Script for Adobe Illustrator

✦ Available exclusively on Patreon for Pro supporters.

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Description

Smart Artboard Resizer is an Adobe Illustrator script that provides precise control over artboard resizing with intelligent content scaling. Unlike Illustrator's built-in tools, this script allows you to resize artboards by exact dimensions or percentages while maintaining proportional relationships and giving you full control over the reference point for scaling operations.

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Key Features

• Multiple Resize Modes: Scale by percentage, set exact width, or set exact height
• Flexible Reference Points: Choose from 9 reference points (corners, edges, center) to control how artboards expand or contract
• Smart Content Scaling: Optionally resize and reposition artwork along with artboards
• Batch Processing: Apply changes to all artboards, active artboard, or custom selections
• Locked/Hidden Item Support: Temporarily unlock and unhide items during processing
• Settings Persistence: Your preferences are automatically saved between sessions
• Interactive Artboard Selection: Double-click artboards in the list to preview them

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Installation

1. Download the Smart Artboard Resizer.jsx script file.

2. Place the script in your Adobe Illustrator Scripts folder:

⮑ Mac: /Applications/Adobe Illustrator <Version>/Presets/<Language>/Scripts

⮑ Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator <Version>\Presets\<Language>\Scripts

3. Restart Adobe Illustrator if it's already running

4. Access the script via File > Scripts > Smart Artboard Resizer

5. Alternatively, run it directly via File > Scripts > Other Script... and browse to the file location

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Using the Script

1. Open your Illustrator document with artboards you want to resize
2. Go to File > Scripts > Smart Artboard Resizer
3. The dialog window will appear with all controls:

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➊ Choose Your Resize Mode

Select one of three resize modes:

• Scale by Percentage: Resize artboards proportionally (e.g., 50% to shrink by half, 200% to double)
• Set New Width: Enter a target width; height adjusts proportionally
• Set New Height: Enter a target height; width adjusts proportionally

➋ Select Reference Point

The "Ref. Point" panel determines the anchor point for resizing:

• Top-left (↖)
• Top (↑)
• Top-right (↗)
• Left (←)
• Center (+)
• Right (→)
• Bottom-left (↙)
• Bottom (↓)
• Bottom-right (↘)

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Examples:

• Top Left (↖): Artboard grows/shrinks from the top-left corner (default)
• Center (+): Artboard expands/contracts equally in all directions
• Bottom Right (↘): Artboard grows/shrinks from the bottom-right corner

➌ Enter Your Value

1. Type a value in the input field or use the slider
2. For Scale mode: Enter percentage (e.g., 150 for 150%)
3. For Width/Height modes: Enter dimension in your document's units (px, mm, cm, in)
4. Keyboard shortcuts:Up/Down arrows: Adjust value by 1Shift + Up/Down: Adjust value by 10

➍ Choose Target Artboards

Select which artboards to process:

• All Artboards: Apply to every artboard in the document
• Active Artboard: Apply only to the currently active artboard
• Selected Artboards: Choose specific artboards from the list

➎ Select Artboards (optional)

• Click to select one
• Shift-click or Cmd/Ctrl-click to select multiple
• Double-click an artboard to activate it and fit it in the window

➏ Configure Options

Include locked and hidden items

• Check this to temporarily unlock/unhide items during processing
• Items return to their original state after completion

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Scale artboards only vs Scale artboards and content

• Artboards only: Resize just the artboard boundaries
• Artboards and content: Proportionally scale and reposition all artwork on the artboard

➐ Execute

1. Click OK (or press Enter) to apply changes
2. Click Cancel (or press Esc) to close without changes
3. Click the ✚ button to fit all artboards in the window

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Practical Examples

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Example 1: Shrink All Artboards by 50%

Goal: Reduce all artboards and content to half size

1. Choose Scale by Percentage
2. Enter 50
3. Select All Artboards
4. Choose Scale artboards and content
5. Select your preferred reference point (Center recommended)
6. Click OK

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Example 2: Expand Artboard Canvas Without Scaling Content

Goal: Add padding around existing artwork

1. Choose Scale by Percentage
2. Enter 120 (adds 20% padding)
3. Select Center reference point
4. Choose Scale artboards only
5. Click OK

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Example 3: Standardize Multiple Artboard Widths

Goal: Set specific artboards to exactly 800px wide

1. Choose Set New Width
2. Enter 800
3. Select Selected Artboards
4. Multi-select the artboards you want to resize
5. Choose Scale artboards and content
6. Click OK

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Tips & Tricks

• Settings are saved: Your last-used settings persist between sessions
• Preview before applying: Use the artboard list's double-click feature to preview artboards
• Fit All button (✚): Quickly view all artboards after making changes
• Keyboard navigation: Use Tab to move between fields, Enter to execute, Esc to cancel
• Slider for experimentation: Use the slider to quickly test different values before committing
• Reference point matters: Choosing the right anchor point prevents unwanted repositioning
• Undo available: Standard Illustrator undo (Cmd/Ctrl+Z) works after running the script

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☻ Conclusion

Smart Artboard Resizer gives you precise control over artboard dimensions in Adobe Illustrator with intelligent content scaling and flexible anchor points.

Resize by percentage or exact dimensions, process single or multiple artboards, and choose from 9 reference points to control how your artboards expand or contract. Your settings are automatically saved, making it perfect for creating design variants, standardizing layouts, or batch-processing artboards with consistent results.