How To Adjust Canvas Size In Illustrator

As an Illustrator user you may find yourself perplexed at how to change the size of the canvas you're working with, otherwise known as the artboard. Thankfully, Illustrator comes with a dedicated tool for this purpose, known as the Artboard Tool. The Artboard Tool allows you to change the sheet size in Adobe Illustrator, either manually or by inputting a numerical value. In this tutorial I'll be walking y'all through the unabridged process.

When it comes to irresolute the canvas size in other applications, such as Inkscape or GIMP, this is something that is typically done using a document properties or preferences dialog. However, Adobe approaches this differently by providing a dedicated tool for such tasks.

The benefit of using this tool is that information technology doesn't just let y'all to change the canvas size using a predetermined numerical value, just it also allows you lot to click and drag your canvass to scale it with a freehand approach.

Change The Sheet Size In Adobe Illustrator

To modify the canvas size in Adobe Illustrator, grab the Artboard Tool by pressing Shift + O on your keyboard. Y'all can and so resize your canvas manually by clicking and dragging the edges of it, or yous tin can input a numerical value into the Width and Summit fields in the tool options menu.

The following tutorial will walk y'all through the entire procedure of resizing your sheet in Illustrator.

As previously mentioned, there are two ways of budgeted this: manually and with numerical inputs. Apply the tabular array of contents below to navigate to whichever method you prefer.

Method 1: Freehand scale the canvas

Step 1: Open up the Artboard Tool
Stride 2: Click and drag on the edges of your sheet to change the size

Method two: Change the canvas size using numerical values

Step one: Open up the Artboard Tool
Pace ii: Input a numerical value into the width and height fields

Method 1: Freehand scale the canvas

One manner in which you can change the canvas size in Adobe Illustrator is past manually scaling like you would with whatever other object or layer.

This is similar to the method used in a previous tutorial where we went over how to fit artwork to the artboard.

Step 1: Open the Artboard Tool

In order to change the sheet size we must select the Artboard Tool, which can be accessed by pressing Shift + O on your keyboard.

Information technology tin can also be located in the toolbar on the left-paw side of your screen:

Artboard Tool location — The **Artboard Tool** can be accessed in the toolbar, outlined in red above.

The Artboard Tool allows y'all to create, edit, and delete the canvases on your screen, otherwise known equally artboards.

Step 2: Click and drag on the edges of your sail to change the size

In one case you've grabbed the Artboard Tool, you should notice the edges of your canvass change in appearance.

At that place will be a dotted outline around your canvas, and there will be four white nodes in the corners of your artboard:

Scaling handles — The scaling handles volition exist located on the edges and corners of your canvas.

The Artboard Tool acts sort of like the Select Tool does in that information technology allows y'all to transform your sheet the same way y'all would can object or path.

Clicking and dragging on either side of the canvas will change its width or height, depending on which side you lot click.

Clicking and dragging on the left and right edges will allow you lot to change the width of your sheet:

Scaling the width — The left and correct edges permit you lot to change the width of your canvas.

Clicking and dragging the top and lesser edges will permit yous to modify the summit of your canvas:

Scaling the height — Scaling the top and bottom edges volition change the height of your canvas.

Clicking and dragging on either of the four nodes in the corners will allow you lot to change both the width and height simultaneously:

Scaling the width and height — The nodes in the corners permit yous to scale the width and height of your canvas.

Holding the Shift cardinal, regardless of which edge or corner you select, while clicking and dragging will lock the aspect ratio so that the width and acme of your canvass both scale proportionately:

Aspect ratio lock — You tin scale your canvass proportionately by holding **Shift**.

Once you are finished resizing your canvas you can simply deselect the Artboard Tool or grab another tool so that it deselects.

Your changes are applied in real time, then there'southward no need to formally utilize them.

Method two: Modify the canvas size using numerical values

Now that nosotros've gone over how to change the canvas size in Adobe Illustrator by scaling it, allow's go over how to change it using a predetermined numerical value.

This tin be actually useful if you're designing something like a video thumbnail or poster blueprint, where y'all artwork needs to be a specific size.

Footstep 1: Open the Artboard Tool

Outset, we must select the Artboard Tool, which can exist accessed by pressing Shift + O on your keyboard or by selecting it in the toolbar to the left of your screen:

Artboard Tool location

Alternatively, you tin can access this tool by opening the Certificate Setup bill of fare by pressing Alt + Control + P and and then clicking the Edit Artboards push button on the right-hand side of the menu interface.

Step 2: Input a numerical value into the width and acme fields

Once you've selected Artboard Tool, you tin modify the canvas size by using the W and H fields in the tool settings carte towards the top of your screen:

Width and height inputs — The width and summit inputs are located in the tool option card towards the tiptop of the screen.

A few things to keep in mind:

The W represents the certificate'south width.
The H represents the document'south height.
The lock icon between the two fields will lock the aspect ratio of your canvas so that information technology scales proportionately when enabled.

From here, you can simply blazon in a numerical value of your choosing.

By default, the units of measurement will exist in pixels (px) but you lot can also apply the following units of measurement by typing in their respective abbreviations afterwards the number:

Pixels (px)
Inches (in)
Centimeters (cm)
Millimeters (mm)
Points (pt)
Percentage (%)

Once you've finished typing in the numbers of your choosing, all you accept to practise is printing Enter on your keyboard to apply the changes and your canvas/artboard will exist resized appropriately.

If the aspect ratio is locked then the opposing dimension will also change according to your input.

Conclusion

Illustrator's Artboard Tool can be very handy. It doesn't just allow you change the size of the canvas in Adobe Illustrator; information technology also lets you lot create additional canvases as well if you'd like.

You can then give each sheet its own name, assign a numerical order, export them as individual pages of a PDF certificate, or even batch consign them as separate graphics.

Although the existence of this tool can confuse new users who may be used to resizing certificate boundaries in more traditional means, the advantages this tool comes with certainly outweigh any small-scale downsides like this.

If y'all accept any questions or demand description for any of the steps in this lesson, just go out a comment beneath.

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