I recently received an email from a fellow Mac user asking how you go about changing the orientation of an Adobe Illustrator document once you’ve already created it. Previously, you could do it in the Document Setup dialog box, but with CS4 that has changed – probably due to multiple artboard support being added to Illustrator CS4. Below I’ve outlined how you change the various aspects of your document, including orientation, size, etc.

To change your Illustrator document orientation (as well as the size of each artboard), do the following:

First: Click the Document Setup button in the Control Bar, or select Document Setup from the File menu. If you’re a keyboard shortcut-junkie, hit Command + Option + P: Second: In the Document Setup dialog box that comes up, click the Edit Artboards button at the top of the dialog box: Third: If you have multiple artboards in your document, click the one you want to edit the orientation/size of. The selected artboard will have a dashed outline around it, along with object handles for manual adjustments. Fourth: In the Control Bar at the top of your document window, you’ll notice that you have several artboard controls. You can use the presets in the drop-down menu, click the page orientation icons, create or delete artboards, as well as alter the size of your selected artboard via numeric input boxes. Finally: Commit the changes to your artboard(s) by clicking any tool in the Toolbar, or using any tool-switching keyboard shortcut.