How to Choose a Different Artboard in an AI File

James wrote:

Let’s say you have an Illustrator CS4 file with multiple artboards. When you place it into InDesign you get a chance to select which artboard to place via Import Options. The question is once you place that file, how can you change to another artboard?

Many people cite multiple artboards as one of the best reasons to upgrade to Illustrator CS4, and as you noted, you can choose which artboard to import into InDesign via Import Options. Each artboard acts like a separate page, so you can choose one or more pages/artboards to place.

Here’s my Illustrator document, showing three artboards:

Here’s what I see when I place it with Import Options turned on:

But as you point out, it’s not obvious how to switch to a different artboard (or change any of the options in the Import Options dialog box) once the graphic is placed on the page. Fortunately, it’s not hard: Choose Relink from the Links panel, and relink to the same image. Adobe added a “Show Import Options” checkbox in the Relink dialog box, so if you turn that on, you get the Import Options dialog box again!

Note that this works with PDF files and other kinds of graphics, too, as Anne-Marie pointed out in this earlier blog post.

Comments (10)

Commenting is easier and faster when you're logged in!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Name *

Email *

Website

Loading comments...