Padding Guides | Pro Illustrator Script for Perfect Margins

Stop wasting time manually drawing guide boxes on every single artboard. Ensuring consistent padding and safe zones in your projects is critical, but it's also tedious and prone to error.

Introducing Padding Guides—the ultimate Adobe Illustrator script for creating pixel-perfect padding with one click. Whether you're a UI/UX designer working on dozens of screens or a print designer setting up bleed and margin areas, this tool will revolutionize your layout process.

This script provides a simple, powerful panel that allows you to apply precise padding guides to all artboards in your document simultaneously. With a live preview, flexible units (including percentages!), and automatic layer management, you'll get perfect, consistent results every time.

Key Features:

• Apply to All Artboards: Generate consistent padding guides across your entire project in a single action.
• Live Preview: Check the "Preview Guides" box to see your padding in real-time as you adjust the values, ensuring you get it right before you commit.
• Powerful Unit Control: Define your padding in Pixels, Points, Inches, Millimeters, Centimeters, or even Percentage for responsive and scalable design work.
• Linked Padding Values: Check the "Link" box to keep all padding values synchronized for uniform margins around your artboards.
• Intuitive Controls: Easily type in values or use the handy up/down spinner arrows for quick, incremental adjustments.
• Automatic Layer Management: The script creates your guides on a new, dedicated, and locked layer named "Padding Guides," keeping your artwork clean and your guides protected from accidental edits.

This is an essential tool for any designer who values precision, consistency, and speed.

How to Install

1. Find your Illustrator Scripts Folder:
   • Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [Version]\Presets\[Language]\Scripts
   • macOS: /Applications/Adobe Illustrator [Version]/Presets.localized/[Language]/Scripts
2. Copy the Padding V1.0.2.jsx file into this folder.
3. If Illustrator is running, restart it.