Property
Last updated on
Oct 27, 2025
Learn how artboard properties and behaviors in Adobe Photoshop help you organize layouts and streamline your workflow.
Artboard properties in Photoshop help you customize and manage multiple canvases within a single document. Adjusting artboard properties and using key behaviors allows you to customize your workspace to fit your design needs. These capabilities help you work more efficiently and ensure consistency across web, mobile, or print projects.
Artboard properties
You can access these options in the Properties panel when an artboard is selected.
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Description |
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W |
Sets the width of the artboard in pixels, inches, or other units. |
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H |
Sets the height of the artboard in pixels, inches, or other units. |
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X |
Determines the horizontal position of the artboard on the canvas. |
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Y |
Determines the vertical position of the artboard on the canvas. |
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Set Artboard to Preset |
Sets predefined device dimensions for the artboard, like iPhone, iPad, and web layouts. |
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Artboard background color |
Sets the background color for the artboard or makes it transparent. |
Artboard behaviors
Artboard behaviors describe the actions to organize, move, and manage artboards and their contents in Photoshop. These behaviors help you interact with artboards, such as moving elements, resizing, locking, or filtering layers, to fit your design workflow.
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Behavior |
Action |
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Move elements between artboards |
Drag elements between artboards in Photoshop, and they align with the ruler's starting point. You can also drag layers from the Layers panel to an artboard. |
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Duplicate layers or groups |
Right-click a layer in the Layers panel, select Duplicate Layer, and choose the target artboard for placement. |
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Move artboards |
Select the Artboard tool, select the artboard label, and drag it to a new location on the canvas. |
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Resize artboards |
Select the artboard and select a preset size in the Options bar or drag handles for a custom size. |
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Grids |
Select an artboard and choose View > Show > Grid to display grids. |
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Guides |
Drag Guides from rulers onto the artboard. Guides move with the artboard and can be duplicated with it. Use View > New Guide Layout for targeted layouts. |
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Show artboard names |
Toggle View > Show > Artboard Names to display or hide names. Names are truncated automatically to fit the artboard width. |
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Filter layers by artboard |
Select Filter layers by type > Artboard in the Layers panel to restrict the view to a selected artboard. To return to the full Layers panel view, deselect all layers or select something outside the artboard. |
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Prevent auto-nesting |
Select Prevent auto-nesting into and out of Artboards and Frames in the Layers panel to stop layers from automatically nesting into or out of an artboard. You can also lock individual layers. |
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Positional lock |
Select Lock position to fix the location of the artboard on the canvas. Elements inside can still be added, moved, or removed. |
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Rename artboards |
Double-click the artboard name in the Layers panel and enter a new name. |
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Dissolve artboards |
Select an artboard and choose Layer > Ungroup Artboards to dissolve it into its elements. If the last artboard is dissolved, the document reverts to a non-artboard format. |
Artboard use cases
- Design for multiple devices: Create artboards with preset sizes like iPhone, iPad, or web templates to test responsiveness.
- Organize a campaign: Use multiple artboards with distinct names to manage banners, posters, and social graphics in one file.
- Improve readability: Change background colors to make white or light-colored designs more visible during editing.
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