Add a grid to a photo
Put a grid overlay on any picture right in your browser, then download the gridded image or just the transparent grid. Free, no signup, and the photo never leaves your device.
Drop a photo here to put a grid on it
JPG, PNG or WebP · paste works too · stays on your device
or try a sample
How it works
How to put a grid on a picture
- 1
Upload the photo
Drop a JPG, PNG or WebP onto the canvas, paste it from the clipboard, or pick it from your phone’s camera roll. Nothing is uploaded — your browser reads the image.
- 2
Set the grid
Choose the number of columns — rows follow so every cell is square, or switch to rows × columns — then the line colour, width and opacity, and whether cells get A1 labels.
- 3
Download
Save the picture with the grid on it as a PNG or JPG at full resolution, or download only the grid lines as a transparent PNG the same size as the photo.
Two outputs
The grid image, or only the transparent grid overlay
Both come from the same grid, so the lines land in the same place whichever one you download.
The photo with the grid on it
The PNG or JPG is your original picture at its full pixel size with the lines and labels drawn on top — an image grid you can keep on a tablet next to the easel, print, send to a student, or use to check a composition. Nothing is cropped or resized unless the photo was larger than 24 megapixels.
The transparent grid PNG
Grid only gives you the same grid — lines and labels, nothing else — on a transparent background at exactly the photo’s pixel size, so it drops in as a layer in Procreate, Photoshop, Krita or Clip Studio with no scaling. Switch the panel to Grid only to make one for any canvas size without a photo at all: 2048 × 2732 px for an iPad screen, say, or 2480 × 3508 px for A4 at 300 dpi.
Settings
Grid overlay on an image: columns, cell size, colour and labels
Three decisions cover almost every use — how many cells, what colour, and whether the cells are labelled.
Columns set the cell size. The cell width is the image width divided by the number of columns: a 2,000 px wide photo with 10 columns has 200 px squares, and the Output line under the panel shows the exact figure. With Square cells on, the rows are worked out for you; a leftover strip at the bottom is shown as an honest partial row rather than squashed into the grid. Rows × columns lets you set both, for a 3 × 3 rule-of-thirds check or for rectangles you want on purpose.
Colour and width. The line colour is picked from the photo — black on light images, white on dark ones — and you can change it to anything. Line width is relative to the short side of the image, so grid lines on a 6,000 px photo stay visible and lines on a 600 px one do not swamp it. Opacity lets the picture show through the lines.
Labels. A1, B2 … in each cell is what makes a gridded image useful for drawing and for talking about a picture: you always know which square you are looking at. Turn them off for a clean composition overlay.
Who puts a grid on a photo
Drawing, composition, pixel art and teaching
Drawing and painting with the grid method
Grid the reference, draw the same grid lightly on your paper, and copy one cell at a time. If you are going to draw it, the grid maker for drawing goes further: it sizes the cells for your paper or canvas, exports a matching blank grid and prints at actual size.
Open the grid maker for drawingPhotographers and designers
A 3 × 3 grid on a picture shows the rule of thirds at a glance. A finer grid helps line up a horizon, check symmetry or plan a crop before you commit to it.
Pixel art, cross-stitch and mosaics
Match the number of cells to your pixels, stitches or tiles, and the gridded image becomes the pattern. Labels keep your place; the transparent overlay works over the image in your pixel editor.
Teachers
Grid a photo for a lesson and hand out the PNG, or turn it into a two-page worksheet with a matching blank grid and a name line on the worksheets page.
Make grid drawing worksheets
FAQ
Questions about adding a grid to a photo
- How do I add a grid to a photo on iPhone or Android?
- Open this page in Safari or Chrome, tap Upload photo and pick the picture from your camera roll. The grid overlay appears straight away; set the columns and the line colour, then tap Download PNG and save it back to your photos. There is nothing to install, and the photo never leaves the phone.
- Can I put a grid on a picture for free, without a watermark?
- Yes. Every download here is free, at the full resolution of your image, with no watermark, no account and no export limit.
- What grid size should I use?
- For drawing, 6–8 columns suits simple subjects and 10–12 suits portraits and detailed scenes. For a composition check, switch off Square cells and set 3 × 3. For pixel art, cross-stitch or mosaics, match the number of cells to your pixels or stitches. Keep Square cells on unless you want rectangles on purpose.
- Is there a way to set the grid spacing in pixels?
- The tool works in columns and shows the resulting cell size in pixels under the Output line. To hit a particular spacing, divide the image width by it and use that as the column count: a 2,000 px wide photo with 100 px squares needs 20 columns.
- How do I get only the grid as a transparent PNG for Procreate or Photoshop?
- With a photo loaded, choose Grid only: you get the lines and labels on a transparent background at exactly the photo’s pixel size, so it drops in as a layer with no scaling. Without a photo, switch to Grid only at the top of the panel, type the canvas size in pixels and download the transparent PNG.
- Does the photo get uploaded anywhere?
- No. The image is decoded, gridded and encoded entirely inside your browser with the HTML canvas, and the download is generated on your device. Nothing is sent to a server.
- How do I grid an image for the grid method?
- If you are going to draw the picture, use the grid maker for drawing instead: it keeps the cells square, works out the cell size for your paper or canvas, exports a matching blank grid and prints at actual size. This page is the quick version for when you only need the gridded image or the overlay. Open the grid maker for drawing
- Which image formats work?
- JPG, PNG and WebP up to 30 MB. Very large photos are resized to 24 megapixels on import, and the tool tells you when that happens. HEIC photos from an iPhone need to be shared as JPG first.