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Posted on 04/04/06 03:47:58 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2166 Reply  |
printable grids
Anybody know an easy way to produce a printable grid that can be laid over a photograph? The attached sample was done in Pagemaker.  |
Posted on 04/04/06 08:37:18 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply  |
Re: printable grids
Surprisingly, there's no immediate feature in PS that will produce grids. I usually draw them myself using the following technique: 1. On a new layer, make a rectangular selection 1 pixel wide, and fill. 2. Holding opt/alt, nudge this to the side and back again to duplicate the selection. 3. Enter Free Transform with cmd/ctrl T, then drag or nudge the line to its second location, and press Enter. 4. press opt-shift-command/alt-shift-ctrl T to duplicate this movement as many times as is necessary to make a row. 5. Duplicate the layer, rotate 90 degrees, and extend as necessary. Once you've drawn the grid you want, save it - and then you can apply it to any image later. |
Posted on 04/04/06 09:20:06 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2166 Reply |
Re: printable grids
Thanks Steve, I will give it a go. It's a reliefe to know I wasn't being stupid, and that it really was straight forward. Cheers Vibeke |
Posted on 04/04/06 10:52:17 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply |
Re: printable grids
I'm sure there must be an easier way. Anyone got any suggestions? |
Posted on 04/04/06 12:33:15 PM |
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Bob
Expert Expressionist Posts: 130 Reply  |
Re: printable grids
The easiest way I know is to use pattern fill. Select the regular marquee tool, then, in the options bar, set the style to fixed size and height and width to the dimensions of the cell. On a new empty layer click once to create a selection. Now fill the selection with the color you wish to make the grid lines. With the selection still active, use the arrow keys to nudge the selection down and right the number of pixels you want the line width to be. Then delete. Use the arrow keys to nudge the selection back to its original position. You now have a cell with the left and top edge lines. Now, Edit>Define Pattern to create the cell pattern. Clear the layer or delete it and create a new one. Then, set the marquee style back to normal and select the area where you want the grid. Now use the fill pattern tool with the cell pattern you just created to create the grid. Close off the bottom and right sides if necessary. Takes much longer to describe than to do. If you use the same size cells often, keep the patterns and they are there when you need them. |
Posted on 04/04/06 8:15:02 PM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2166 Reply |
Re: printable grids
Thanks Bob Brilliant, it was really easy, to finish off I exported it as an online Gif, so I now have several ready grids with transparent backgrounds. Thanks |
Posted on 06/04/06 09:16:38 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply |
Re: printable grids
Excellent solution, Bob. A variation on this is to use the Pattern Overlay section of the Layer Style dialog: this will give you the chance to scale the pattern as you apply it (although you do frequently get slightly fuzzy lines this way, if that's an issue). |