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Om Nath Jha
Om Nath Jha
Legend
June 26, 2020
Question

Larger Canvas in Illustrator 24.2 – 100x more space!

  • June 26, 2020
  • 16 replies
  • 21127 views

The latest release of Illustrator (24.2) comes with one of the most requested features, a larger canvas with 100x more space to keep all your assets organized in one project.

 

Now whether you need room to design or create wall art, billboards, advertisements, and more, you can expand your canvas area without worrying about the artwork dimensions, precision, and scale.

 

 

Illustrator 24.2 offers a canvas size of 2270 x 2270 inches which lets you create multiple artboards with larger dimensions. You can also use these updated units in the Units drop-down: Feet, Meters, Yards, and Feet & Inches.

To ensure that the new document is created with a larger canvas use the following settings in the New Document dialog:

  • Specify the artboard size of more than 227 inches (default canvas size). You can also choose the specified units in Feet, Meters, Yards, or Feet & Inches.
  • Large canvas allows you to accommodate more artboards than the default canvas size.

 

An alert sign is displayed at the bottom of the New document dialog indicating that the specified dimensions are bigger than the default canvas size and the new document will be created on a large canvas. 

 

Check this link for more details about this feature.

 

Large canvas FAQs:

Can I copy artwork from a large canvas to the default canvas?

  • Yes, you can copy-and-paste artwork from large-sized canvas to the default canvas. However, if the large-scale artwork does not fit in the canvas or hits canvas bounds, the artwork is automatically scaled down to fit into the canvas size. 

Can I save large-scaled artwork as a PDF?

  • Yes, you can save your artwork as a PDF.  To view your artwork in actual size, use Acrobat 1.6 or later.
  • When you save the large-scaled artwork with the PDF version 1.5 or below, the artwork is scaled-down and appears ten times smaller on opening the PDF.

What happens when I Open the large-scaled artwork in a previous version of Illustrator?

  • When you save or export the artwork created on a large-sized canvas in Illustrator version below 24.0, the artwork will appear ten times smaller so that it gets accommodated in the default canvas size. Note that it may also disable some editing features and change the text layout.

 

What are the Supported formats for export and limitations?

 

  • Currently, the following formats are supported if you export a large-sized document: PDF, PNG, JPEG, PSD, TIFF, and SVG.
  • The Slices and Save for web features do not currently work with large-size canvas. If you are using Actions that involve these features, steps related to them will be skipped.

 

Check this link for more FAQs and known issues.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    16 replies

    U
    user8450238
    Participant
    March 1, 2022

    Hi,

    I created 210cm x 202cm multiple artboards in a file. When I save as to pdf it comes 10% smaller than the original size. I tried compatable versions 7 & 8 as well. How can I make the original size in pdf?

    Met1
    Met1
    Legend
    March 1, 2022

    Did you start with an oversized canvas and then reduced to the size you need?

    D
    defaultszj41mrg4ehe
    Participating Frequently
    March 1, 2022

    I am sorry, but the implementation, of this long sought after feature, is too confusing and weak at best.

    For those of us that work in grand format out put, this is a bit of a nightmare.  

    If I want to send a job out for printing:

    I have to export at a scale to a pdf, then create a new file at the corect size(because I cannot change the size of the exported pdf file), place my exported pdf, scale it up to the correct size, save the new pdf.  Then send that new file to the service bureau, then contact them to make sure the file will output correctly. 

    N
    needcider
    Participant
    January 25, 2022

    A couple things to be aware of:

    When you place an image without scaling, the links pallet says it's placed at 10%, but it's actually at 100%. The resolution in the links pallet is correct.

    If you package the file for transfer & create a report, the image resolutions listed there will be 10x what they are in reality.

    If you need an image to print at 300 ppi & create it as such in Photoshop, and place it at 100% actual size, the links pallet will say it's placed at 10 % and the report will say the resolution is 3000.

    Working on a 20ft back wall for a trade show & it took us a while to figure out why the math wasn't coming out the way we've done it for 25 years. If we had known, would have created at 50% size in an earlier version of Illustrator.

    M
    Marcelo21784912nzqf
    Participant
    November 16, 2021

    I have problems exporting to PDF it says something about my artwork will appear ten times smaller as it is created on a large-size canvas.

    W
    whistlerpro21
    Participating Frequently
    November 16, 2021

    Yes there is still an issue with PDF export, it needs to scale all the elements like bleed & printers marks. Also I would be nervous sending this to print without scale information, in case the printing house did not understand the feature.

    D
    defaultszj41mrg4ehe
    Participating Frequently
    November 16, 2021

    Once you are sending a job for Grand Format output, FORGET printermarks and bleed.

    You build the bleed into the file directly, for example a wrap for the the side of a box truck measuring 88" x 240" your file is 89" x 241" and the extra inch is on the bottom and the right, for a huge banner no bleed at all.

    You are thinking in a level of precision that does NOT exist once the artwork is that large

    Omar.Fathy
    Community Expert
    Omar.FathyCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 29, 2021

    One of the most important things we have been waiting for from Adobe. No need to divide the sizes that prevent misunderstanding from the printing houses. Only the only negative thing is that the raster resolution is low 🙂

    jan oveu90287957
    jan oveu90287957
    Participant
    September 1, 2021

    I first noticed this on the Illustrator on iPad app.  Had a 8000 mm wide banner that I by normal had to do in 50% scale, but somehow I endet up with 500% scale 😉

    Superb improvement, but why use inches when the world is metric?

     

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 1, 2021

    You know that you can select the units in a document, right?

    jan oveu90287957
    jan oveu90287957
    Participant
    September 1, 2021

    Off course 😄. I was referring to the article above.  Also the fact that inches and feet are default, so we have to alter this to normal metric measures when opening a new document.

     

    Illustrator did original support my language also, but skipped this several years ago.  Still I can select my language in document setup for spell check etc. and choose the menues that fits my purposes the best (like keybord increment for duplicating specific distances).

    W
    whistlerpro21
    Participating Frequently
    April 1, 2021

    Hi I was excited to use this feature as we quite often create large artworks for use inside and on the sides of buses and trains. However our Print PDFs usually use bleed and crop marks, and when we export a Print PDF using the large canvas size, these marks appear oversized, just like they would if I exported a 10% scaled document. Can this be resolved? I don't see the point of the feature otherwise.

    B
    Community Expert
    Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 1, 2021

    If you are exporting artwork to an external, non-Adobe application (such as a large format RIP that drives a large format or grand format printer) that external application may not honor all the features in the latest builds of Adobe Illustrator. The large canvas feature along with other recent additions such as freeform gradient fills need to be used with care and perhaps some testing and experimentation regarding one's own production work flow and other applications involved in that work flow. 

      P
      peterl88413553
      Participant
      September 24, 2020

      It would be nice if you start with a large canvas and then drop below the 227" that illustrator would release the hold on the large canvas.  This come sup when a client prepares a file all together and we break apart. Say file supplied has 4 80"x80" artboards. I want to save out at 100% to print. So, we break the artoards out to name individually, removing the unwanted artboards adn well under the 227" limit. Since it was created with a large canvas, my files are saving out as 10% size. *Feature Request Fix*

      ceyhun_akgun
      ceyhun_akgun
      Legend
      August 20, 2020


      Being able to work in the large space is great, but Illustrator working performance needs to be improved.

      As the variety of graphic objects increases, Illustrator becomes very heavy when the effect is applied.

      Illustrator file size is increasing. It wants more RAM. Opening and saving times are getting longer.

      Render performance should increase, graphics processing and re-rendering speeds should increase.

      The screen resolution should be low, medium, high like InDesign. So you get fast when working with large graphics.

      Graphic Designer Educator / PrePress Consultant
      B
      Community Expert
      Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      August 20, 2020

      What PPI resolution are you using for the Document Raster Effects Settings when creating a large canvas document? That setting will make a big impact on performance and RAM demands. The setting should be adjusted based on the viewing distance of the finished work. 300 ppi is best for normal size print documents that will be viewed closely. 150 ppi is acceptable for something like a one-sheet poster. 72 ppi is acceptable for vehicle graphics and wraps on normal sized vehicles. The setting can go lower for something like an image spanning a semi truck trailer. Large format printed sign faces can drop down to 36 ppi. Most billboards have raster effects set at 25 ppi.

      Illustrator has a handful of resolution presets in the new document dialog box. But any custom number for PPI can be entered in the Document Raster Effects Settings dialog box. Go to the Effect menu and select Document Raster Effects Settings to make desired changes.

      OldBob1957
      OldBob1957
      Inspiring
      August 21, 2020

      Though aimed at the fine art world, this is still one of the best quick references on viewing distance that I have found:

       

      http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/what-print-resolution-works-for-what-viewing-distance/

      adept_creative
      adept_creative
      Participant
      July 21, 2020

      I have always wondered why make the limitation in the first place.

      Mike RobinsonFounder and Creative Director @Adept Creative
        Monika Gause
        Community Expert
        Monika GauseCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        July 21, 2020

        It's a 33 year old application.

        There are some videos on youtube in which John Warnoch demoes the first version. The computer he sues is this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_SE

        It had 4 MB of RAM.

        Disposition_Dev
        Disposition_Dev
        Legend
        July 22, 2020

        While we do understand that the application is old.. And the hardware back then was limited. But the fact remains that in the many years since these initial restrictive conditions.. The problem persists. Users of this software, especially professionals, have been complaining of this issue for at least a decade (which is approx how long I've been using it) and the issue persists.

         

        Ive written crummy software before.. And I know that limitations in ability and hardware are things that happen.. But when I write software for my company, and a previous limitation disappears... I update my software to work how I intended it to. I don't just let a past limitation dictate how my software must behave today.

         

        The ability to remove the canvas size limitation exists. But the will does not. 😞

          D
          dhirajk18517133
          Inspiring
          July 15, 2020

          I am completely distraught with the AI crashes after this update. Any images that you place outside the artboard for reference just vanishes after recovery. Needless to say, the crashes itself is extremely frustrating. Please look into this issue immediately. 

          Monika Gause
          Community Expert
          Monika GauseCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          July 15, 2020

          Please contact Customer Care. Only they can log into your computer to check things out. https://helpx.adobe.com/contact.html

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