Design by Laney

If you’re designing wedding invitations, social media graphics, or signage in Adobe Illustrator, you’ve probably wanted to change the default white background of your artboards. Whether you're trying to simulate what your design looks like on colored paper stock or trying to flood print a background color, Illustrator has a few built-in tools to help—but they might not do what you think!

In this tutorial, I’m walking you through the two official ways to change your artboard background color: using the Simulate Colored Paper setting in Document Setup, and testing out the Background Contents feature.

I’ll show you exactly which option is just a "non-printing preview" and which one creates a permanent, printable color layer. Plus, I'll explain why I’m personally sticking to the old-school method of drawing custom vector rectangles for my invitation suites!

🎓 Brand new to Adobe Illustrator? Don't get overwhelmed by the settings! Grab my FREE Illustrator Intro Class specifically designed for creative business owners and artists:
👉 https://designbylaney.com/free-illustrator-course

🎨 Ready to master the ultimate design workflow? Check out the Adobe Creative Cloud Bundle to see exactly how I connect Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop for custom invitation design:
👉 https://designbylaney.com/ccbundle

What we cover in this tutorial:
🖥️ Method 1: Simulating Colored Paper – How to use Document Setup to change your artboard previews (and a laugh at the 90s-style color picker), plus why this color completely disappears when you export your PDF.
🆕 Method 2: Background Contents – A look at this feature, how to set it up on a new file, and how it handles saving out printable color backgrounds.
🔴 The Bleed Problem: Why the new background contents tool falls short for professional print design and doesn't stretch to your 0.125-inch bleed lines.
📦 Social Media vs. Print: When these native background tools actually make sense (like fast exports for Instagram graphics) versus when they trap you.
📐 Why Rectangles Still Win: Why drawing manual vector shapes gives you the absolute best flexibility for multi-page stationery suites with varying paper colors.

🔗 Related Videos & Resources:
• Wedding Invitation Printers: Testing 6 Different Shops! → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QflYmP2QbU&feature=youtu.be
• Stationery School Membership → https://designbylaney.com/stationery-school

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Links contained in the video and/or description may be affiliate links which earn us a small commission at no cost to you! We appreciate your use of our links so we can continue making free content for you!

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Hi, hey, hello! Welcome to the Design by Laney channel! I am a wedding invitation designer & stationery business educator! On this channel, you'll find videos featuring design tutorials, systems reviews, and the most requested tips and tricks for running a creative business - yes, including my favorite printers!

New to Invitation Design?
💌 Check out our *From Start to Suite* course!
https://designbylaney.com/from-start-to-suite

🤓 Sign up for our FREE Adobe Illustrator course series:
https://designbylaney.com/free-illustrator-course

👩🏻‍🏫 Want to learn even more about running a stationery business? Join us in Stationery School!
https://designbylaney.com/stationery-school

💛 Follow Along:
www.instagram.com/designbylaney
www.designbylaney.com
www.facebook.com/designbylaney
www.pinterest.com/bylaney

🖨️ My Favorite Print Shop www.printswell.com/a/laney
📋 Try Dubsado https://www.dubsado.com/?c=designbylaney
📋 Try Honeybook http://share.honeybook.com/laney

If you have a shop on Minted, Etsy, or Zazzle, you know the struggle: every single design needs multiple mockup photos, and doing them manually in Photoshop can take hours. In this video, I’m showing you the exact plugin I use to create 300+ mockups in just a few minutes—completely hands-free!

We’re using a tool called Bulk Mockup, and I’ll walk you through the 3-step process of setting up your PSD templates with smart objects, loading your design files, and letting Photoshop do all the heavy lifting for you. Whether you need 35 mockups or 600, this workflow will save you days of admin work.

What we cover in this tutorial:
✅ Smart Object Setup: How to prep your Photoshop files with clipping masks and proper rotation.
✅ The 3-Folder Method: Organizing your templates, designs, and exports for a seamless run.
✅ Bulk Mockup Plugin Walkthrough: Watch me generate 35 mockups in under 3 minutes.
✅ Choosing the Best Shots: Why I create 42 mockups per design so I can "pick the best" later.
✅ Minted & Etsy Tips: Optimizing your product listings with professional hero shots and close-ups.

🔗 Resources:
• Get Bulk Mockup (Affiliate Link) → https://gumroad.com/a/928251731
• Free Adobe Illustrator Course → https://designbylaney.com/free-illustrator-course
• From Start to Suite Course → https://designbylaney.com/from-start-to-suite

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Links contained in the video and/or description may be affiliate links which earn us a small commission at no cost to you! We appreciate your use of our links so we can continue making free content for you!

----------

Hi, hey, hello! Welcome to the Design by Laney channel! I am a wedding invitation designer & stationery business educator! On this channel, you'll find videos featuring design tutorials, systems reviews, and the most requested tips and tricks for running a creative business - yes, including my favorite printers!

New to Invitation Design?
💌 Check out our *From Start to Suite* course!
https://designbylaney.com/from-start-to-suite

🤓 Sign up for our FREE Adobe Illustrator course series:
https://designbylaney.com/free-illustrator-course

👩🏻‍🏫 Want to learn even more about running a stationery business? Join us in Stationery School!
https://designbylaney.com/stationery-school

💛 Follow Along:
www.instagram.com/designbylaney
www.designbylaney.com
www.facebook.com/designbylaney
www.pinterest.com/bylaney

🖨️ My Favorite Print Shop www.printswell.com/a/laney
📋 Try Dubsado https://www.dubsado.com/?c=designbylaney
📋 Try Honeybook http://share.honeybook.com/laney