To add grid lines in Procreate on iPad, tap the Actions (wrench) icon, open Canvas, switch on Drawing Guide, then tap Edit Drawing Guide and choose 2D Grid. From there you can drag the blue node to move the grid, drag the green node to rotate it, and adjust color, opacity, thickness, and grid size. Tap Done to commit. On Procreate Pocket, go to Modify > Actions > Guides, tap 2D Grid, and use Guide Settings to edit it.

Step-by-step: turn on the 2D Grid in Procreate

The grid lives in Procreate's Drawing Guide system, so the setup is the same whether you're sketching a storyboard panel or laying out a style frame.

1. Open your canvas, or create one at the aspect ratio you'll deliver in (for example 16:9 for HD or UHD video).
2. Tap the Actions icon (the wrench).
3. Tap Canvas.
4. Toggle Drawing Guide on. A default grid appears over your artwork.
5. Tap Edit Drawing Guide to open the Drawing Guides screen.
6. Tap 2D Grid at the bottom of the screen if it isn't already selected.
7. Adjust the grid with the controls below.
8. Tap Done to keep your changes, or Cancel to leave the canvas as it was.

The grid appears as thin lines over your artwork.

Procreate Pocket (iPhone)

The path is slightly different on the phone version:

1. Tap Modify, then Actions, then Guides.
2. Tap 2D Grid.
3. Tap Guide Settings to open the Drawing Guides screen.
4. Adjust the settings and tap Done.

Pocket also includes a Units option, so you can choose the unit type used for your grid measurements.

Customize the grid to match your layout

Once you're in the Drawing Guides screen, you have two groups of controls: placement and appearance.

Position and rotation

Two nodes control where the grid sits:

• Blue positional node: drag it to slide the entire grid across the canvas. This is useful when you want a grid line to land exactly on a focal point, a horizon, or the center of a title.
• Green rotational node: drag it to rotate the grid. Use it to build a tilted composition, a Dutch-angle frame, or a layout that follows a rotated camera move.

If you drag things too far, tap either node and choose Reset to return the grid to its default position.

Appearance settings

• Color: use the hue bar at the top of the screen. Pick a color that contrasts with your palette. A bright cyan or magenta line reads well over dark, desaturated frames, while a darker line is easier on light paper-style canvases.
• Opacity: controls how visible the lines are, from invisible to fully opaque. Lower opacity keeps the grid helpful without competing with your drawing.
• Thickness: controls line weight, from invisible to noticeable. Thin lines are better for precise alignment; thicker ones are easier to see on a small screen.
• Grid Size: sets the scale of the squares. Smaller squares give you tighter alignment control. Larger squares suit rough thumbnails and broad proportion checks.
• Drawing Assist (iPad): when enabled, your strokes automatically adjust to follow the direction of the grid lines. This helps with straight horizontals and verticals, and with rotated grids it keeps strokes aligned to your custom angle.

Add grid lines to a photo or reference image

If you want to check proportions on a photo, the process is the same as for a blank canvas. Import the image into Procreate, then turn on the 2D Grid as described above. Because the grid is an overlay on the whole canvas, it shows over the photo and any layers you add above it.

This is a classic method for transferring a reference to a drawing: set the grid, sketch on a new layer, and compare each square against your source. For motion work, the same technique helps when you're redrawing a frame from a pitch deck, tracing a plate composition, or checking where key elements fall relative to thirds.

Tips for working over a photo:

• Put your sketch on a separate layer above the photo so you can toggle visibility and compare.
• Lower the photo layer's opacity if the grid and image compete visually.
• Match the canvas aspect ratio to your final frame before you start, so squares map cleanly to the composition.

Use grids for motion design and video work

Procreate isn't a motion tool, but plenty of animators, designers, and VFX artists use it for the pre-production stage. A grid helps in several practical ways.

Storyboards and animatics

Set up your canvas at your delivery aspect ratio, turn on the grid, and use it to keep horizon lines level, characters consistently scaled from panel to panel, and key props in the same position across shots. Consistent grid settings across boards make it easier for editors and directors to read continuity.

Style frames and layout

A square grid is a quick way to build a modular layout: align type blocks, logos, and icons to grid intersections, and keep margins consistent. Before you move into After Effects, you'll already know where text, graphic elements, and focal points should sit. If you plan to recreate the layout with guides or a layout grid in your compositing app, use the same number of divisions in Procreate so your proportions match.

Character and prop turnarounds

For model sheets, a grid helps keep head height, shoulder width, and limb lengths consistent across views. Rotate the grid slightly if you're drawing a three-quarter pose and want to follow a tilted baseline.

Planning safe areas

The 2D Grid is not a title-safe overlay, but you can approximate one: pick a grid size that divides your canvas evenly and treat the outer squares as your margin. For delivery-critical safe areas, build precise guides in After Effects or Premiere Pro as well.

Troubleshooting common grid issues

I can't see the grid. Check that Drawing Guide is toggled on in Actions > Canvas. If it's on, open Edit Drawing Guide and confirm that opacity and thickness aren't set to invisible.

The grid is too faint or too dense. Adjust opacity and thickness for visibility, and change Grid Size for density. A grid that fits your composition should have enough squares to guide you without turning into noise.

My strokes aren't snapping. On iPad, make sure Drawing Assist is enabled in the Drawing Guides screen. Without it, the grid is only a visual reference.

The grid is crooked. Use the green rotational node to straighten it, or tap a node and choose Reset to return to the default alignment.

Will the grid show up in my export? Do a quick test export before handing off files to confirm the result matches what you expect.

Other drawing guides worth knowing

The 2D Grid is the one most people want for proportion and alignment, but Procreate's Drawing Guide menu includes other options for different tasks. If you're sketching environments or hard-surface concepts that will later be built in Cinema 4D or Blender, a different guide type may serve you better than a flat grid. Use the 2D Grid for flat design, UI-style layouts, and general proportion work.

Bring your Procreate frames into a motion pipeline

Once your grid-guided boards or style frames are done, the next question is how to get them moving. A common path is to export your frames or layers and bring them into After Effects, where you can build camera moves, parallax, and compositing around them.

If you want to explore motion from those frames before committing to a full build, you could look at a tool such as Styleframe. Because you've composed your frames on a grid, the start and end compositions are already deliberate, whichever tool you use to move them. You keep your existing pipeline for color, comp, and finishing.

Quick reference

Final thoughts

Adding grid lines in Procreate takes only a few taps, and the payoff is cleaner proportions, more consistent boards, and layouts that translate smoothly into your motion software. Set the canvas to your delivery ratio, tune the grid size and opacity so it supports rather than distracts, and use Drawing Assist when you need strokes to follow the lines. From there, export your frames and carry them into After Effects, or into a motion tool such as Styleframe.

To add grid lines in Procreate on iPad, tap the Actions (wrench) icon, open Canvas, switch on Drawing Guide, then tap Edit Drawing Guide and choose 2D Grid. From there you can drag the blue node to move the grid, drag the green node to rotate it, and adjust color, opacity, thickness, and grid size. Tap Done to commit. On Procreate Pocket, go to Modify > Actions > Guides, tap 2D Grid, and use Guide Settings to edit it.

Step-by-step: turn on the 2D Grid in Procreate

The grid lives in Procreate's Drawing Guide system, so the setup is the same whether you're sketching a storyboard panel or laying out a style frame.

1. Open your canvas, or create one at the aspect ratio you'll deliver in (for example 16:9 for HD or UHD video).
2. Tap the Actions icon (the wrench).
3. Tap Canvas.
4. Toggle Drawing Guide on. A default grid appears over your artwork.
5. Tap Edit Drawing Guide to open the Drawing Guides screen.
6. Tap 2D Grid at the bottom of the screen if it isn't already selected.
7. Adjust the grid with the controls below.
8. Tap Done to keep your changes, or Cancel to leave the canvas as it was.

The grid appears as thin lines over your artwork.

Procreate Pocket (iPhone)

The path is slightly different on the phone version:

1. Tap Modify, then Actions, then Guides.
2. Tap 2D Grid.
3. Tap Guide Settings to open the Drawing Guides screen.
4. Adjust the settings and tap Done.

Pocket also includes a Units option, so you can choose the unit type used for your grid measurements.

Customize the grid to match your layout

Once you're in the Drawing Guides screen, you have two groups of controls: placement and appearance.

Position and rotation

Two nodes control where the grid sits:

• Blue positional node: drag it to slide the entire grid across the canvas. This is useful when you want a grid line to land exactly on a focal point, a horizon, or the center of a title.
• Green rotational node: drag it to rotate the grid. Use it to build a tilted composition, a Dutch-angle frame, or a layout that follows a rotated camera move.

If you drag things too far, tap either node and choose Reset to return the grid to its default position.

Appearance settings

• Color: use the hue bar at the top of the screen. Pick a color that contrasts with your palette. A bright cyan or magenta line reads well over dark, desaturated frames, while a darker line is easier on light paper-style canvases.
• Opacity: controls how visible the lines are, from invisible to fully opaque. Lower opacity keeps the grid helpful without competing with your drawing.
• Thickness: controls line weight, from invisible to noticeable. Thin lines are better for precise alignment; thicker ones are easier to see on a small screen.
• Grid Size: sets the scale of the squares. Smaller squares give you tighter alignment control. Larger squares suit rough thumbnails and broad proportion checks.
• Drawing Assist (iPad): when enabled, your strokes automatically adjust to follow the direction of the grid lines. This helps with straight horizontals and verticals, and with rotated grids it keeps strokes aligned to your custom angle.

Add grid lines to a photo or reference image

If you want to check proportions on a photo, the process is the same as for a blank canvas. Import the image into Procreate, then turn on the 2D Grid as described above. Because the grid is an overlay on the whole canvas, it shows over the photo and any layers you add above it.

This is a classic method for transferring a reference to a drawing: set the grid, sketch on a new layer, and compare each square against your source. For motion work, the same technique helps when you're redrawing a frame from a pitch deck, tracing a plate composition, or checking where key elements fall relative to thirds.

Tips for working over a photo:

• Put your sketch on a separate layer above the photo so you can toggle visibility and compare.
• Lower the photo layer's opacity if the grid and image compete visually.
• Match the canvas aspect ratio to your final frame before you start, so squares map cleanly to the composition.

Use grids for motion design and video work

Procreate isn't a motion tool, but plenty of animators, designers, and VFX artists use it for the pre-production stage. A grid helps in several practical ways.

Storyboards and animatics

Set up your canvas at your delivery aspect ratio, turn on the grid, and use it to keep horizon lines level, characters consistently scaled from panel to panel, and key props in the same position across shots. Consistent grid settings across boards make it easier for editors and directors to read continuity.

Style frames and layout

A square grid is a quick way to build a modular layout: align type blocks, logos, and icons to grid intersections, and keep margins consistent. Before you move into After Effects, you'll already know where text, graphic elements, and focal points should sit. If you plan to recreate the layout with guides or a layout grid in your compositing app, use the same number of divisions in Procreate so your proportions match.

Character and prop turnarounds

For model sheets, a grid helps keep head height, shoulder width, and limb lengths consistent across views. Rotate the grid slightly if you're drawing a three-quarter pose and want to follow a tilted baseline.

Planning safe areas

The 2D Grid is not a title-safe overlay, but you can approximate one: pick a grid size that divides your canvas evenly and treat the outer squares as your margin. For delivery-critical safe areas, build precise guides in After Effects or Premiere Pro as well.

Troubleshooting common grid issues

I can't see the grid. Check that Drawing Guide is toggled on in Actions > Canvas. If it's on, open Edit Drawing Guide and confirm that opacity and thickness aren't set to invisible.

The grid is too faint or too dense. Adjust opacity and thickness for visibility, and change Grid Size for density. A grid that fits your composition should have enough squares to guide you without turning into noise.

My strokes aren't snapping. On iPad, make sure Drawing Assist is enabled in the Drawing Guides screen. Without it, the grid is only a visual reference.

The grid is crooked. Use the green rotational node to straighten it, or tap a node and choose Reset to return to the default alignment.

Will the grid show up in my export? Do a quick test export before handing off files to confirm the result matches what you expect.

Other drawing guides worth knowing

The 2D Grid is the one most people want for proportion and alignment, but Procreate's Drawing Guide menu includes other options for different tasks. If you're sketching environments or hard-surface concepts that will later be built in Cinema 4D or Blender, a different guide type may serve you better than a flat grid. Use the 2D Grid for flat design, UI-style layouts, and general proportion work.

Bring your Procreate frames into a motion pipeline

Once your grid-guided boards or style frames are done, the next question is how to get them moving. A common path is to export your frames or layers and bring them into After Effects, where you can build camera moves, parallax, and compositing around them.

If you want to explore motion from those frames before committing to a full build, you could look at a tool such as Styleframe. Because you've composed your frames on a grid, the start and end compositions are already deliberate, whichever tool you use to move them. You keep your existing pipeline for color, comp, and finishing.

Quick reference

Final thoughts

Adding grid lines in Procreate takes only a few taps, and the payoff is cleaner proportions, more consistent boards, and layouts that translate smoothly into your motion software. Set the canvas to your delivery ratio, tune the grid size and opacity so it supports rather than distracts, and use Drawing Assist when you need strokes to follow the lines. From there, export your frames and carry them into After Effects, or into a motion tool such as Styleframe.