How to Create a Grid in Adobe Illustrator

Oftentimes, when you’re working on illustrations, you’ll find yourself needing to create a grid. This might be for a table, a perspective effect, or any number of other reasons. Keep in mind that in Adobe Illustrator, there are grids and then there are grids! The kind of grid I’m talking about here is a grid that becomes a part of your illustration, not the grid you use to help you align things when designing your stuff! That just a matter of selecting View > Show Grid.

Anyway, let’s have a look at how to use Adobe Illustrator to create a grid.

Types of Grids in Adobe Illustrator

In Illustrator, you can create a rectangular grid, or a polar grid. A rectangular grid is self-explanatory, I hope, while a polar grid is circular, or radial if you like.

How to Create a Rectangular Grid

1. Start by opening an illustration or creating a new one.
2. Select the Advanced Toolbar by going to Window > Toolbars > Advanced.
   
   
   
3. Select the Rectangular Grid Tool.
   
   
   
   
4. Click and drag across the artboard to create a grid.

Ok, so this creates a grid, but it uses the default settings. If you want to be more specific, do the following:

1. After selecting the Rectangular Grid Tool, click anywhere on the artboard.
   
   
   
   
2. In the Rectangular Grid Tool Options dialog box, use the textboxes to input the width and height of the grid.
3. Use the Horizontal and Vertical Divider options to input the number of rows and columns you need for your grid.
4. Click on the OK button when done.

Pro Tip: As you click and drag to create the Grid, before you release the mouse button, try using the left and right arrow keys to increase or decrease the Dividers. You can also use the Up and Down arrow keys .

How to Create a Polar Grid

Alright, now you’ve had some fun with a rectangular grid, let’s try the Polar Grid.

1. From the Advanced Toolbar, select the Polar Grid Tool.
2. Click and drag across the artboard to create a grid.

As per the Rectangular Grid, you can also click on the artboard to open the Polar Grid Tool Options dialog box. In here, you can make adjustments just as before.

Pro Tip: As you click and drag to create the Polar Grid, you can also use the left, right, up and down arrow keys to increase or decrease the Concentric Dividers.

Conclusion

Both the Rectangular Grid and Polar Grid tools are simple to use, and you can use them to make all kinds of shapes and effects. The main thing is to experiment and practice using these tools, and don’t forget to check out the keyboard shortcuts.