Why Rotate the Artboard?

I find that it feels more natural to draw with my hand at a certain angle. By rotating the artboard I can draw more naturally: just like I would tilt or rotate my sketchbook when drawing with non-digital tools. I typically use this feature if I am going to be drawing with the pencil or paintbrush tool for a while rather than just one or two strokes. Particularly, if I am using my wacom tablet. I find that I will turn the artboard to different angles depending on which part of the drawing I am working on so the flow of the stroke feels more natural. On the piggly wiggly illio above I’m sure you can almost feel how making the lines at the curve of the hip would be easier with the artboard rotated. For me, turning the artboard is pretty much a drawing-specific hack. I don’t use it for anything else.

It should be noted that rotating the artboard does not change the orientation of the illustration when you print or export. It just changes how you are viewing while you draw.

In this quick tutorial, you will learn how to rotate the artboard, how to contain the rotation to specific increments and how to save the view so you can use it again, and finally how to reset the view of the artboard when you are done.

How to Rotate the Artboard

Method 1: Using the Rotate View Tool

  1. Select the Rotate View tool (it’s grouped with the Hand tool NOT The Artboard tool!) or use Shift H
    rotate view tool
  2. Click and drag on your artboard – the artboard will rotate and you will see a display of how many degrees it has rotated.

Constrain the Angle

Tip: Hold the shift key down while you drag the Rotate View tool to constrain  rotation to  15 degree increments.

Note: If you have multiple artboards ALL of the artboards will rotate. This makes sense because if they were close together and only one of them rotated you would end up with overlapping boards and shapes and objects on top of each other. That would get messy!
rotate multiple artboards

Method 2 Using the Rotate View Menu Option

From the Menu Choose View > Rotate View and then from the fly-out choose the specific degrees from 180 to 0 to – 180. Choosing a positive number will rotate the artboard in a clockwise direction and choosing a negative number will rotate the artboard in a counter-clockwise direction.

reset rotate view

Save the View

So let’s say you have rotated the artboard to the exact perfect angle to work on part of your drawing, perhaps you have zoomed in as well. You can save this view so you can easily get back to it. This way if you zoom out and reset the artboard, so you can see how the drawing looks as a whole you can easily get back to the perfect spot to work on a specific piece.

Steps:

  • Choose View > New View
    save a view of your rotated artboard
  • Name the View something meaningful and click OK
    create a new view
  • Now you can return to this view at any time by selecting the View option on the menu and the new view you created will appear at the bottom.
    named view

Reset the Artboard

And by reset I mean back to it’s normal, non-rotated state.

Method 1: Double-click the rotate view tool, or
Method 2: From the menu View > Reset Rotate View, or


Method 3: Keyboard Shortcut Shift + Ctrl + 1 (Windows) | Shift + Cmd + 1 (Mac)

Rotate Artboard FAQ

How do you rotate the artboard 45 degrees in Illustrator?

Select the Rotate View Tool and click and drag on the artboard hold your shift key down at the same time to constrain the rotation to 15-degree increments. Watch for the smart guide to show you when you have reached 45 degrees.

Can you rotate your view in Illustrator?

Yes! Choose the Rotate View Tool (it’s grouped with the Hand Tool) or use the keyboard shortcut  Shift + H and then click and drag your artboard to rotate your view. You can also do this from the menu choose View > Rotate View> and then choose the number of degrees you wish to rotate by from the flyout menu.

How do I rotate my artboard back to 90 degrees?

From the menu choose View > Reset Rotate View this will return your view to the state it was before you rotated it.

Further Study:

Any technique that gives your more control of your creative environment is going to make you a better digital artist.  For other tutorials that help you control your artwork consider learning how to lock and unlock objects, hide and unhide objects and understand isolation mode.