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Grid maker for drawing
Choose a photo and the size of the squares, and you get two pages: the photo with a grid over it, and a blank grid with the same squares to draw on. Copy one square at a time and the drawing comes out in proportion, which is how artists have enlarged and copied pictures for centuries.
The squares print at the size you choose, in inches or centimeters, numbered along the top and lettered down the side so you never lose your place. Your photo stays on your device.
How the grid method works
- Choose a photo and a square size, then print both pages: the photo with the grid, and the blank grid.
- Draw lightly in pencil. Look at one square of the photo, say B3, and copy only what is inside it into square B3 of the blank grid: where each line enters and leaves the square, and where it bends.
- Work square by square until the whole picture is there, then go over the lines you want to keep and erase the grid.
Which square size?
Smaller squares mean more of them and an easier copy, because each one holds less: half an inch (or 1 cm) suits faces and fine detail, an inch (or 2 to 3 cm) suits most photos. Bigger squares are quicker for simple shapes and for children.
To draw the picture bigger than the photo, choose Fill the page for the blank grid: it keeps the same number of squares and makes each one larger. For a canvas or a wall, draw the same number of squares on it: a grid of 7 by 9 squares on a 14 by 18 inch canvas gives 2 inch squares.
Print at Actual size or 100% so the squares come out at the size you chose, and see how to check it with a ruler. For plain squared paper, there is graph paper in several sizes.