How to make a grid in Illustrator

In this article, I will show you How to make a Grid in Illustrator. One cool thing about Illustrator is that it comes with its own inbuilt Grid.

To view the in-built grid, go to View> Show Grid. The default Grid will come up all over the document. To make it useful, you can customize it to your preferred settings.

In MAC, you can do this by going to the top Illustrator menu, then there is a guides and grid option. On PC this option is under Edit>Preferences>Guides and Grids. The default setup is a grid line after every 72 pixels.

4 subdivisions mean that after every 100/4 that is 25 pixels is a line to subdivide. Set this to your preferred settings.

The color option is also important. Choose a color that contrasts your work. Grids will appear on the back but if you uncheck Grid on the back it will be on top of your artwork.

You can play around with these settings to what suits you best. To effectively start designing with a grid, I recommend you set your points to snap to the grid.  Therefore, the grid will guide your sizing and artwork proportions. 

To do this go to view>snap to Grid. If you create a shape or path even out of the grid alignment, it automatically snaps to your grid.

Steps How to Make a Grid in Illustrator

Step 1: Show the Grid –  Go to View > Show Grid to display the default grid.

Step 2: Customize the Grid For Mac, Go to Illustrator > Preferences > Guides & Grid. For Windows, Go to Edit > Preferences > Guides & Grid.

Step 3: Adjust Settings, Change the Gridline for every value (default: 72 pixels), and set the Subdivisions (e.g., 4 subdivisions mean each gridline is divided into 25 pixels).

To have the grid over on top of the work, uncheck the Grid on the back. Choose a contrasting Grid Color to make it more visible.

Step 4: Enable Snap to Grid by going to View > Snap to Grid. Shapes and paths will automatically align with the grid. You can change at any time.

Making a grid in Illustrator using the Grid Tool

If you want to draw a grid, you can use the Illustrators Grid tool. Choose the line segment tool shortcut (/) to bring up the grid tool. After selecting it, click once to bring up a menu.

You can set several things including width, Height, dividers, etc. If you add a fill and stroke, you will create a grid that you can use in your workflow. 

To use them just lock and you can use them to align your work. To edit them, go to Window>Appearance and change anything you want.

Step 1: Access the Grid Tool and then Select the Line Segment Tool.When you click and hold it reveals the Grid Tool

Step 2: Create a Grid. With the tool selected click once on the artboard to open the Grid Options dialog. Set the Width and Height of the grid and the number of Horizontal and Vertical Dividers, Optional: Add a Stroke or Fill color for the grid.

Step 3: Lock the Grid – To use the grid as a guide, lock it by selecting it and pressing Ctrl + 2 (Windows) or Cmd + 2 (Mac).

Step 4: To Edit the Grid go to Window > Appearance and adjust properties like stroke color, fil, and thickness.

How to remove perspective Grid Illustrator

Sometimes the Perspective Grid comes up when you accidentally click Shift+P when using Illustrator. It can appear to be confusing because the same shortcut will not remove it. Below are two ways you can use to remove it.

Method 1: Turning off the perspective grid

When you open the perspective grid, you will notice a circle and grid next to your toolbar. On the top left.

To view this circle, the perspective grid tool must selected. Go to the circle with the cube inside and click the X sign to close it.

Method 2: Using the Top Bar

The second way is by changing from the view menu on the top bar. With the perspective grid open, go to View>Perspective Grid>Hide Grid and it will be turned off.

To reverse this action, go to View>Perspective Grid>Show Grid, and the grid will be displayed. That is it.

Uses of the Perspective Grid Illustrator

The tool can be used to create designs that look like 3D artwork. To use the grid modify vanishing points, grid size, and perspective angle using the nodes. The blue plane is the active space.

Goto View > Perspective Grid and choose either 1-point, 2-point, or 3-point perspective. If you draw a shape on the blue area it falls along the blue grid.

To draw on the orange plane, click on the cube phase on top, then draw. The active side is changed.

Related:

1. How to Copy in Illustrator
2. How to use Illustrator
3. How to draw an Arrow

Frequently Asked Questions