Use Cases for "Convert Object to Artboard"

[Mark Oehlschlager]

I've just watched a video tutorial that explains how to convert objects to artboards, and vice-versa. In that video, the presenter demonstrates that any drawn vector shape, and even live text, can be converted to an artboard via the Layer > Convert Object to Artboard command. Puzzling. I've always thought of artboards as trim limits for artwork to be printed on paper.

Can someone from Affinity, or another user in the forum, explain what practical use cases there are for converting custom vector shapes and live text into artboards?

[toltec]

Web graphics, banners etc ?

[R C-R]

FWIW, the Artboards help topic lists some of the uses for artboards:

• Two artboards of equal size might represent two sides of a page.
• Several artboards of varying sizes could be used to create a branding concept including a company logo, letterheaded paper, compliment slip, envelope, business card and brochure.
• Various sized artboards might be placed together for an advertising campaign which includes a billboard poster, full- and half-page ads, flyers, as well as web banners and rich-graphic emails.
• Numerous artboards of equal size showing different screen displays of a mobile app.
• Two equal sized artboards could be used to design the back and front of a book cover, with a third, changeable width artboard in the middle to accommodate the spine.
• Numerous artboards of equal size could be created to allow for the design of a pack of cards.
• Progressive mock-up artboards might be placed together leading to the final, signed off design artboard.
• Several artboards displaying color variants of an identical design.
• Various sized artboards arranged logically to form the basis of a concept sheet for character design.

 

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@R C-R @toltec

Guys, thanks for your response. All of the use cases you cite are pretty standard. I get those applications. The part of the video tutorial that puzzled me was where it was suggested that one could turn a free-formed vector shape (non-rectangular, e.g., a twisted star-like shape) or a typeset word into an artboard. How would one make use of such non-standard "artboards"?

I guess a followup question is this: since it's possible to set up a document of any size without an "artboard", what is the purpose of artboards within Affinity Designer?

[walt.farrell]

You can export even oddly shaped artboards as pages in a PDF using File > Export. Or you can export them as Slices using the Export Persona, where each artboard is automatically a slice.

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@walt.farrell

Thanks for the reply. Why would one want to export an oddly shaped artboard? There must be a practical use for this. Or maybe not.

[walt.farrell]

3 hours ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

Why would one want to export an oddly shaped artboard?

Because you're going to use the resulting file in something. Perhaps on a web page, perhaps in a game. Who knows?

If you don't need the capability feel free to ignore it until someday, possibly, it will prove useful to you. Nothing says you have to use artboards, not that you have to convert shows to artboards. If you want to work on the canvas without artboards, that's fine.