Category
Last updated on
Oct 25, 2026
Learn how to print a composite of your artwork in Adobe Illustrator, control which artboards and layers print, and scale or tile your output.
Illustrator's Print dialog box organizes your options into categories that guide you through the printing workflow, from basic page setup to advanced output settings. Before you print, understand how your printer's resolution and your monitor's calibration can affect how artwork appears after printing. Confirm that your printer is connected with the correct printer driver (PPD file) selected in the Print dialog box.
Print dialog box categories
The Print dialog box organizes options into categories. Select a category name to display its settings:
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Description |
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General |
Sets page size and orientation, specifies how many pages to print, scales the artwork, sets tiling options, and selects which layers to print |
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Marks and Bleed |
Sets printer's marks and bleed |
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Output |
Creates color separations |
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Graphics |
Sets printing options for paths, fonts, PostScript files, gradients, meshes, and blends |
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Color Management |
Sets a color profile and rendering intent |
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Advanced |
Controls the flattening and possible rasterization of vector artwork during printing |
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Summary |
Shows an overview of your print settings |
Print a composite of your artwork
A composite is a single-page version of your artwork that matches what you see in the illustration window. In other words, a straightforward print job.
Composites are also useful for proofing your page design, verifying image resolution, and catching problems, such as PostScript errors, before they reach an imagesetter.
Select File > Print.
Select a printer from the Printer menu, or select Adobe PostScript® File or Adobe PDF to print to a file.
Select one of the following artboard options:
- Select Ignore Artboards to print everything on one page.
- Deselect Ignore Artboards to print each artboard separately and specify All, or specify a Range, such as 1-3.
Select Output from the category list in the Print dialog box and confirm that Mode is set to Composite.
Set any additional printing options and select the General tab.
Select an option from the Print Layers menu to control which layers to print.
Select Save. The Print to File dialog box appears.
In the Print to File dialog box, enter a File name, and then select Save.
Make layers nonprintable
The Layers panel gives you flexible control over what prints, so you can proof specific content or add notes that never make it to the printed page.
- To prevent artwork from displaying, printing, and exporting, hide the corresponding items in the Layers panel.
- To prevent artwork from printing while it still shows on the artboard and exports normally, double-click the layer name in the Layers panel. In the Layer Options dialog box, deselect Print, and select OK. The layer name is displayed in italics in the Layers panel.
- To create artwork that never prints or exports, even while visible, select Template in the Layer Options dialog box.
If your document has multiple artboards, you can print just one at a time from the Print dialog box. Only artwork within that artboard's boundaries prints, which is useful for organizing different versions or components of a design.
Print multiple artboards as separate pages
Select File > Print.
Deselect Ignore Artboards to turn on artboard printing options.
Do one of the following:
- Select All to print all artboards as separate pages
- Select Range and specific artboard numbers, such as 1, 3, 5-7 to print a subset of artboards as separate pages
- Select Ignore Artboards to print the artwork on all the artboards together on a single page
Check the preview area in the lower-left corner to confirm which pages will print.
Set any additional printing options and select Save. The Print to File dialog box appears.
In the Print to File dialog box, enter a File name, and then select Save.
Automatically rotate artboards for printing
With Auto-Rotate selected in the Print dialog box, artboards automatically rotate to match the media orientation you selected. For example, a landscape artboard rotates to fit portrait-oriented paper.
Note
When Auto-Rotate is selected, you can't manually change the page orientation.
Reposition artwork on the page
Select File > Print.
Do one of the following:
- Drag the artwork preview in the dialog box to reposition it.
- Select a square reference point on the Placement icon to set the origin point for aligning the artwork to the page, and then enter values for X and Y to fine-tune the position numerically.
Select Save. The Print to File dialog box appears.
In the Print to File dialog box, enter a File name, and then select Save.
To reposition the printable area directly on the artboard, drag within the illustration window using the Print Tiling tool, as though you were moving the printable area from its lower-left corner. Any part of the page that extends beyond the printable area won't print.
Tile oversized artwork across multiple pages
Select File > Print.
Do one of the following:
- Deselect Ignore Artboards, specify a single page in Range, and select Fit to Page from the Scaling dropdown menu if you're working with multiple artboards.
- Select Tile Full Pages to divide the artboard into complete media-sized pages.
- Select Tile Imageable Areas to tile based on the printer's imageable region.
Note
Useful when your artwork is larger than your printer can handle, since it lets you reassemble the tiled pieces afterward.
(Optional) If you selected Tile Full Pages, set Overlap to specify how much the pages should overlap for easier reassembly.
If your artwork is too large for a single page, set Tile Range spread it across multiple sheets for assembly after printing.
Check the preview to confirm the tile layout.
Select Save. The Print to File dialog box appears.
In the Print to File dialog box, enter a File name, and then select Save.
Scale artwork for printing
Select File > Print.
Select one of the following options from the Scaling dropdown box:
- Select Do Not Scale to print at actual size
- Select Fit to Page to scale automatically based on the selected PPD's imageable area.
- Select Custom to enter specific percentages. If you selected Custom, set Scale W and Scale H percentages between 1 and 1000. Deselect Maintain Spacing Proportions icon to scale width and height independently for asymmetric scaling.
Select Print, enter a File name, and then select Save.
Scaling changes only your print output, not the document's actual dimensions. Asymmetric scaling is useful for flexographic press work where plate stretching typically occurs during mounting.
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