. You can also choose Rearrange All Artboards… from the Artboard panel drop- down menu.

The default layout is left to right. Change the layout order by clicking the icon from up to down or in a line vertically or horizontally. Layout order can read left to right or right to left.

If the column layout is chosen and there are enough artboards, you can set the number of columns. Spacing between the columns is set here as well.

Move Artwork with Artboard is a good option that will keep track of artwork if the artboards move.

Convert to Artboards

If using the Artboard tool to create artboards is not working, or the add artboard command is to hard to get to, you can draw a rectangle or square using the Rectangle tool. Select the rectangle and choose Convert to Artboard from the Artboard panel dropdown menu. This does not work with any other shape tool but the Rectangle tool.

Duplicate Artboards

I love this feature. When I am working on a logo for a client and they want several different versions, I will make one logo per artboard. Then, for different versions I will duplicate the artboard and begin a new version. Why create multiple artboards instead of just one artboard with several logos? Good question! It is easier to reference the designs if they are on separate artboards and when I save them as a PDF, each artboard will be a page in the PDF document. I can also print any artboard or artboards I want instead of one artboard with all the logos on it.

My favorite method of duplicating an artboard is to select the Artboard tool and Option + click (Mac) and drag the artboard to duplicate it (use Alt + click and drag on a PC). You can select the artboard and choose Duplicate artboard from the Artboard panel dropdown menu as well.

Printing Artboards

When it comes time to print, the artboards can be printed as separate pages. Any artwork that is not on an artboard will not print so make sure all your work is done on an artboard and nothing is off the edge. We will discuss this is greater detail in the section on printing.