Smart Copy to Artboards | Pro Illustrator Script

Stop manually copying, pasting, and repositioning elements across dozens of artboards. It's slow, frustrating, and getting the size and position just right on each one is a nightmare, especially when artboards have different dimensions.

Smart Copy to Artboards is the definitive Illustrator script for duplicating objects with truly intelligent resizing and positioning. This isn't just a simple copy-paste function; it's a powerful workflow tool that understands the context of your design. It analyzes your object's placement and automatically applies the correct scaling and alignment rules, saving you hours of tedious manual adjustments.

Whether you're placing logos, icons, headers, or footers, this script ensures perfect, consistent results across your entire project in a single click.

P.S. it works better with links and low paths elements

Key Features:

• Intelligent, Context-Aware Positioning: This is what makes the script "smart."
  • If your original object is centered, the script perfectly centers the copies on every other artboard.
  • If your object is placed in a corner, the script anchors it to that corner, preserving its exact margins from the edges.
• Advanced Visual Scaling: Instead of just stretching, the script uses an area-preservation method. This maintains the object's visual weight and proportions much better when copying between artboards of different aspect ratios (e.g., from a desktop to a mobile artboard).
• Flexible Destination Control: Choose to copy your object to all other artboards at once, or select specific artboards from a convenient list in the dialog.
• Two Powerful Scaling Modes:
  • Maintain Relative Size & Position (Default): Use the smart scaling and positioning logic for most tasks.
  • Scale to Fit Artboard: Instantly make your object a full-bleed background for the target artboards.
• Single Undo: The entire complex operation can be undone with a single Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z), so you can experiment without risk.

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 copyToAllArtboards V1.30.jsx file into this folder.
3. If Illustrator is running, restart it for the script to appear in the menu.
   

How to Use

1. Select Your Object.
   • In your Illustrator document, click to select the object (or multiple objects) you want to copy.
2. Run the Script.
   • Go to the menu File > Scripts > copyToAllArtboards V1.30.
3. Choose Your Options.
   • A dialog box will appear.
   • Scaling Options: For most cases, leave "Maintain Relative Size & Position" selected to use the script's smart features. Choose "Scale Item to Fit Artboard" if you want a full-bleed copy.
   • Destination Artboards: Choose "Copy to all other artboards" or select "Select from list" and click on the specific artboards you want to target.
4. Click OK.
   • The script will instantly duplicate your object to all specified artboards with the correct size and position automatically applied.