How to Add Another Artboard in Affinity Photo: A Comprehensive Guide

Affinity Photo is a powerful tool for photographers and designers alike, offering a plethora of features to enhance your creative workflow. One such feature, artboards, is incredibly useful for managing multiple design layouts within a single document. Whether you’re designing website mockups, social media content, or multi-page documents, understanding how to add artboards is essential.

This guide will walk you through various methods to add artboards in Affinity Photo, expanding upon the basic functionalities to help you master this feature.

Adding Artboards Using Preset Dimensions

One of the quickest ways to add an artboard is by using preset dimensions. This is particularly handy when you need artboards of standard sizes, like device screen sizes or document formats.

1. Select the Artboard Tool: First, locate the Artboard Tool in the Tools panel on the left side of your Affinity Photo interface. It’s represented by an icon that resembles an artboard.

2. Choose Preset Size: With the Artboard Tool selected, look at the Context Toolbar that appears at the top of your screen. You’ll find a Size pop-up menu. Click on it to reveal a list of preset sizes.

3. Select Desired Preset: From the dropdown menu, you can choose from several options:

   • Document: This option adds an artboard with the exact dimensions of your current document. It’s perfect for extending your design space or creating multi-page layouts within the same project.
   • Selection: If you have an object or an existing artboard selected, choosing this option will create a new artboard that matches the size and position of your selection. You might need to move the new artboard slightly to give it some space on the pasteboard.
   • Other Presets: The menu also includes a variety of device-specific presets (like iPads, iPhones, Android devices) and standard sizes (like web banners or social media dimensions). Choose the preset that suits your design needs.

4. Insert Artboard: After selecting your desired size from the Size menu, click the Insert Artboard button on the Context Toolbar. A new artboard with the chosen dimensions will be added to your canvas.

Adding Custom Size Artboards

Sometimes, preset sizes just don’t cut it. For those unique design requirements, Affinity Photo allows you to create custom-sized artboards.

You can add custom artboards in two primary ways using the Artboard Tool:

Method 1: Object Data Entry (Precise Dimensions)

1. Select the Artboard Tool: Ensure the Artboard Tool is active from the Tools panel.

2. Click on the Page: Instead of dragging, simply click anywhere on the pasteboard (the grey area surrounding your document). This will bring up the Create Artboard dialog box.

3. Enter Dimensions: In the dialog, you can precisely enter the desired Width and Height for your new artboard.

4. Set Anchor Point (Optional): The dialog also offers an Anchor point setting. This allows you to control the position of the artboard relative to a chosen anchor point. By default, or if you’ve previously set one, the artboard will be positioned based on that.

5. Choose Preset Size (Optional): Interestingly, even in the custom size dialog, you have the option to revert to a preset size if you change your mind. The dialog often includes a dropdown to select from preset artboard dimensions as an alternative to custom entry.

6. Create Artboard: Click Create in the dialog box. A new artboard of your specified custom dimensions will appear on the canvas.

Method 2: Sizing by Eye (Dragging)

1. Select the Artboard Tool: Activate the Artboard Tool.

2. Drag on the Pasteboard: Click and drag directly on the pasteboard. As you drag, you’ll see a rectangle forming, visually representing the size of your new artboard.

3. Release to Create: Release the mouse button when you’ve achieved the desired size. Affinity Photo will create an artboard based on the area you dragged. This method is great for quickly creating artboards when precise dimensions aren’t critical, or when you prefer to size visually.

Copying or Duplicating Artboards

If you need an artboard that’s identical to an existing one, copying or duplicating is the most efficient approach.

1. Select an Artboard: Use either the Move Tool (V) or the Artboard Tool to select the artboard you want to copy or duplicate.

2. Duplicate or Copy: You have a couple of options:

   • Drag to Duplicate: With the Move Tool or Artboard Tool selected, hold down the ⌥ Option (macOS) or Alt (Windows) key and drag the artboard. This will create a duplicate of the artboard as you drag it to a new position.
   • Use Duplicate Command: Alternatively, go to the Edit menu and select Duplicate. This will create an exact copy of the selected artboard directly next to the original.

Converting an Object to an Artboard

Affinity Photo offers a unique feature to convert any object into an artboard. This is incredibly useful when you’ve already designed something and then realize you want to encapsulate it within an artboard for better organization or export purposes.

1. Select an Object: Use the Move Tool to select the single object you want to convert into an artboard. It could be a shape, a group of layers, or even a single pixel layer.

2. Convert to Artboard: Go to the Layer menu and select Convert Object to Artboard. Affinity Photo will instantly transform the selected object into an artboard, perfectly fitting the boundaries of the object.

Removing Artboards (and Alternatives)

While adding artboards is crucial, knowing how to manage them, including removal, is also important.

Removing Artboards:

1. Select Artboard(s):

   • Artboard Tool Selection: Select the Artboard Tool. Click on an artboard to select it. To select multiple artboards, hold down ⇧ Shift and click on additional artboards.
   • Layers Panel Selection: Alternatively, you can select artboards directly from the Layers panel. Click on the name of an artboard to select it. Use ⇧ Shift or ⌘ Cmd/Ctrl to select multiple artboards.

2. Remove Artboard(s):

   • Press Delete Key: Once selected, simply press the Delete key on your keyboard.
   • Remove Layer Option: In the Layers panel, after selecting artboard(s), you can also click the Remove Layer icon, which is represented by a trash can.

3. Handle Objects: When you delete an artboard, Affinity Photo will prompt you with a dialog asking what to do with the objects placed on that artboard. You can choose to:

   • Keep Objects: The objects will be preserved and placed on the pasteboard, maintaining their original positions relative to where they were on the deleted artboard.
   • Delete Objects: The objects on the deleted artboard will be permanently removed.

Converting Artboard to Object (Alternative to Deletion):

Instead of deleting an artboard, you might want to convert it back into a standard object. This preserves your design and nests all the content within the artboard into the new object.

1. Select the Artboard: Use the Move Tool to select the artboard you wish to convert.

2. Convert to Object: Go to the Layer menu and select Convert Artboard to Object. The artboard will be transformed into a standard rectangular object, and all layers contained within it will become nested inside this new object layer.

Conclusion

Mastering artboards in Affinity Photo significantly enhances your design workflow, allowing for better organization and management of complex projects. Whether you’re starting a new project or need to expand your current design space, Affinity Photo provides flexible and intuitive methods to add and manipulate artboards. Experiment with these techniques to find the most efficient ways to integrate artboards into your creative process and unlock the full potential of Affinity Photo for multi-layout designs.