Within a single Illustrator project, artboards are an excellent method to handle several designs or multiple revisions of the same design. You may easily experiment with various design iterations by duplicating an artboard in order to clone the artboard as well as all of the text and object layers included inside it.
Adobe Illustrator comes with a number of features. You don’t have to be familiar with them all. However, being aware of the best practices and shortcuts can never hurt.
My name is Aly, I have been using Adobe Illustrator for over five years and am Adobe certified. In this article, I will be showing you how you can easily duplicate an artboard in Adobe Illustrator.
Key Takeaways
- You can save artboards as separate files in Adobe Illustrator. Just make sure to check the Use Artboards option.
- You can select and duplicate multiple artboards at once using the Artboard Tool or Artboards panel.
Method 1: Artboard Tool
This method is great if you prefer to duplicate your artboard with all the content of the artboard included.
Step 1: Have your project open in Adobe Illustrator and choose the Artboard Tool from the toolbar or activate it using the keyboard shortcut Shift + O.
Step 2: Click and drag to make a copy of the artboard while holding down the Option/Alt key. You will now have two identical artboards including their contents of them.
Alternatively, which the Artboard Tool selected, you can click on the artboard you want to duplicate, use the keyboard shortcut Command/Ctrl + C to copy the artboard, click on empty space on your workspace, and use Command/Ctrl + V keys to past the artboard.
Tip: If you want to duplicate multiple artboards, hold the Shift key and click on multiple artboards to select them.
Method 2: Artboard Panel
You can duplicate single or multiple artboards. Follow the steps below to see how it works.
Step 1: Open the Artboard panel from the overhead menu Window > Artboards.
Step 2: Select the artboard you want to duplicate, click on the hidden menu on the top right corner of the Artboards panel, and choose Duplicate Artboards.
If you want to duplicate multiple artboards, hold the Shift key and select multiple artboards.
Now your artboards should be all duplicated! I highly suggest naming your artboards so that you don’t get confused.
Final Thoughts
Using artboards is a terrific method to keep your artwork accessible and organized. Knowing how to duplicate an artboard is a very important step to know if you plan to continue to work in Adobe Illustrator.
I remember when I was first learning Illustrator and I was taught that knowing how to duplicate an artboard was one of the first steps I was taught, and it has come in handy multiple times to help me achieve my design goals.
Any questions about duplicating artboards in Adobe Illustrator? Leave a comment and let me know.
