Resize an Artboard in Photoshop
How to change artboard size in Photoshop with the Artboard tool and Properties panel, and what it means for vector shapes, type and placed logo artwork.
Contents
To resize an artboard in Photoshop, select the artboard with the Artboard tool and either type new width and height values in the Properties panel or drag the artboard's edge handles. Resizing an artboard changes the size of its visible frame. It does not scale the artwork inside it. That distinction matters when the artboard holds a logo: you are expanding or cropping the space around the mark, not enlarging the mark.
What an artboard resize does and does not change
An artboard in Photoshop is a container that defines a canvas area within a document. A document can hold several artboards, each with its own dimensions. Changing an artboard's size moves its boundaries. Layers inside keep their own size. Content that ends up outside the new boundary is not deleted, but it is no longer shown or exported as part of that artboard.
People often confuse this with two other sizing commands, which behave differently:
| Command | Applies to | Effect on content |
| Artboard resize (Artboard tool or Properties panel) | A single artboard in an artboard document | Changes the frame only; artwork keeps its size |
| Image > Canvas Size | A standard document without artboards | Adds or trims canvas around the content; artwork keeps its size |
| Image > Image Size | The whole document | Scales the content; raster pixels are resampled |
If you want more room around a logo, which is canvas expansion, resize the artboard. If you want the logo itself bigger or smaller, scale the layers with Free Transform after resizing, or instead of it.
How to change artboard dimensions
Before you start, have a document that already uses artboards. In the Layers panel, an artboard appears as a top-level group-like item with the artboard name. If your file has no artboards, use Image > Canvas Size instead. You can also create an artboard from existing layers by selecting them, right-clicking in the Layers panel, and choosing Artboard from Layers.
- 1. Select the Artboard tool. In the Toolbar it is nested with the Move tool; click and hold the Move tool to reveal it.
- 2. Click the artboard's name on the canvas, or select the artboard in the Layers panel.
- 3. In the Properties panel, enter new values for W (width) and H (height). Units follow your document or ruler settings.
- 4. Alternatively, drag the handles on the artboard's edges or corners to resize it by hand. The options bar also offers preset sizes and an orientation switch.
- 5. If the new size leaves the logo off-center, select the logo layers and use the Move tool's align options, choosing alignment to the artboard, to reposition them.
- 6. To enlarge the logo itself, select its layers and use Edit > Free Transform, holding Shift if your settings require it to keep proportions.
Menu names, panel layouts and default modifier-key behavior can differ between Photoshop versions. The steps above describe the general workflow, not a specific release.
Keeping logo artwork editable while you resize
Whether the logo stays sharp after resizing depends on the kind of layer it is on. Photoshop can hold three kinds of content that may look the same on screen:
- Shape layers and paths: vector-based, so they can be scaled without loss and remain editable as paths.
- Type layers: stay editable as live text as long as the font is installed. A missing font limits editing until it is resolved or replaced.
- Vector Smart Objects (for example, artwork placed from Illustrator): the original vector data is kept inside the Smart Object and can be scaled cleanly or edited in the source application.
- Raster layers, including flattened or rasterized logos and pasted screenshots: made of pixels, so enlarging them softens or blurs edges.
Resizing the artboard alone does not affect the quality of any of these, because nothing is scaled. Quality problems show up only when you scale raster content up. A file extension such as PSD does not prove that a logo inside it is vector. Check the layer type in the Layers panel: shape and Smart Object layers carry distinct icons, while ordinary pixel layers show a plain thumbnail.
Final inspection and export
- Confirm the W and H values in the Properties panel match the size you need.
- Toggle visibility or zoom out to check that no part of the logo is clipped by the new artboard edge.
- Check the artboard background setting (white, black, transparent or custom) in the Properties panel, especially if the logo needs a transparent background.
- Use File > Export > Export As to export each artboard as its own file, and confirm the format and scale in the export dialog.
Common Photoshop exports such as PNG and JPG are raster images, even when the source layers are vector. A PNG of a logo is a pixel-based rendition at a fixed size, not an editable vector file. If the deliverable must be a true vector format such as SVG, EPS or a vector PDF, prepare it in a dedicated vector application, using the original vector artwork. Photoshop is better treated as a layout or mockup step.
A note on logo rights
Being able to download or open a logo file does not grant permission to modify it. Changing canvas space, scaling, recoloring or rearranging a third-party logo may be limited by its brand guidelines, font licenses or trademark terms. Check those terms before editing a logo you do not own.
Gaps in this guidance
No version-specific documentation, measurements or test results were available for this article. The guidance reflects Photoshop's general artboard workflow. For exact menu paths, shortcuts or export options in your installed version, confirm them in Photoshop's built-in help.