Get started with large canvas

Learn how to create large-scale artwork for billboards, signage boards, apparel designs, wall art, and more on a large canvas area.

Adobe Illustrator lets you create your large-scale artwork on a 100x canvas, which provides more working space (2270 x 2270 inches) and ability to scale. You can use the large canvas to create your large-scale artwork without losing the document fidelity. 

Large

Before you proceed

The large canvas feature is available in the latest version of Illustrator (24.2). Update your app version if you've not done it already.

Update Your App

Check out What's New

Create a document on a large canvas

 Your new document is automatically created on a large canvas if one of the following settings is applied in the New Document dialog:

  • Artboard size larger than 227 inches (default canvas size) or large units specified in Feet, Meters, Yards, or Feet and Inches.
  • Large number of artboards that cannot be accommodated in the default canvas size.

To create a new document, do one of the following:

  • Click Create New on the Home screen.
  • Choose File New.
  • Press Command+N (macOS) or Ctrl+N (Windows).
New document dialog
Illustrator automatically creates the artboard on the large canvas when dimensions are large.

Notice the warning 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. 

Save and export large-scaled artwork

Save or export your documents with large-scale artwork as PDF, PNG, JPEG, PS, TIFF, and SVG. Fore more details about saving and exporting your file, see Save artwork and Export Artwork.

 There are some noteworthy points that you must know before opening the documents with large-scale artwork in other reader apps. For details, see Large-scale artwork | FAQ and known issues.

Current limitations

  • Currently, only the following formats are supported if you export a large-sized document: PDF, PNG, JPEG, PS, TIFF, and SVG.
  • For the default canvas, maximum and minimum zoom limits are 64,000% and 3.13% respectively. For a large-size canvas, the zoom limits are limited to 6,400% and 0.313% respectively. 
  • The Slices and Save for web features do not currently work with the large-size canvas. If you're using Actions that involve these features, steps related to them will be skipped.

To view the list of known issues for large canvas, click here.

FAQs and tips

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We're committed to provide you the best graphic designing experience. If you have a question to ask or an idea to share, come and participate in Adobe Illustrator Community. We'd love to hear from you!

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