Add Grid to Photo

Put a clean grid on any image in seconds: equal rows and columns, perfect squares, the rule of thirds or a golden ratio grid. Save the grid image as PNG, JPG or a print-ready PDF.

Drop an image to add a grid or paste from clipboard. JPG, PNG, WebP. Nothing is uploaded. No photo handy? Try a public domain painting:

Grid

Rows Columns

Lines

Thickness Opacity Diagonal lines in each cell Outer border

Cell labels

Style Size

Photo Black and white Value study Contrast

Save

Paper Image size

Grid image examples

Four common ways to put a grid on a picture. Every example was made with this page.

Photo with a red 3 by 3 grid overlay — **3 × 3 grid, red lines**Simple thirds for composition checks.

Image with black 6 by 4 square grid — **Square grid, black lines**Square cells for copying onto graph paper.

Image with fine white 12 by 8 grid at reduced opacity — **Fine grid, 80% opacity**Lower opacity keeps the image readable.

Portrait photo with grid and diagonal lines in each square — **Grid with diagonals**Extra guide lines without more squares.

How to add a grid to an image online

Open your photo. Click Choose a photo, drag a file onto the box or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V / Cmd+V. JPG, PNG, WebP and GIF all work.
Pick the grid type. Rows × cols splits the image into an exact number of cells. Square keeps every cell square. Thirds and Golden draw composition guides.
Style the lines. Choose a colour that contrasts with the photo, set thickness and opacity, and add diagonals, an outer border or cell numbers if you need them.
Save the grid photo. Download a PNG for the sharpest lines, a JPG for a smaller file, or a PDF that fits Letter, A4, Legal or A3 paper for printing.

Which grid should you put on your photo?

You want to	Grid type	Settings to try
Copy or enlarge a picture by hand	Rows × cols or Square	6×6 to 10×10, labels on, see the grid drawing tool
Check photo composition	Thirds	Thin white lines, 60% opacity
Plan a tighter, classical layout	Golden	Red or yellow lines so they stand out
Split an image into an Instagram grid	Rows × cols	3 columns, 1 to 3 rows
Measure or compare proportions	Square	Fine grid with diagonals
Make a cross-stitch or mosaic guide	Square	Try image to pixel art for colour charts

Square grid vs rows and columns

A rows and columns grid divides the photo into an exact count of cells, so a 4×3 photo with a 4×4 grid gets rectangular cells. That is fine when your paper has the same proportions as your photo. When you copy a picture onto squared or graph paper, or when you want to measure distances, you want square cells instead. The Square option fixes the cell size from the width and repeats it down the image, so lines stay perfectly square regardless of the photo's aspect ratio.

Rule of thirds and golden ratio grids

Photographers and painters use composition grids to place the subject. The rule of thirds splits the frame into nine equal parts and suggests putting points of interest where the lines cross. The golden ratio, or phi grid, moves those lines closer to the centre (38.2% and 61.8% instead of 33.3% and 66.7%). Overlaying either grid on a photo you already took is a quick way to decide how to crop it, or to study why a painting you admire feels balanced.

Choosing a line colour

The best grid colour is the one you can see everywhere on the image. White works on dark photos and night scenes, black on bright skies and snow, red or yellow on images with mixed light and dark areas. If the grid hides fine detail, lower the opacity to 50 to 70 percent or reduce the thickness. Thin lines also export more cleanly in PNG than in JPG, because JPG compression can blur one pixel lines.

Private by design

Many online grid makers upload your picture to a server before drawing lines on it. This one does not. The image is decoded by your browser, the grid is drawn on a canvas on your device and the file you download is created locally. That makes it safe for client work, family photos and unpublished artwork, and it is quick even on a slow connection.

Need just the grid, without a photo, to place over images in Photoshop, Procreate or Canva? Download a transparent grid PNG or make one at any size.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add a grid to a photo?

Open the photo in the tool above (upload, drag and drop or paste it), choose the type of grid, adjust the line colour, thickness and opacity, then click PNG, JPG or Print PDF. The grid is drawn on your device and the image never leaves your browser.

Can I add a square grid to an image?

Yes. Choose Square and set how many squares go across the width. Every cell is a perfect square; if the height does not divide evenly the last row is shorter, which is what you want when you are copying the picture onto squared paper.

How do I put a rule of thirds grid on a picture?

Select Thirds. The tool draws two vertical and two horizontal lines at one third and two thirds of the image. Choose Golden for a phi grid with lines at 38.2% and 61.8%, which some photographers prefer for a tighter composition.

Will the grid image keep the original resolution?

Choose Original under Image size and the exported PNG or JPG has the same pixel dimensions as your photo. Standard (2400px) and Large (4800px) are faster to share and print.

Can I add a grid to a photo on iPhone or Android?

Yes. Open this page in Safari or Chrome, tap Choose a photo, pick an image from your gallery and save the result. On iPhone, a downloaded PNG lands in the Files app; long-press the preview if you want to save straight to Photos.

Is there a watermark?

No watermark, no account and no limit on the number of images.

What is the difference between this page and the grid drawing tool?

Both use the same engine. This page is set up for quickly putting a grid on an image and exporting it, with photography grids such as the rule of thirds. The grid drawing tool is set up for drawing: cell labels on by default, real canvas size grids, a full-size tiled PDF and a full-screen step-by-step drawing mode.

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