To change the grid size in Procreate, open Actions (wrench icon) → Canvas, turn on Drawing Guide, and tap Edit Drawing Guide. Select the 2D Grid tab and drag the Grid Size slider at the bottom of the screen, or tap the number above it and type an exact value. Lower values give a tighter, more detailed grid, and higher values give larger squares. Tap Done to keep the change.

Step-by-step: change the grid size

1. Tap the Actions icon (the wrench).
2. Choose Canvas.
3. Toggle on Drawing Guide.
4. Tap Edit Drawing Guide. This opens the Drawing Guides screen.
5. Select 2D Grid from the tabs along the bottom.
6. Find the Grid Size slider at the bottom of the screen and drag it left or right.
7. Tap Done to commit the change, or Cancel to leave the canvas as it was.

The grid appears as thin lines over your artwork.

If you can't find the slider, check that you're on the 2D Grid tab and not Perspective, Isometric, or Symmetry. The 2D Grid and Isometric guides both have a Grid Size control, but Perspective and Symmetry work differently.

Typing an exact grid size

The slider is quick, but it's imprecise. When you need a specific number, tap the numerical readout above the Grid Size slider. A keyboard pops up, and you can enter the exact division you want.

This matters when the grid has to mean something, such as a unit of measurement, a pixel interval, or a layout module. In Procreate's own example, a 4000 × 4000 px canvas with the grid set to 250 px gives 16 × 16 squares. Each square can then stand in for a real-world unit, like one square meter in a floor plan.

What the grid size number actually controls

The value is a spacing between lines, not a count of squares. To work out how many squares fit across your canvas, divide the canvas dimension by the grid size.

For video work, some examples:

• 1920 × 1080 canvas, grid size 120: 16 columns × 9 rows. This makes a clean 16:9 modular layout.
• 3840 × 2160 canvas, grid size 120: 32 columns × 18 rows. It's the same proportions with finer subdivisions.
• 1080 × 1920 vertical canvas, grid size 120: 9 columns × 16 rows. This suits social and mobile-first framing.

If the grid size divides evenly into both canvas dimensions, the squares tile cleanly with no partial cells at the edges. If it doesn't, you'll get a ragged last row or column. That's fine for casual sketching but annoying for layout work.

Making the grid finer or coarser

People often search for this because the default grid feels too loose for precise line work. The fix is to reduce the Grid Size value. A smaller number splits the canvas into more, smaller squares, which gives you more reference points for straight lines and tight alignment.

Go the other way when the grid is cluttering the canvas. Increasing the size gives you fewer, larger squares, which is better for rough composition, thumbnails, and big-picture proportions.

One limit to know about: the 2D Grid uses a single uniform spacing, with the same line color and weight throughout. Some tutorials show a grid where major lines are darker and subdivisions lighter. That's a different technique, usually a custom guide image you create or import yourself, not a built-in setting.

Tune the grid so it helps instead of distracts

Size is only one part of how usable a grid is. The same Drawing Guides screen has several other controls.

Position and rotation

Two nodes appear on the grid:

• The blue node moves the whole grid across the canvas. Use it to line a grid intersection up with a specific point, like the center of a character or the corner of a title area.
• The green node rotates the grid lines. This is handy for angled compositions or when you want the grid to follow a tilted surface.

To return the grid to its default placement, tap either node and choose Reset.

Color, opacity, and thickness

• Color: use the hue bar at the top of the screen. Pick a color that contrasts with your palette so the lines stay visible.
• Opacity: lower it so the grid guides you without competing with the artwork.
• Thickness: thinner lines suit a fine grid. A dense grid with thick lines turns into visual noise quickly.

A good pattern is to make the grid smaller, then compensate by lowering opacity and thickness so it stays readable but quiet.

Drawing Assist

Turn on Drawing Assist to have your strokes snap to the direction of the grid lines. With a fine grid, this helps you draw clean horizontals and verticals without a ruler. Without Drawing Assist, the grid is a visual reference only, and your strokes stay freehand.

Changing grid size on an isometric guide

The Isometric guide also has a Grid Size control. Open the same Drawing Guides screen, switch to the Isometric tab, and adjust the slider. This is useful when you're blocking out 3D-looking objects, environments, or UI elements before taking them into a 3D package.

Using Procreate's grid as a ruler

Procreate doesn't have a dedicated ruler tool, but the 2D Grid can stand in for one. Set the grid size to a known unit, then measure by counting squares.

Two examples:

• Pixel measurement: on a 4000 px canvas, a 250 px grid lets you count in 250 px steps.
• Print dimensions: on an A4 canvas rotated to landscape, a grid with 1-inch squares lets you size a design to, say, 4 × 2 inches and have it print to those dimensions.

If you're printing on US Letter, start from the Paper canvas template instead of A4 so the dimensions match.

Where the grid helps in a motion design workflow

Procreate can be useful early in a motion design process, for boards, style frames, character design, and layout. A well-set grid helps in a few specific ways:

• Consistent framing across boards. If every board uses the same canvas size and grid, composition decisions stay comparable from frame to frame.
• Layout modules for titles and graphics. Dividing a 16:9 canvas into a regular grid makes it easy to plan where type, logos, and lower thirds will sit before you build them in After Effects.
• Proportion control for characters and props. A grid helps keep repeated elements the same size across multiple poses or frames.
• Handoff clarity. When a client or teammate sees your grid, they can reference squares directly ("move this two squares left"), which is easier than describing positions loosely.

One practical note: the grid is a drawing aid overlaid on your canvas. Before exporting boards or style frames, switch Drawing Guide off and check the preview so no lines end up in a deliverable.

Troubleshooting common grid problems

I can't see the grid. Make sure Drawing Guide is toggled on under Actions → Canvas. Then check the opacity and thickness sliders in Edit Drawing Guide. Both can be set low enough that the lines effectively disappear.

The grid size slider is missing. You're probably on a different guide tab. Switch to 2D Grid (or Isometric) at the bottom of the Drawing Guides screen.

My strokes aren't snapping. Grid visibility and snapping are separate. Turn on Drawing Assist to constrain strokes to the guide.

The squares don't fit my canvas evenly. Choose a grid size that divides cleanly into both canvas dimensions. For a 1920 × 1080 canvas, 120 works, as does 60 for finer subdivisions.

The grid is in the wrong place. Drag the blue node to reposition it, or tap a node and choose Reset to return to the default.

I changed it but want to go back. If you haven't tapped Done, tap Cancel to leave the canvas unchanged. Otherwise, reopen Edit Drawing Guide and set the value again.

Quick reference

Once you've set the grid size a few times, the process becomes quick: open Edit Drawing Guide, pick the 2D Grid, type the number you need, and adjust the opacity so the lines support your drawing without taking over.

To change the grid size in Procreate, open Actions (wrench icon) → Canvas, turn on Drawing Guide, and tap Edit Drawing Guide. Select the 2D Grid tab and drag the Grid Size slider at the bottom of the screen, or tap the number above it and type an exact value. Lower values give a tighter, more detailed grid, and higher values give larger squares. Tap Done to keep the change.

Step-by-step: change the grid size

1. Tap the Actions icon (the wrench).
2. Choose Canvas.
3. Toggle on Drawing Guide.
4. Tap Edit Drawing Guide. This opens the Drawing Guides screen.
5. Select 2D Grid from the tabs along the bottom.
6. Find the Grid Size slider at the bottom of the screen and drag it left or right.
7. Tap Done to commit the change, or Cancel to leave the canvas as it was.

The grid appears as thin lines over your artwork.

If you can't find the slider, check that you're on the 2D Grid tab and not Perspective, Isometric, or Symmetry. The 2D Grid and Isometric guides both have a Grid Size control, but Perspective and Symmetry work differently.

Typing an exact grid size

The slider is quick, but it's imprecise. When you need a specific number, tap the numerical readout above the Grid Size slider. A keyboard pops up, and you can enter the exact division you want.

This matters when the grid has to mean something, such as a unit of measurement, a pixel interval, or a layout module. In Procreate's own example, a 4000 × 4000 px canvas with the grid set to 250 px gives 16 × 16 squares. Each square can then stand in for a real-world unit, like one square meter in a floor plan.

What the grid size number actually controls

The value is a spacing between lines, not a count of squares. To work out how many squares fit across your canvas, divide the canvas dimension by the grid size.

For video work, some examples:

• 1920 × 1080 canvas, grid size 120: 16 columns × 9 rows. This makes a clean 16:9 modular layout.
• 3840 × 2160 canvas, grid size 120: 32 columns × 18 rows. It's the same proportions with finer subdivisions.
• 1080 × 1920 vertical canvas, grid size 120: 9 columns × 16 rows. This suits social and mobile-first framing.

If the grid size divides evenly into both canvas dimensions, the squares tile cleanly with no partial cells at the edges. If it doesn't, you'll get a ragged last row or column. That's fine for casual sketching but annoying for layout work.

Making the grid finer or coarser

People often search for this because the default grid feels too loose for precise line work. The fix is to reduce the Grid Size value. A smaller number splits the canvas into more, smaller squares, which gives you more reference points for straight lines and tight alignment.

Go the other way when the grid is cluttering the canvas. Increasing the size gives you fewer, larger squares, which is better for rough composition, thumbnails, and big-picture proportions.

One limit to know about: the 2D Grid uses a single uniform spacing, with the same line color and weight throughout. Some tutorials show a grid where major lines are darker and subdivisions lighter. That's a different technique, usually a custom guide image you create or import yourself, not a built-in setting.

Tune the grid so it helps instead of distracts

Size is only one part of how usable a grid is. The same Drawing Guides screen has several other controls.

Position and rotation

Two nodes appear on the grid:

• The blue node moves the whole grid across the canvas. Use it to line a grid intersection up with a specific point, like the center of a character or the corner of a title area.
• The green node rotates the grid lines. This is handy for angled compositions or when you want the grid to follow a tilted surface.

To return the grid to its default placement, tap either node and choose Reset.

Color, opacity, and thickness

• Color: use the hue bar at the top of the screen. Pick a color that contrasts with your palette so the lines stay visible.
• Opacity: lower it so the grid guides you without competing with the artwork.
• Thickness: thinner lines suit a fine grid. A dense grid with thick lines turns into visual noise quickly.

A good pattern is to make the grid smaller, then compensate by lowering opacity and thickness so it stays readable but quiet.

Drawing Assist

Turn on Drawing Assist to have your strokes snap to the direction of the grid lines. With a fine grid, this helps you draw clean horizontals and verticals without a ruler. Without Drawing Assist, the grid is a visual reference only, and your strokes stay freehand.

Changing grid size on an isometric guide

The Isometric guide also has a Grid Size control. Open the same Drawing Guides screen, switch to the Isometric tab, and adjust the slider. This is useful when you're blocking out 3D-looking objects, environments, or UI elements before taking them into a 3D package.

Using Procreate's grid as a ruler

Procreate doesn't have a dedicated ruler tool, but the 2D Grid can stand in for one. Set the grid size to a known unit, then measure by counting squares.

Two examples:

• Pixel measurement: on a 4000 px canvas, a 250 px grid lets you count in 250 px steps.
• Print dimensions: on an A4 canvas rotated to landscape, a grid with 1-inch squares lets you size a design to, say, 4 × 2 inches and have it print to those dimensions.

If you're printing on US Letter, start from the Paper canvas template instead of A4 so the dimensions match.

Where the grid helps in a motion design workflow

Procreate can be useful early in a motion design process, for boards, style frames, character design, and layout. A well-set grid helps in a few specific ways:

• Consistent framing across boards. If every board uses the same canvas size and grid, composition decisions stay comparable from frame to frame.
• Layout modules for titles and graphics. Dividing a 16:9 canvas into a regular grid makes it easy to plan where type, logos, and lower thirds will sit before you build them in After Effects.
• Proportion control for characters and props. A grid helps keep repeated elements the same size across multiple poses or frames.
• Handoff clarity. When a client or teammate sees your grid, they can reference squares directly ("move this two squares left"), which is easier than describing positions loosely.

One practical note: the grid is a drawing aid overlaid on your canvas. Before exporting boards or style frames, switch Drawing Guide off and check the preview so no lines end up in a deliverable.

Troubleshooting common grid problems

I can't see the grid. Make sure Drawing Guide is toggled on under Actions → Canvas. Then check the opacity and thickness sliders in Edit Drawing Guide. Both can be set low enough that the lines effectively disappear.

The grid size slider is missing. You're probably on a different guide tab. Switch to 2D Grid (or Isometric) at the bottom of the Drawing Guides screen.

My strokes aren't snapping. Grid visibility and snapping are separate. Turn on Drawing Assist to constrain strokes to the guide.

The squares don't fit my canvas evenly. Choose a grid size that divides cleanly into both canvas dimensions. For a 1920 × 1080 canvas, 120 works, as does 60 for finer subdivisions.

The grid is in the wrong place. Drag the blue node to reposition it, or tap a node and choose Reset to return to the default.

I changed it but want to go back. If you haven't tapped Done, tap Cancel to leave the canvas unchanged. Otherwise, reopen Edit Drawing Guide and set the value again.

Quick reference

Once you've set the grid size a few times, the process becomes quick: open Edit Drawing Guide, pick the 2D Grid, type the number you need, and adjust the opacity so the lines support your drawing without taking over.