Transfer Drawing to Canvas, with an Exact Grid

How the transfer works

1. Grid your photo. Drop it above, the tool opens with your image loaded. Set the cell size in centimetres or inches. Which size to name, given the sheet in front of you, is the job of the grid maker for drawing.
2. Print the empty grid on your paper. In the Export tab, "Transfer to paper" builds a faint, true-size grid PDF for your sheet, A5 to A2, portrait or landscape, or any custom size. The by-hand version, and the check that catches a print the dialog has scaled, is how to transfer a grid to paper at true size.
3. Draw cell by cell. Reference and paper now carry the same cells. No measuring, no hand-drawn grid, no compounding ruler errors.

Already have a gridded reference?

You don't need to re-upload anything. Count the cells on your reference, pick your paper, the matching blank grid is one click. If your paper is a different shape from the picture, settle that first: how to crop a photo to your canvas ratio.

Cell size on paper: 3.5 cm · print at 100 % (actual size), never "Fit to page".

For sheets you can't print on

Stretched canvas and large or precious paper never see a printer. For those, the tool prints a ruler strip to lay along the edges, or a mark table for a tape measure and a chalk line, the marks include shifted grids and partial edge cells. And if the sheet is simply larger than your printer, the grid is tiled across pages and taped together instead: poster print grid.

What to use it with

This page moves the grid onto the paper; what to do with it once it is there is the grid for drawing page, which covers the density that suits a subject and where the lines should fall. To name the square you are in rather than count to it, put lettered and numbered cells on the reference with the image grid maker, and the printed sheet carries the same addresses. Whether the reference has the pixels for the size you are about to print is settled by how to check the real print size of a reference. And if you are still deciding whether to grid at all, the alternatives are weighed in grid method compared with tracing and projector.

Frequently asked questions

Does the printed grid really match my reference?

Yes, both grids share the same cell count, and the paper grid is generated as a vector PDF at true size. Print at 100 % and a 2 cm cell measures 2 cm.

What if my paper has a different shape than the photo?

Cells stay square. The grid is fitted and centered with even margins, or you crop the photo to your paper's ratio first, right in the tool.

Can I use it with a grid made in another app?

Yes. Count the columns and rows on your reference, enter them above, pick your paper, the blank grid needs no upload at all.

How do I transfer to a stretched canvas?

Print the ruler strip and lay it along each edge, or use the mark table with a tape measure and connect opposite marks with a straightedge or chalk line.