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kas8
kas8
Known Participant
August 4, 2010
Answered

Change artboard order/numbers

  • August 4, 2010
  • 11 replies
  • 159436 views

I'm currently working on a project which involves over 16 artboards in the same document, though when i want to change the order of the artboards [for saving as a PDF] i have to move all my artboards content to new artboard, etc.etc.

This is really annoying, especially when i want to insert a new artboard between some excisting ones.

So is it possible to somehow change the order of the artboards, or they numbers [basically the same]?

Please let me know ASAP!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Michael Riordan

Yes you can create or modify security settings in Acrobat. it's really an Acrobat thing, anyway. Illustrator can do it from the save as PDF dialogue, but it's really calling on Acrobat's features to do that.

If you open the pdf in Acrobat and right click anywhere on the page you can access document properties. One of the tabs of this pop up menu is for security. it should look familiar and be manageable.

good luck.

11 replies

M
Maya5E96
Participant
November 24, 2020

I am using Illustrator 2021 and i always had this issue that made my work life so hard as I had to create artboards after I already had 10 of them and needed to add some in between. But I JUST found out the solution.

If you want to add artboards and have them placed between some existed artboards here's what I found out works:

Open artboard panel and rearrange your artboard so that you know exactly in what order they will be exported.

 

The number you see at the start of the layer names are the order number (right now I have 1,2,3...12)

Now I want to add an artboard after my no1 and to be exported as no2. Therefore, if I click my first artboard layer and click on the + icon (to add the layer after my first one in order) it will add the new artboard as my second one.



 

Now you will see on y artboard layers that the artboard that has been created (Artboard 19) is placed at the end of my artboards on the screen but it is nubered as second in order. To confirm that we have our artboard in the order we want it, we can click REARRANGE again and see:

 

It's placed second in order, as I wanted it to be.

I hope this helps

 


[ locked by moderator ]

This thread is more than 10 years old. You are a bit to late.

    joeh36742505
    joeh36742505
    Participant
    March 3, 2020

    With the Artboard Tool selected, go to the top where you'll see an icon of a gray circle on the top right of a white square with arrows around it called "Move/Copy Artwork with Artboard" turn that off and you'll be able to rearrange your artboards without moving your artwork.

    CarlosCanto
    Community Expert
    CarlosCantoCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 6, 2020

    thanks for your answer but you're a bit late to the party, the question was asked 10 years ago. At that time there was no artboard panel, re-arranging artboards was possible but it was a royal pain.

    P
    PYI_Jase
    Participant
    July 26, 2019

    so I can't rearrange my artboards in illustrator? I can't believe it. How horrible...

    P
    PFI Group
    Participant
    July 26, 2019

    You should be able to using the Artboard Panel.

      C
      Cosmosion
      Participant
      March 28, 2014

      Hey! This is how I did it in CS6.

      1. Menu>Window>Artboards
      2. Select Artboard
      3. Click UP or DOWN arrow

      I hope this works in all the previouse versions of Illustrator!

      Blessings,

      Cosmosion

        CarlosCanto
        Community Expert
        CarlosCantoCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        March 29, 2014

        it will work as far as CS5, the CS4 version does not have this feature, and  CS3 and older do not have artboards.

          P
          purdyclevur
          Participant
          January 17, 2014

          Open the artboards panel, drag the artboards in the order you want them to be. They will keep the same artboard # but will export in the order you place them and won't move or rearrange the artboards in your file.

          M
          MonicaMP
          Known Participant
          November 15, 2012

          Just to let know everyone here that CS6 has this new page administrator which does exactly that.

            A
            Anonymous
            April 26, 2012

            You know, this issue is EXACTLY what is wrong with Adobe! Of course, I have to use their products, but it seems like they have nothing over there but engineers.... WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU NEVER CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT PEOPLE MIGHT WANT TO CHANGE THE PRINT ORDER OF THEIR ARTBOARDS!

            I was not looking forward to joining the "Upgrade of the Week Club", yet you guys seem to hold back fixes like this until the next version is out so we all have to pay for what should have been there in the first place!

            Freehand is years old and I STILL prefer its drawing paradign to the clunky, multi-tool,modal approach you have foisted upon all us designers.

            I almost messed up a print job because of this studip idiosyncrasy in your software!

            Booo! And shame on you guys! Get some practicing designers in some focus groups, or discussions, or SOMETHING! What is most efficient for coding and development is NOT most efficient for the users!

            This makes me so mad, I want to spill Jolt Cola all over every one of the keyboards in the application design department! (Which of course, I would never do, but it is sure fun to think about!)

            Larry G. Schneider
            Community Expert
            Larry G. SchneiderCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            April 26, 2012

            You, of course, realize that you are just yelling at other users and not any from the company, right?

            kas8
            kas8Author
            Known Participant
            March 28, 2011

            Reviving dead topics -.-

            D
            DarkDragonLord
            Participant
            March 30, 2011

            If the 'reviving' post adds something new, what is the problem?

            If was not allowed to contribute, then why it is not auto locked after 30~60days or vanish it from Search?

            The post that explained about the CS4 trick about deleting all and re-doing helped me a lot since i'm in CS4, not 5.

            J
            japchap
            Participating Frequently
            March 30, 2011

            I agree completely.

            Some people get uptight when others contribute to

            "old" threads, but if the conversation is helping someone,

            what's the big deal?

            The only issue with old threads is that replies are not

            as likely to be spotted so easily.

            It's funny how everybody is treating CS4 as "old software"

            now, where the deficiencies in artboard functionality

            were magically solved with CS5. True, CS5's Artboard

            panel is convenient, but why must we always have to

            throw money at the problem? (I know, some people

            will tell me, "you don't have to upgrade, you know"...

            but that's missing the point.) It would be oh-so-delightful

            if we could enjoy added functionality (such as with the

            Mac App Store) without having to "repurchase" the software.

            Jeff

            P
            pier_bover
            Known Participant
            March 27, 2011

            If you are on a mac open the PDF in preview, open the sidebar with the page thumbnails, and drag them in the order you wish. Save.

            J
            japchap
            Participating Frequently
            March 1, 2011

            I realize that this is an old thread, but there is a "poor man's trick"

            to reorder the artboards in Illustrator CS4 without the use of Acrobat or other software.

            You will have to delete your artboards in artboard tool (edit) mode,

            but be sure to DEselect the "Move/Copy Artwork With Artboard" button.

            When this button is deselected, you can easily delete the artboards,

            but leave the content intact.

            Delete all artboards, but leave the artboard that you want to have

            as artboard #1 as the undeleted artboard.

            (AI CS4 requires that you keep at least one artboard active.)

            Following this, draw each successive artboard in turn over your content

            (which should all be intact). You can use the New Artboard button on the

            toolbar to insert a new artboard at the dimensions you specify.

            Make sure that you draw the artboards in the exact order that you

            wish the artboards to be ordered in your PDF or resulting output.

            I realize it's a little troublesome, but I just did the same thing with

            a 12-page document, and it took less than 10-15 minutes.

            Now that I've reordered the artboards, I can output to PDF or

            other image files, and the order remains intact.

            Hope this helps!

            Jeff

              kas8
              kas8Author
              Known Participant
              March 1, 2011

              This would indeed be a way. However, repositioning all the artboard exactly the same as before, could prove difficult.

              I'm using CS5 now, and the artboard panel works great

                Abambo
                Community Expert
                AbamboCommunity Expert
                Community Expert
                February 18, 2016

                Correct answer!

                ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
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