Exactly. I knew there was a good example and it was staring me in the face. The PSB was implemented as a response to the ever increasing demand placed on the software to create larger and larger files. This must have been quite a challenge in raster based software. Working to a reduced scale is fine if the software recognises that scale, like CAD software. But holding a scale in your head as you work is as you describe very analogue. And I, the squishy fallible thing in that chain, have been responsible for quite a few rather catastrophic cock ups because of it. ... View more

Hi Jane, I know It’s user-to-user, it still surprised me that on an Adobe forum the response to such a simple suggestion would be ‘look elsewhere’. About 12 months ago Adobe actually contacted me in relation to this. It is obviously something they are acutely aware of. It’s great software I just believe that canvas size is one area it could be improved to accommodate modern printing capabilities, to the great relief of many users. ... View more

Hi Jane, I know It’s user-to-user, it still surprised me that on an Adobe forum the response to such a simple suggestion would be ‘look elsewhere’. About 12 months ago Adobe actually contacted me in relation to this. It is obviously something they are acutely aware of. It’s great software I just believe that canvas size is one area it could be improved to accommodate modern printing capabilities, to the great relief of many users. ... View more

”There is a big difference between acknowledging the original intended purpose of a graphics application versus making demands of what purposes it should serve”. Illustrator, as handily described in its title, is a vector graphics application originally aimed at artists and graphic designers to create. If the output of the users was primarily small format traditional prints then that is what it was originally geared to output. As the output medium of artists and designers has expanded over time, so has the software to accommodate their requirements. I think it is important to draw a clear distinction between the software’s intended purpose, as a tool for artists and designers to create artwork, and the available output options (which is what attaching any real world dimensionality to vector artwork is). I too have been in a very graphics heavy industry for a very long time now. I have seen printing techniques and specifications change and software changes to accommodate it. I have seen digital output become more commonplace and the software we use has responded. Even improvements to LCD display technology is recognised in the applications we use to create. It amazes me that the answer to a very reasonable suggestion on an Adobe forum is “find some other software then”. ... View more

I think most would agree that illustrator is about much more than just a canvas size. Creating the artwork itself is the most important part of the process. I, like most others that have a requirement for larger canvases have found workarounds that just add extra steps to a process which could be avoided if a larger canvas size was available. Illustrator is exactly the right software because it is vector based which is a huge advantage when dealing with large format artwork. Illustrator can create large format artwork very competently and just requires us to work at scale, however that introduces the potential for error. A larger canvas would simply remove that potential for errors. ... View more

The fact that Adobe and the illustrator team have responded directly here saying they are working at increasing the size, and even created a survey to better understand peoples requirements, suggests to me it is exactly the right software and we can help to make it better by indicating to Adobe where we can see room for improvement. Thats what this whole thread is about. I love the adobe suite and do not want to look elsewhere, that doesn't mean there is no potential for making it better. I just find it frustrating that yours and others felt it necessary to comment on a thread about a common feature request with "well if it doesn't do what you want then find another piece of software". Just extremely unhelpful. ... View more

I am not a billboard artist. I design museums. I use illustrator all the time for various outputs, both in print and as part of different design processes and even for CAD. It is an extremely competent and useful tool that can do all sorts of things that you may not even be aware of. Quite often I also need to produce graphics on a scale larger than 5m. To suggest myself and others abandon their day to day software and all of the tools within it as soon as their output exceeds 5m is not practical. This is a strange and hostile community here. If you are happy with the artboard size, great, the ability to create a larger artboard would not then effect you in any way. So why feel the need to comment here on a post about increasing the artboard? ... View more

I hate to be that guy but 227" is 5765mm or 5.76m. Which I would not say is significantly larger than 5m. I would also like to say that just because your experience of illustrator may be for the printed page, to claim that illustrator is "geared for printed pages that viewers can hold in their hands" is just wrong. I and many others use illustrator for a raft of different outputs. Many other people like myself rely on illustrator to create large format graphics, suggesting an increase to the maximum artboard size to make their workflows faster and with less risk of errors in scaling etc is a very reasonable request. Having a read through your comment I find nothing helpful in this conversation and wonder why you even bothered commenting if all you had to offer is that things have improved since the 80's and 90's. Yes, things have improved, does that mean we should stop iterating? No. And nowhere, nowhere does it say that illustrator is not for use in creating billboard artwork, although not my field I would suggest it is exactly the right software. ... View more

I would like to add my support to the original posts request. One thing that seems to be missing in this thread (unless I have simply missed it) is the requirement to constantly do mental calculations whilst designing for large format prints. Being able to specify stroke and type in millimetres is great when working at 1:1. As soon as one is required to work to a scale these values become redundant and you must constantly make small calculations in order to size things accordingly. Rather than everyone jumping on their horse to explain the various workarounds, I ask the question, why should we have to use workarounds to something as simple as being able to design at 1:1. We all understand how we can in fact use scale to give us the desired result but why in the modern computing world is it necessary. Shaving off a little time here and there making conversions can result in greater productivity for us all. ... View more