Artboard Enhancements in Illustrator

[HARSHIKA_VERMA]

Hey everyone!

With the latest release, Illustrator’s engineering team has rolled out exciting artboard enhancements—shaped directly by your feedback. These updates bring faster setup, clearer canvas control, and export precision you can rely on.

Update the App

Try out the latest Artboard enhancements in Illustrator.

Update Illustrator

Enhancements in Illustrator 30.0

Now lock artboards with just a click. Simply right-click (or control-click on macOS) your selected artboard and choose from:

• Lock Selected
• Lock All Except Selected
• Lock All

You can also lock artboards directly from the Artboards panel. Select the artboard and click the lock icon.

With Illustrator v30.0, it's easier to preview your designs by allowing you to assign solid background colors to individual artboards. Whether you're designing dark UIs, social media templates, or branded layouts, this feature helps you visualize your work in context and stay organized.

Quickly export only what you need by selecting artboards directly from the canvas or the Artboards panel.

Use the artboard context menu to manage artboards directly from the canvas with a simple right-click. Access essential commands like create, duplicate, rename, delete, select, rearrange, lock, and export—without switching panels.

Enhancements in Illustrator 29.7

Select the + buttons on any edge of an artboard to quickly expand your layout and add or duplicate a new artboard.

Rename multiple artboards together to manage screens, versions, or exports more efficiently, especially in multi-artboard files.

Illustrator now outlines the active artboard with a black border, so you always know where you are working.

Enhancements in Illustrator 29.6

Instantly repeat your last artboard action — move, duplicate, or scale — using Ctrl + D or Cmd + D.

Paste objects directly onto selected artboards using Paste in Front, Paste in Back, or Paste in Place.

Easily rearrange selected artboards in your document with more precision, helping you streamline your workflow.

Enhancements in Illustrator 29.5

Add prefixes to artboard names during export for better file management.

We’d love to hear from you!

Explore this more intuitive way to work with colors and let us know your thoughts in the comments. Feel free to create a new post if you have any issues related to the release or need more tips!

If this was helpful, please click the Upvote icon in the top left corner of this post. Your feedback helps us improve the experience. Thank you!

Have questions? Click 'Reply' below to ask.

Click 'Follow' below to bookmark this post for easy reference.

[westr96314571]

can the active artboard be deactive or customize? 
because the line on the artboard is too thick and it is inside the artboard too. it became annoying  when i try to make line on the side for my design it became invisible because it's hidden behind the black artboard line, and you need to zoom in  close enough to see if there is line on my design or not. 

[Ton Frederiks]

It used to be blue, you may want to vote here:

https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests/suggestions/500...

[Laura30329075pzls]

The active artboard outline is a huge distraction and 1000% annoying. Please make it so you can deactive this feature. 

[Ton Frederiks]

Please use Uservoice to comment and add your vote. That is where the Illustrator team is tracking comments.

[jimhargreaves]

I agree with other users that the new active artboard outline can be a huge distraction. It makes it very difficult to asses the quality of a design in some scenarios.

It's a helpful feature if you have a lot of artboards set up to export things like logos, icons, etc., but if you're creating something like a full bleed illustration, it starts to feel like the illustration itself has a black outline, which skews one's ability to judge the look and feel of what they're creating.

At the very least, users should be able to disable the feature. At best, users should be aple to specify how thick the outline is and what color it is.

[gfdesigndenver]

I really do not like the new + buttons in the artboard interface. I would really appreciate the option to deactivate that feature.

[Marcel264630970din]

Hi.

Renaming multiple artboards....does that mean we have batch rename option in Illustrator for artboards now?

Could not find anything.

Cheers

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Marcel264630970din,

Kindly try the suggestions shared here (https://adobe.ly/4ouJjw1) and let us know if they help.

Anubhav

[WENDOS]

My artboards are jumping about (Artwork moving off the artboard to the right of clipboard on its own accord) every time I open my artwork and it is very frustrating, what can be causing this?

[Anubhav M]

Hi @WENDOS,

Thanks for reaching out, and I'm sorry to hear you're facing this issue. Could you please share a few more details - such as your OS and Illustrator version, whether the issue occurs with all files, and ideally a short screen recording of your workflow and the problem? That would help us assist you more effectively.

Looking forward to your response.
Anubhav