How to Duplicate an Artboard in Adobe Illustrator

When using Adobe Illustrator, copying or duplicating design elements or, in some cases, duplicating the whole artboard is a common task, especially when working on a project where you need to make a similar design.

For example, if you're managing a social media platform and have to make a visual post every day. In that case, you might need to keep the same layout for all the posts. Duplicating artboards comes in handy in such a situation.

To duplicate artboards, we need both the Artboard Tool and the Artboard Panel.

• Artboard Tool: The Artboard Tool is used for controlling and adjusting artboards. You can find this tool in the left toolbar. The shortcut key for the artboard tool is Shift + O.
• Artboard Panel: You'll find this panel on the right side of your screen beside the other panels. If you cannot find the artboard panel there, you must enable it from the window first. Go to Window and select Artboard.

We'll learn different ways of duplicating artboards in this article. Let's get started with the tutorial.

Related reading: How to Move Artboards in Illustrator

Method 1 for Duplicating Artboards in Illustrator

For this method, we'll use the artboard panel to duplicate the artboard.

Step 1

Go to the Artboard Panel first.

Step 2

Inside the artboard panel, you'll see the list of the artboards you have in the document. Select the artboard you want to copy from the artboard list.

Step 3

On the top right corner of the artboard panel, you'll see a submenu. Click on the submenu and select Duplicate. This will duplicate the selected artboard.

Note: If you want to duplicate multiple artboards using the Artboard Panel, you need to select those artboards together. To select multiple artboards, hold down the Shift key and click on the artboards you want to duplicate. You can also hold down the Ctrl key and click on the artboards you want to select. Then follow the usual steps mentioned above.

Method 2 for Duplicating Artboards in Illustrator

In this method, we're going to use Artboard Tool.

Step 1

Activate the Artboard Tool (Shift +O) by selecting it from the toolbar.

Step 2

Select the artboard you want to duplicate. Click on an artboard using the artboard tool to select it.

Step 3

From the keyboard, press Ctrl + C (PC) or Cmd + C (Mac). This will allow you to copy the element you have selected. Now all you need to do is paste the artboard into the document.

Step 4

Press Ctrl + V (PC) or Cmd + V (Mac) from the keyboard to paste the artboard. And now you're done duplicating your artboard!

Method 3 for Duplicating Artboards in Illustrator

This method is the easiest and quickest way to duplicate an artboard. I like this method as it saves me a lot of time compared to the abovementioned methods. For this method, we'll use the Artboard Tool.

Step 1

In this method, we need to select the artboard to duplicate it. Unlike other elements or objects in Illustrator, we cannot select artboards with a Selection Tool. Only the Artboard Tool can select an artboard. Select the Artboard Tool from the toolbar or use the shortcut key ( Shift + O).

Step 2

Using the Artboard Tool, select the artboard you want to duplicate. Click on an artboard while the Artboard Tool is activated, and your artboard will be selected.

Step 3

With the artboard selected, hold down the Alt key and drag the artboard to an empty place. Your artboard will be duplicated.

In the example above, I have only copied Artboard 1 and changed the color and the text inside the copy. In this way, I did not have to design the artboard all over again from scratch.

Creating artboards with the same design template is time-consuming. Duplicating artboards makes your work easier and quicker and saves you a great deal of extra work. I hope you find this article helpful.

The keyboard illustrations in this article are from Vecteezy.