Skip to main content
A
Anonymous
November 7, 2016
Answered

Change underscore to dash when exporting artboards

  • November 7, 2016
  • 4 replies
  • 2665 views

Is there a way to change which character is being appended when exporting artboards? I can't seem to find anything in the preferences to do this. Currently, AI is automatically adding an underscore + the artboard name. But rather than an underscore I would like to use a dash.

As an example, say I have a file named: icons.ai

There are a variety of artboards in this file. And currently, when exporting them, they use an underscore: icons_artboard01.png

However, I would like them to use a dash instead: icons-artboard01.png

Does anyone know how do do this? Currently I'm having to change them after the fact by hand, which becomes extremely tedious when you are dealing with a large number of icons.

Additional info: Adobe Illustrator CS6, Mac.

    Correct answer Anubhav M

    Hello @Sheetal Bhuvanesh,

    I understand that this functionality is important to you. Would you mind creating a UserVoice for this feature request (https://adobe.ly/4nITLzz) and adding your comments there? Doing this will help us prioritize this request, and you will be notified of any updates.

     

    Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.

     

    Anubhav

    4 replies

    Dave Creamer of IDEAS
    Community Expert
    Dave Creamer of IDEASCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 11, 2025

    You should be able to replace it after export:

    Select the exported files

    Right-click and choose "Rename..."

    The Find/Replace dialog box will apear.

     

    Windows users can use PowerShell. 

    David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
    D
    defaultlug059r52tb8
    Participant
    August 29, 2025

    Yeah, that's what we've been doing, would be nice not to have to.

    S
    Sheetal Bhuvanesh
    Participant
    July 11, 2025

    This feature would be great. As we will need this feature to match our file naming convention. Amending underscore to hyphen in batch rename, one less thing to do in our heavy workload. Thanks.

    Anubhav M
    Community Manager
    Anubhav MCommunity ManagerCorrect answer
    Community Manager
    July 11, 2025

    Hello @Sheetal Bhuvanesh,

    I understand that this functionality is important to you. Would you mind creating a UserVoice for this feature request (https://adobe.ly/4nITLzz) and adding your comments there? Doing this will help us prioritize this request, and you will be notified of any updates.

     

    Feel free to reach out if you have more questions or need assistance. We'd be happy to help.

     

    Anubhav

    G
    Gregory21785201n5o4
    Participant
    November 17, 2021

    We really need this changed bad. It's nearly 2022 (the 2022 Illustrator is out) and we still don't have this feature. It's not asking that much. It's adding an "Export Naming" or "File Naming" feature in Preferences and allowing the user to use the default or change to another character.

      MichaelStephens
      MichaelStephens
      Legend
      November 7, 2016

      I would be happy with it not putting any additional characters in the output. =^ )

      Unfortunately, there isn't a way to change the behavior. You can put in a request here, Feature Request/Bug Report Form , but until that time you can use the program Bulk Rename Utility to make this type of change, Introduction - Bulk Rename Utility I use it for all kinds of stuff when needing to mass-replace characters in file names and cleaning up file names as well. It's very powerful but completely free.

      A
      Anonymous
      November 7, 2016

      Thanks for the quick response and the extra info as well. I'll definitely be looking into the Bulk Rename Utility.

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices