Artboards are your blank canvas in Illustrator. This is where you'll create every design that you intend to make. You can think of artboards as sheets of paper of any size stacked on top of one another. That's where learning how to add artboards in Illustrator comes in handy.

By default, when you start a new document in Illustrator, you get one artboard of a standard size. 

But what if you want to work on multiple designs simultaneously? 

Or what if you want to design something for a print product with unusual dimensions?

To help you organize your design process, Illustrator allows you to divide the workspace into multiple "artboards" that hold only the image you're working on. 

All the other artwork outside the artboards won't appear in your final export.

You can use it to create multiple artworks for different purposes. Learning how to add artboards in Illustrator can come in handy if you want to create social media posts, posters, web templates, blog layouts, and even other projects like business cards.

If you aren't using artboards yet, here's your guide on setting one up in Illustrator with just a few clicks!

This article will guide you on how to add artboards in Illustrator and as well as how to resize them.

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Table of Contents

• Step by step guide on how to add artboards in Illustrator
  • Step 1. Create Artboard
  • Step 2. Add artboards
  • Step 3. Choose height and width
  • Step 4.  Change the artboard size

Step by step guide on how to add artboards in Illustrator

Step 1. Create Artboard

If you need to create a new artboard, simply choose File>New from the menu.

When the new document dialog box appears, you can select from a list of standard paper sizes or create a custom artboard size by entering your own dimensions.

When the dialog opens, you can add as many artboards as you want. In this case, I have chosen 4. 

Now you have created 4 artboards.

Tip: If you have an existing document open, you can also choose to create a new artboard within that project by navigating to the Artboards panel and selecting the New Artboard button at the bottom of the panel.

Step 2. Add artboards

Select the Artboard tool from the Tools panel or press Shift + O. 

Drag a rectangle on your artboard and release your mouse button when you're happy with the size of your new artboard.

Step 3. Choose height and width

In the dialog box, choose a preset or enter your own height and width values.

From the Artboard Options dialog box, you can also change the bleed, enter a name for your artboard, and more.

Do you want to learn an easy way how to add artboards in Illustrator?

You can copy-paste the one artboard you like.

After all, you will now see a new artboard in your file, but it probably won't contain all the elements of your previous one.

To copy everything over, select the first clipboard and copy (Ctrl + C). 

Select your new artboard and paste (Ctrl + V).

You can repeat this process as many times as you want to add more artboards. 

Step 4.  Change the artboard size

The next step on how to add artboards in Illustrator is resizing them.

The Artboard Tool is also very useful for creating multiple artboards within your document.  

You can access this tool by clicking and holding down on the Rectangle Tool in the Tools palette.

Then, select the artboard you want to resize by left-clicking on it.

Then, click on a corner and drag it to resize the artboard.

And Voilà!

You now know how to add artboards in Illustrator and how to resize them to fit your needs.

Conclusion

So, there you have it! You now know how to add artboards in Illustrator. 

This is an essential skill for anyone who wants to work in this program. 

With artboards, you can create multiple versions of your designs and easily switch between them. 

Be sure to practice using these new skills so that you can become more comfortable working with Illustrator. Feel free to experiment with the different ways artboards can be used in your projects – the possibilities are endless!

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