Can't get rid of the Artboard

[Anette]

Hi!

I pressed the Artboard icon in AffinityDesigner 2 and now I can't get rid of it. I have reinstalled the software again but it is still there when I open a new document. How can I solve this problem?

Best regards

Anette

[Hangman]

Hi @Anette and welcome to the forums,

Is it that you want to remove the Artboard tool from the toolbar or is it that when you create a new document it's creating an Artboard rather than just simply a canvas?

[Anette]

Sorry, It was a mistake from my side. I have fixed it.

[Hangman]

Glad to hear you have everything sorted now...

[Bynah]

So, I can't get rid of an artboard. I really want to use it, I need it, but then I need to delete it and not my project!

Here is a little video of the problem I am having. i cannot find anything anywhere that tells me how to really use

artboards from beginning to end.

[Bynah]

😳

[Alfred]

An artboard is just a special kind of layer, so you can delete it like any other layer. Because it’s a container layer, if you delete an artboard you’ll also delete its contents. If you want to retain the contents, go to the Layers panel and drag all of the objects off the artboard so that they’re no longer children of that layer: you can then delete the empty artboard.

[HCl]

.

[Alfred]

43 minutes ago, HCl said:

But it should show this

Thanks, I’d completely forgotten about that! I don’t think that feature has always been there, but it’s been around for quite a while now. However, deleting artboards isn’t something I often do, so I’m unlikely to have seen it in the recent past.

[h_d]

OK try this on a backup copy, not the original.

In the Layers panel, click on the top layer inside the Artboard and then shift-click on the bottom layer. This will select all the layers contained by the Artboard, but not the Artboard itself.

Cmd-x (macOS) or ctrl-x (Windows) to cut those layers.

Select the Artboard layer in the Layers panel and delete it.

Cmd-v (macOS) or ctrl-v (Windows) to paste the cut layers back into the Layers panel, without the Artboard.

Just to repeat - work on a backup copy.

[R C-R]

35 minutes ago, h_d said:

In the Layers panel, click on the top layer inside the Artboard and then shift-click on the bottom layer. This will select all the layers contained by the Artboard, but not the Artboard itself.

If you do that, an alternative is to drag all those layers above the artboard layer, then just delete the now empty artboard at the bottom of the layer stack. It is probably a slightly safer way to do it than the cut & paste method.

[Bynah]

Did you all watch my little video? When I do as you suggest and delete the artboard, the same thing happens as before,

my work disappears on the left which is what I was working on. I only added the artboard to help me with what I was doing.

Can someone please address what is happening in these videos?

thank you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[George-Frazee]

11 hours ago, Bynah said:

Did you all watch my little video? When I do as you suggest and delete the artboard, the same thing happens as before,

my work disappears on the left which is what I was working on. I only added the artboard to help me with what I was doing.

Can someone please address what is happening in these videos?

thank you

 

Edit 2: I watched both videos but just now realized that you were in Designer Persona in Publisher, not Designer directly. Not sure if that negates the clip to canvas functionality or not, worth a try regardless.

I see. When you delete an artboard, you are reverting back to "canvas" mode. You probably have "clip to canvas" turned on, that's why you can't see anything outside of the canvas that's left over.

View > View Mode > Clip to Canvas

Edit to add example:

 

Edited July 11 by George-Frazee
added video and updated info

[Petar Petrenko]

13 hours ago, Bynah said:

So, I can't get rid of an artboard. I really want to use it, I need it, but then I need to delete it and not my project!

Just curious. Why would you like to delete it even it is not your project? Canvases / Artboards / Pages, are useful to define what is going to be printed or exported or... anything else. It is something like the painter trying to destroy the canvas, but keep the painting.

[Bynah]

For one thing, it changes the appearance of my project, removes the margins and throws me off. I guess I just don't really understand

comprehensively what artboards are. But it seems they don't behave like I want them to.

[Hangman]

Hi @Bynah,

Are you happy to upload your Designer file?

[Bynah]

sure!

[Petar Petrenko]

7 minutes ago, Bynah said:

For one thing,

1. it changes the appearance of my project,
2. removes the margins, and
3. throws me off.

Wow, it never happened to me.

Can you explain exactly how it does it?

How do you create the artboard(s) -- when creating a new document by checking "Create Artboard" or are you trying to convert the new page into artboard?

[Bynah]

sorry, didn't get it on there, it's coming

 

Plymouth Salads 4-14-25 copy.afpub

[Bynah]

I am going to have to run for now, but would like to take up this conversation in a couple of days.

thanks for your help! I need help.

[Petar Petrenko]

4 minutes ago, Bynah said:

sorry, didn't get it on there, it's coming

 

Plymouth Salads 4-14-25 copy.afpub 1.49 MB · 0 downloads

The document is empty (only 6 guidelines).

Next, you mention artboards which are Designer oriented elements and you uploaded Publisher file.

[Bynah]

i work in Publisher and go back and forth between personas. is that my problem?

 

I hope you can make sense out of these

 

Plymouth Menu 7-9-25 B.afpub Plymouth Salads 7-11-25.afpub

[Hangman]

9 minutes ago, Bynah said:

i work in Publisher and go back and forth between personas. is that my problem?

Perhaps something like this, where you can either keep the artboards or convert them to spreads...

[Petar Petrenko]

@Bynah Is this OK to you?

Plymouth Salads.afdesign

[Bynah]

I'll be back as soon as I can, sorry to drop off