- Photoshop User Guide
- Introduction to Photoshop
- Photoshop and other Adobe products and services
- Photoshop on the iPad (not available in mainland China)
- Photoshop on the iPad | Common questions
- Get to know the workspace
- System requirements | Photoshop on the iPad
- Create, open, and export documents
- Add photos
- Work with layers
- Draw and paint with brushes
- Make selections and add masks
- Retouch your composites
- Work with adjustment layers
- Adjust the tonality of your composite with Curves
- Apply transform operations
- Crop and rotate your composites
- Rotate, pan, zoom, and reset the canvas
- Work with Type layers
- Work with Photoshop and Lightroom
- Get missing fonts in Photoshop on the iPad
- Japanese Text in Photoshop on the iPad
- Manage app settings
- Touch shortcuts and gestures
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Edit your image size
- Livestream as you create in Photoshop on the iPad
- Correct imperfections with the Healing Brush
- Create brushes in Capture and use them in Photoshop on the iPad
- Work with Camera Raw files
- Create and work with Smart Objects
- Adjust exposure in your images with Dodge and Burn
- Auto adjustment commands in Photoshop on the iPad
- Smudge areas in your images with Photoshop on the iPad
- Saturate or desaturate your images using Sponge tool
- Content aware fill for iPad
- Photoshop on the web (not available in mainland China)
- Common questions
- System requirements
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Supported file types
- Introduction to the workspace
- Open and work with cloud documents
- Generative AI features
- Basic concepts of editing
- Quick Actions
- Work with layers
- Retouch images and remove imperfections
- Make quick selections
- Image improvements with Adjustment Layers
- Add a fill layer
- Move, transform, and crop images
- Draw and paint
- Draw and edit Shapes
- Work with Type layers
- Work with anyone on the web
- Manage app settings
- Generate Image
- Generate Background
- Reference Image
- Photoshop (beta) (not available in mainland China)
- Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
- Common questions on generative AI in Photoshop
- Generative Fill in Photoshop on the desktop
- Generate Image with descriptive text prompts
- Generative Expand in Photoshop on the desktop
- Generative Fill in Photoshop on the iPad
- Generative Expand in Photoshop on the iPad
- Generative AI features in Photoshop on the web
- Content authenticity (not available in mainland China)
- Cloud documents (not available in mainland China)
- Photoshop cloud documents | Common questions
- Photoshop cloud documents | Workflow questions
- Manage and work with cloud documents in Photoshop
- Upgrade cloud storage for Photoshop
- Unable to create or save a cloud document
- Solve Photoshop cloud document errors
- Collect cloud document sync logs
- Invite others to edit your cloud documents
- Share files and comment in-app
- Workspace
- Workspace basics
- Preferences
- Learn faster with the Photoshop Discover Panel
- Create documents
- Place files
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Customize keyboard shortcuts
- Tool galleries
- Performance preferences
- Use tools
- Presets
- Grid and guides
- Touch gestures
- Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
- Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
- Technology previews
- Metadata and notes
- Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
- Place Photoshop images in other applications
- Rulers
- Show or hide non-printing Extras
- Specify columns for an image
- Undo and history
- Panels and menus
- Position elements with snapping
- Position with the Ruler tool
- Web, screen, and app design
- Image and color basics
- How to resize images
- Work with raster and vector images
- Image size and resolution
- Acquire images from cameras and scanners
- Create, open, and import images
- View images
- Invalid JPEG Marker error | Opening images
- Viewing multiple images
- Customize color pickers and swatches
- High dynamic range images
- Match colors in your image
- Convert between color modes
- Color modes
- Erase parts of an image
- Blending modes
- Choose colors
- Customize indexed color tables
- Image information
- Distort filters are unavailable
- About color
- Color and monochrome adjustments using channels
- Choose colors in the Color and Swatches panels
- Sample
- Color mode or Image mode
- Color cast
- Add a conditional mode change to an action
- Add swatches from HTML CSS and SVG
- Bit depth and preferences
- Layers
- Layer basics
- Nondestructive editing
- Create and manage layers and groups
- Select, group, and link layers
- Place images into frames
- Layer opacity and blending
- Mask layers
- Apply Smart Filters
- Layer comps
- Move, stack, and lock layers
- Mask layers with vector masks
- Manage layers and groups
- Layer effects and styles
- Edit layer masks
- Extract assets
- Reveal layers with clipping masks
- Generate image assets from layers
- Work with Smart Objects
- Blending modes
- Combine multiple images into a group portrait
- Combine images with Auto-Blend Layers
- Align and distribute layers
- Copy CSS from layers
- Load selections from a layer or layer mask's boundaries
- Knockout to reveal content from other layers
- Selections
- Get started with selections
- Make selections in your composite
- Select and Mask workspace
- Select with the marquee tools
- Select with the lasso tools
- Adjust pixel selections
- Move, copy, and delete selected pixels
- Create a temporary quick mask
- Select a color range in an image
- Convert between paths and selection borders
- Channel basics
- Save selections and alpha channel masks
- Select the image areas in focus
- Duplicate, split, and merge channels
- Channel calculations
- Get started with selections
- Image adjustments
- Replace object colors
- Perspective warp
- Reduce camera shake blurring
- Healing brush examples
- Export color lookup tables
- Adjust image sharpness and blur
- Understand color adjustments
- Apply a Brightness/Contrast adjustment
- Adjust shadow and highlight detail
- Levels adjustment
- Adjust hue and saturation
- Adjust vibrance
- Adjust color saturation in image areas
- Make quick tonal adjustments
- Apply special color effects to images
- Enhance your image with color balance adjustments
- High dynamic range images
- View histograms and pixel values
- Match colors in your image
- Crop and straighten photos
- Convert a color image to black and white
- Adjustment and fill layers
- Curves adjustment
- Blending modes
- Target images for press
- Adjust color and tone with Levels and Curves eyedroppers
- Adjust HDR exposure and toning
- Dodge or burn image areas
- Make selective color adjustments
- Adobe Camera Raw
- Camera Raw system requirements
- What's new in Camera Raw
- Introduction to Camera Raw
- Create panoramas
- Supported lenses
- Vignette, grain, and dehaze effects in Camera Raw
- Default keyboard shortcuts
- Automatic perspective correction in Camera Raw
- Radial Filter in Camera Raw
- Manage Camera Raw settings
- Open, process, and save images in Camera Raw
- Repair images with the Enhanced Spot Removal tool in Camera Raw
- Rotate, crop, and adjust images
- Adjust color rendering in Camera Raw
- Process versions in Camera Raw
- Make local adjustments in Camera Raw
- Image repair and restoration
- Image enhancement and transformation
- Drawing and painting
- Paint symmetrical patterns
- Draw rectangles and modify stroke options
- About drawing
- Draw and edit shapes
- Painting tools
- Create and modify brushes
- Blending modes
- Add color to paths
- Edit paths
- Paint with the Mixer Brush
- Brush presets
- Gradients
- Gradient interpolation
- Fill and stroke selections, layers, and paths
- Draw with the Pen tools
- Create patterns
- Generate a pattern using the Pattern Maker
- Manage paths
- Manage pattern libraries and presets
- Draw or paint with a graphics tablet
- Create textured brushes
- Add dynamic elements to brushes
- Gradient
- Paint stylized strokes with the Art History Brush
- Paint with a pattern
- Sync presets on multiple devices
- Migrate presets, actions, and settings
- Text
- Filters and effects
- Saving and exporting
- Color Management
- Web, screen, and app design
- Video and animation
- Printing
- Automation
- Troubleshooting
If you are a web or UX designer, you increasingly find yourself designing websites or apps for multiple devices. Artboards help streamline your design process by giving you an infinite canvas on which you can lay out designs for different devices and screens. While creating artboards, you can choose from a wide variety of preset sizes or define your own custom artboard size.
Artboards are useful even if you normally design for just one screen size. For example, while designing a website, you can use artboards to view designs for different pages side-by-side and in context.
Artboards are optimized for the RGB color mode and advanced GPU drawing mode.
So, what's an artboard?
You can think of an artboard as a special type of layer group. An artboard clips the contents of any contained elements to its boundaries. The hierarchy of elements in an artboard is displayed in the Layers panel, together with layers and layer groups. Artboards can contain layers and layer groups, but not other artboards.
Visually, artboards serve as individual canvases within a document. Any layers in the document not contained within an artboard are grouped at the top of the Layers panel and remain unclipped by any artboards.
Artboard preferences
To customize the look of your artboards select Preferences > Interface > Appearance > Artboards. You have the option to select the artboard matte color and to show or hide artboard borders.
Create an artboard document
- In Photoshop, select File > New.
- In the New dialog box, specify a name for the document. For example, iPhone website.
- From the Document Type pop-up menu, select Artboard.
- Select one of the 35+ Artboard Size presets.
- Begin adding your design elements to the artboard. You can add smart objects, layers, layer groups, etc. to the artboard.
Convert an existing document into an artboard document
If you have a standard Photoshop document, you can quickly convert it into an artboard document.
- Select one or more layer groups or layers in the document.
- Right-click the selection and then choose Artboard From Layers or Artboard From Group.
Add artboards to the current document
- In the Tools panel, click the icon to select the Artboard tool.
- Draw the artboard on the canvas.
- Resize the artboard if necessary. From the tool options bar, select a preset size from the Size pop-up menu. Alternatively, you can leave the artboard custom-sized.
- Rename the artboard to your desired name. Do the following:
- With the artboard selected, select Layer > Rename Artboard.
- Type a new name for the artboard and press Return.
- Begin adding your design elements to the artboard. You can add smart objects, layers, layer groups, etc. to the artboard.
Quickly add new artboards to a document
You can add artboards to your document by clicking the + icons that appear alongside artboards currently in the document. These + icons appear wherever the canvas can accommodate additional artboards. To duplicate an artboard along with its contents, Option/Alt-click a plus (+) icon.
- Select an artboard.
- Click a + icon alongside the artboard. Photoshop adds an artboard to the document in the direction of the + icon.
Option/Alt-click a plus (+) icon to duplicate the currently-selected artboard along with its contents. The new artboard is added in the direction of the + icon you clicked.
Work with artboards
Set artboard background
In the Properties panel (Window > Properties) for the artboard, set the desired value for Artboard Background Color field. You can also set the artboard background to transparent.
Move elements between artboards
Simply drag the elements from one artboard to another on the canvas. When you move an element between artboards, Photoshop tries to position it in the same location relative to the ruler origins located in the upper-left corners of the artboards.
When you add/move an element to an artboard, the new element moves to the top of the Layers panel Z-order for that artboard.
You can also group layers/elements not included in any artboard with existing artboards. Simply drag the element on the canvas to the target artboard. Alternatively, move it into the target artboard in the Layers panel.
Duplicate layers or layer groups
When you duplicate a layer or layer group in a document containing artboards, you can choose the artboard in which you want to place the copied layer.
Move
With the Artboard or Move tool selected, click the label of an artboard to select it. Now, move it to its desired location on the canvas.
Resize
With the Artboard or Move tool selected, click the label of an artboard to select it. Now, select a new preset Size for the artboard from the tool options bar.
If you want to resize the artboard to a custom size, simply resize its boundaries using the handles.
Grids
Select an artboard and select View > Show > Grid to view grids in an artboard.
Guides
With an artboard selected, drag guides from the ruler to the canvas. These guides now move with the artboard. You can also duplicate an artboard with the assigned guides to assign identical guides to the duplicated artboard. Alternatively, you can select View > New Guide Layout to target the desired artboards. To set the guide visibility options, select View > Show.
Inspect artboard properties
Select an artboard and select Window > Properties to quickly inspect its key properties. You can also resize the artboard from within the Properties panel.
Artboard properties are also displayed in the tool options bar when an artboard is selected.
Show artboard names
To show/hide artboard names select View > Show > Artboard Names. Artboard names are automatically truncated to the width of the artboard.
Filter layers by artboard
In the Layers panel, from the Search pop-up menu, select Artboard. Select an artboard or any layer within an artboard. The Layers panel view is now restricted to just the selected artboard. To return to the full Layers panel view, either deselect all layers or select something outside the artboard.
Prevent auto-nesting into or out of Artboards
Assign the lock in the illustration to an artboard to disallow auto-nesting into and out of the artboard, or to specific layers within an artboard to disallow auto-nesting of those particular layers. To revert to the normal auto-nesting behavior, remove any auto-nesting locks from artboards or layers.
Artboard positional lock
Select an artboard and assign the positional lock. The artboard now remains fixed in its position on the canvas, but elements can still be added, moved within, or removed as usual.
Rename
Double-click the artboard name in the Layers panel and enter a new name. Alternatively, use the Layer > Rename Artboard command.
Dissolve artboards
You can quickly dissolve artboards into their constituent elements. With the artboards selected, select Layer > Ungroup Artboards. The artboards are dissolved and their constituent elements all move a level higher in the Layers panel. If the last remaining artboard in the document is dissolved or ungrouped, the document becomes a non-artboard document.
Export artboards
Export artboards as image assets
You can export artboards as JPEG, GIF, or PNG image assets directly from the Layers panel.
For more information, see Export artboards and layers.
Export artboards as PDF
You can export artboards as PDF documents. Follow these steps:
- In Photoshop, select File > Export > Artboards To PDF.
- In the Artboards To PDF dialog, do the following:
- Choose the destination/location where you want to save the generated PDF documents.
- Specify a file name prefix for the generated PDF documents. For example, Campaign_insurance.
- Specify whether you want to export only content on the artboards or also the content in areas overlapping the artboards.
- Specify whether you want to export all artboards or only the ones currently selected.
- Specify whether you also want to export artboard backgrounds along with the artboards.
- Specify whether you want to generate a single PDF for all the artboards in the current document, or generate one PDF document per artboard. If you choose to generate multiple PDF documents, all of those documents take the file name prefix you specified earlier.
- Specify an encoding for the exported PDF documents: ZIP or JPEG. If you chose JPEG, also specify a Quality setting (0-12).
- Specify whether you want to include the International Color Consortium (ICC) Profile in the exported PDF documents. An ICC profile comprises data that characterizes a color input or output device.
- Specify whether you want to also export the artboard names along with the exported artboards. You can specify a custom font, font size, font color, and canvas extension color while selecting this setting.
- Click Run. Photoshop generates the PDF document.
Export artboards as files
You can export artboards as separate files. Follow these steps:
- In Photoshop, select File > Export > Artboards To Files.
- In the Artboards To Files dialog, do the following:
- Choose the destination where you want to save the generated files.
- Specify a file name prefix.
- Specify whether you want to export artboard content only or want to include overlapping areas as well.
- Specify whether you want to export all artboards or only the ones currently selected.
- Specify whether you also want to export artboard backgrounds along with the artboards.
- Choose the file type to whcih you want to export. You have the option to export as BMP, JPEG, PDF, PSD, Targa, TIFF, PNG-8, or PNG-24.
- Specify the export options for the file type you have selected.
- Specify whether you want to also export the artboard names along with the exported artboards. You can specify a custom font, font size, font color, and canvas extension color while selecting this setting.
- Specify whether you want to also export the artboard names along with the exported artboards. You can specify a custom font, font size, font color, and canvas extension color while selecting this setting.
- Click Run. Photoshop exports the artboards as files in the selected format.
FAQ
No. Artboard nesting is currently not supported.
You can think of artboards as a special type of layer groups. Artboards are listed in the Photoshop Layers panel, just like layers and layer groups.
Yes. Use the Artboards From Layers feature.