Is there any way to make the artboard's bounding box larger?

[Schaefer6]

I'm referring to the dark gray area that the artboards sit within. Is there a way I can make this area larger without creating a new Illustrator file. I would create a new file and make the artboard larger like I usually do but unfortunately I'm working with a graphic that has so many vectors that it cannot be copy/pasted into a new Illustrator file without Illustrator crashing...so I need to make THIS file's bounding box larger. Is this possible or no?

[Doug A Roberts]

It is not possible in an existing file.

[Schaefer6]

That's what I feared...thanks

[Schaefer6 · Accepted solution]

I found an alternative way to solve my problem. I exported the complex vector selection as a PDF and placed that in my new file and that worked. Thanks for your help.

[Jacob Bugge]

Schaefer,

I am afraid you may regret the PDF way later: A PDF is less than a full AI document, which can be crucial depending on the actual structure/content.

Or said in other words of caution:

“You do not have to say anything > save everything. But, it may harm your defence > result if you do not mention when questioned > include when prompted something which you later rely on in court > work. Anything you do say > save may be given in evidence > used in the future.”

Sorry, it was stronger than I.

[Schaefer6]

I get what you're saying but what this is for the method I used will be fine.

[Anshul_Saini]

Hi @Schaefer6,

Thank you for reaching out. As @Doug A Roberts said, you can't increase the artboard beyond the grey area. However, you can increase your white Artboard size without creating a new document to the edges of the dark grey area by selecting the Artboard tool and dragging the corner of your white artboard or putting width & height values as shown in the screenshot below.

I hope it helps.

Regards,

Anshul Saini

[Schaefer6]

That is correct, unfortunatly I needed the artboard to be be larger than that dark gray bounding box...regardless I found a different solution to my problem (see above).