Square Image

Drawing Grid Maker

Put a grid over a reference photo so you can draw it square by square. Set how many cells across, adjust the line width, opacity and colour, add row and column labels, then download the gridded image to print or keep on screen.

What the grid method is

You divide the reference into equal squares, draw the same squares on your paper, and then copy the contents of one cell at a time. It works because judging a short line inside a small box is far easier than judging a long line across a whole face. It is the oldest reliable way to get proportions right without tracing.

What you need

A reference photo, and a pencil and ruler for the matching grid on your paper. The photo can be any shape; the tool keeps the cells square rather than forcing the image into a square.

How to put a grid on a picture

  • Add the photo. Click, drag, or paste it.
  • Choose the cell count. The readout shows the resulting rows by columns.
  • Tune the lines. Thin and semi-transparent for a detailed photo, thick and solid for printing.
  • Pick a line colour that contrasts with the photo. Red works on most things; use cyan on a red subject.
  • Download as PNG and print at the size you want to draw.

What to do with the result

Print it at the size of your reference, or keep it open on a tablet next to the easel. Draw the matching grid on your paper in a light pencil so the lines can be erased later, then work cell by cell, starting with the cells that contain the clearest landmarks: the corner of an eye, the line of a jaw, the edge of a roof.

When a grid will not help

  • The reference is blurry or very dark. A grid divides up detail that is not there. Fix the exposure before you grid it.
  • You picked too many cells. Twenty cells across a small photo gives you a mesh you cannot see through, and copying becomes mechanical rather than observational.
  • The lines are the same colour as the subject. Red lines vanish on a red jumper. Change the colour rather than the opacity.
  • You want to learn to draw by eye. The grid is a measuring aid. Useful for accuracy, but it will not train your judgement of proportion if you lean on it for every drawing.

How this differs from the other tools here

This one draws lines on top of a photo and gives you a single image back. The Instagram grid maker looks similar but does the opposite: it cuts the photo into separate tile files for posting. If your reference needs to be square before you grid it, run it through the square image converter first.

Frequently asked questions

How many grid squares should I use?

Four to six across is enough for a simple portrait or a still life. Ten to sixteen suits a detailed face, a crowd, or architecture. More cells mean more accuracy and more counting, so start coarse and only go finer where the drawing keeps going wrong.

Do I need the same grid on my paper?

Yes, the same number of rows and columns, drawn lightly in pencil. The cells on paper can be any size as long as they are square and the count matches, which is how the method scales a small photo up to a large sheet.

Why are the rows a different count from the columns?

Because the cells are kept square. The tool divides the width by the number you choose and then fits as many equal rows as the height allows, so a landscape photo gets fewer rows than columns.

What do the letters and numbers do?

They label the columns 1, 2, 3 and the rows A, B, C so you can say 'the eye starts in C4' instead of counting from the corner every time. Turn them off if you plan to print the grid and trace over it.

Is my reference photo uploaded?

No. The grid is drawn over the photo on a canvas in your browser and the download comes from that canvas.

Other image tools on this site