How to Change Measurement Units in Adobe Illustrator

You can change measurement units in Adobe Illustrator when you create a new document or from the top menu by selecting “Edit” > “Preferences” > Units for Windows or Illustrator > Preferences > Units for Mac. Then, choose your preferred units in the General, Stroke, or Type drop-down menus. 

Different units of measurement are best for specific projects. For example, inches/millimeters are the best measurement units for designs like brochures, posters, etc. Pixels or points work best for web-based projects.

Hi, my name is Rita. I have been using Adobe Illustrator for more than five years. I have had to change measurement units in Illustrator many times – It’s pretty easy to do.

Have you started the design and discovered you’re working with the wrong measurement units? Don’t worry.

I’ll show you how to change measurement units in Adobe Illustrator.

Key Takeaways

• You can change measurement units when you set up a new document or while working on an existing one.
• You can save your preferred measurement unit preferences as the default by going to Edit > Preferences > Units (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > Units (macOS).
• Changing units won’t automatically scale existing objects in your document. You may need to manually adjust sizes or use the Transform panel to modify images/text to match the new units.

2 Quick Ways to Change Measurement Units in Adobe Illustrator 

I like to choose my preferred measurement units in Adobe Illustrator when I create a new document. Anyway, that’s not always the case.

Sometimes, I change my document’s measurement unit after creating a new document (maybe from pixels to millimeters).

Annoying right? 

The good thing is that you can change measurement units in Illustrator in minutes. 

Note: All screenshots are from Adobe Illustrator CC Windows Version. Mac and other versions may appear different. 

How to Change Measurement Units in Illustrator in a New Document

You’ll see the option to change measurement units in Illustrator when you create a new document. You’ll see the options next to the width on the right-hand panel. 

Click the down arrow to expand the menu and choose your preferred measurement units. 

That’s it. 

If you have already created a document earlier, you can change the measurement units from the Properties panel.

How to Change the Measurement Unit of an Existing Document in Illustrator

There are two ways to change the measurement unit in Illustrator after creating a new document. You can change it from the Properties Panel or overhead menu. 

Let’s see how the two methods work in practice.

Change measurement units from the properties panel

You’ll see the document units on the properties panel (make sure you don’t select any object). If you can’t find the properties panel window on your screen, go to Window > Properties. 

The properties panel window will open. Click on the down arrow to open the options of the measurement unit. Select your preferred measurement unit options.

You can change the units from pixels to points, points to millimeters, etc. 

Change measurement units from the Overhead menu

You can also change measurement units from the overhead menu. It is an alternative if you can’t access measurement units from the Properties Panel. 

To access this, go to the overhead menu File > Document Setup. Go ahead and change the measurement units from the document setup window. 

Do you want to change measurement units of Strokes or Type separately?

You can do this using the method in the opening paragraph. Go to the overhead menu and select  Edit > Preferences > Units for Windows or Illustrator > Preferences > Units for Mac.

When the windows open, click here to change the measurement units.

That is where you can choose measurement units for general objects, strokes, and types.

How to Change Units of Rulers in Adobe Illustrator 

The measurement units you choose for your document will be the same for your ruler. For example, if your document units are in points, the rulers’ measurement unit will also be in points.

I usually use pixels for digital works and millimeters for prints. Points are not my go-to measurement units (except for text). However, you can choose your most convenient measurement units.

That said! Here is how you change the ruler units in Adobe Illustrator. 

Step 1: Initiate the Ruler tool using the keyboard shortcut Command + R (Mac users) or Ctrl + R for Windows users). 

Step 2: Right-click on the ruler to show the measurement units. 

Note: The document unit will change when you change the ruler’s measurement units. 

Can I Use Different Measurement Units for My Document and Rulers?

Yes, you can. 

You can change the measurement units of your document after using rulers as a guide. You can achieve this by hiding the Rulers and changing the document units to Pixels (or any measurement units you need). 

You can hide the Rulers using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + R. Or go to the overhead menu and select View > Rulers > Hide Rulers.

Why Are Illustrator Units for Stroke and Type Not Changing?

Changing the measurement units of your documents or objects will not affect the units used to measure Stroke and Type attributes, including font size and line spacing measurement. 

That is because Stroke and Type use a distinct measurement system, with the default unit being Points (pt).

Generally, Stroke employs units like Pixels, Points, Picas, Inches, Millimeters, and Centimeters. Type utilizes units such as Points, Inches, Millimeters, and Pixels. 

Final Thought

There are multiple ways to change the default measurement units in Adobe Illustrator. You can modify your document measurement unit through the Document Setup option to adjust your preferences settings to create a new default.

You can customize the measurement units for Rulers and Guides. Choosing the best measurement units will help you achieve a smooth design experience.