How to duplicate an Artboard in Adobe Illustrator

Artboards are a great way to manage multiple designs or iterations of the same design in a single Illustrator project.

Duplicating an artboard will allow you to copy the artboard as well as all of the text and object layers within it, so that you can experiment with multiple design variations.

There are two different methods you can use when duplicating an artboard in Adobe Illustrator:

This is the best way to create duplicate artwork that includes all content inside the artboard.

Duplicating the layer will copy everything on the artboard.

Here’s how to do it:

Method 1:

1. Open your Illustrator project file in Window
2. From the left-hand Toolbar, select Artboard Tool with (shift-O)
3. While holding down the Option (Alt) key, click on the Artboard and drag and drop to duplicate it.

Method 2:

Select the Artboard you choose to duplicate in the Artboard panel (Windows > Artboards) and click the New Artboard icon along the bottom of the panel. This method will not duplicate the artboard’s content — only the artboard.

Alternative methods and shortcuts:

There are some additional shortcuts you can also use to speed up the duplication process. As you are more familiar with using Illustrator these shortcuts will become second nature for you, just keep practicing and familiarizing yourself with the keys and tools.

One shortcut is the classic copy and pastes method. This method is different based on if you are using a Mac or PC.

For Mac:

1. Select the Artboard you wish to duplicate with keys (Shift + O)
2. Click Command + C to copy
3. Click Command + V to paste
4. Your Artboard and all objects within it will be duplicated

For PC:

1. Select the Artboard you wish to duplicate (Shift + O)
2. Click Ctrl + C to copy
3. Click Ctrl + V to paste
4. Your artboard and all objects within it will be duplicated.

As you see in the image above, when you use the copy and paste shortcut, any objects or images you have will appear in the duplicate. This is a very easy and convenient way to duplicate your Artboard quickly and in an easy manner.

You can paste your Artboard to a separate document as well, you do not need to copy it to the same document if you do not want to.

1. Copy the Artboard you want to duplicate as shown above
2. Switch to the new document you wish to Paste the Artboard on
3. Command + V (Mac) or Ctrl + V (PC) to paste the Artboard on the new document

Duplicating multiple Artboards:

If you are working on a project with a lot of Artboards you want to duplicate multiple Artboards at a time, this method may be best for you:

1. Go to the Artboard panel (Windows > Artboards)
2. Highlight all the artboards you wish to duplicate by Holding Shift and Clicking
3. Click the button with three horizontal lines in the Top Right of the panel
4. From there, click Duplicate Artboard and all selected Artboards will be duplicated

Naming artboards:

Duplicate your artboard in Illustrator. When you duplicate an artboard, most of the time the name won’t change and it will have the word ‘copy’ attached to the original artboard’s name.

It is recommended you keep the names of your artboards the same to make it easier for you to keep track of which project you are working on.

You need to name the artboards so that you know what is on them.

You can use a central color or theme, or text, as naming conventions for your boards.

For any marketing program, you need to establish a system that works for you and your team.

How to name a new artboard:

1. Select your new artboard (Shift + O)
2. In the Properties Panel, you can enter any name you like as shown above

Utilizing the Artboard Panel:

The Artboard Panel (Window > Artboards) is an excellent tool that allows you to manage all your Artboards in a single location.

As your projects grow, it becomes more important to use the Artboard panel to manage all of your Artboards.

You can select, delete, or copy any and all artboards from the panel, along with the content inside of them.