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About the work area


    In Adobe Illustrator, the work area occupies the entire space within the Illustrator window and includes more than just the printable page containing your artwork. The printable and non-printable areas are represented by a series of solid and dotted lines between the outermost edge of the window and the printable area of the page.

    Imageable area

    The imageable area is bounded by the innermost dotted lines and represents the portion of the page on which the selected printer can print. Many printers cannot print to the edge of the paper.

    Nonimageable area

    The nonimageable area is between the two sets of dotted lines representing any nonprintable margin of the page.

    Edge of the page

    The page edge is indicated by the outermost set of dotted lines.

    Artboard

    The artboard is bounded by solid lines and represents the entire region that can contain printable artwork. By default, the artboard is the same size as the page, but it can be enlarged or reduced. The U.S. default artboard is 8.5" x 11", but it can be set as large as 227" x 227". You can choose to show or hide the artboard.

    Scratch area

    The scratch area is the area outside the artboard that extends to the edge of the 227-inch square window. The scratch area represents a space on which you can create, edit, and store elements of artwork before moving them onto the artboard. Objects placed onto the scratch area are visible on-screen, but they do not print.

    Illustration of Illustrator's work area with these callouts: A. Imageable area B. Nonimageable area C. Edge of the page D. Artboard E. Scratch area
    Illustrator's work area A. Imageable area B. Nonimageable area C. Edge of the page D. Artboard E. Scratch area