PortableGrid 0.3.3

PortableGrid 0.3.3

• Clear works on every grid on the artboard, including grids drawn on a selection or on objects, and always uses the current artboards (before, it could miss grids drawn with a different "Draw into" choice).
• Grid check only judges your own artwork: page layouts built by PortableGrid are on the grid by construction and no longer count as off-grid.
• Tested end to end in Illustrator 2023 (panel) and Photoshop 2023: guides, cells, lines layer, single-step undo, Clear, tile export and platform documents.

Platform	File
Windows 10/11	PortableGrid-0.3.3-setup.exe
macOS	PortableGrid-0.3.3.pkg
Any ZXP installer	PortableGrid-0.3.3.zxp
Manual install	PortableGrid-0.3.3-windows.zip / PortableGrid-0.3.3-macos.zip

PortableGrid 0.3.2

PortableGrid 0.3.2: choose the colour of your guides.

• New Guides colour in the Draw section, for guides and margins (the Cells & lines colour still styles cells, baselines and drawn lines).
• Guides are drawn as:
  • Illustrator guides: the colour is applied to Illustrator's guide colour, which Illustrator shares across all documents.
  • Coloured lines: guides and margins become locked, non-printing coloured lines, so every grid keeps its own colour.
• The live preview shows the guide colour.

Platform	File
Windows 10/11	PortableGrid-0.3.2-setup.exe
macOS	PortableGrid-0.3.2.pkg
Any ZXP installer	PortableGrid-0.3.2.zxp
Manual install	PortableGrid-0.3.2-windows.zip / PortableGrid-0.3.2-macos.zip

PortableGrid 0.3.1

PortableGrid 0.3.1: fixes the panel getting stuck on "Drawing…".

• The panel now sends one request to Illustrator/Photoshop at a time. Overlapping requests could make Illustrator drop a reply, and every later request (including Draw) then waited forever.
• Every request has a time limit. If the app stops answering, the panel says so clearly instead of hanging, and reconnects by itself when the app answers again.
• Background checks (live preview, artboard sync) only run while you use the panel, never while you work on the canvas.

Everything from 0.3.0 is included.

Platform	File
Windows 10/11	PortableGrid-0.3.1-setup.exe
macOS	PortableGrid-0.3.1.pkg
Any ZXP installer	PortableGrid-0.3.1.zxp
Manual install	PortableGrid-0.3.1-windows.zip / PortableGrid-0.3.1-macos.zip

PortableGrid 0.3.0

PortableGrid 0.3.0: grids that live in your document and layouts that use your own content.

New

• Grids are saved in the document. Reopen a file and each artboard's grid is still there; switch artboards and the panel shows that artboard's grid. Pages can mix grids (for example a 12-column news page next to a 3-column feature), and page layouts use each page's own grid.
• Grids follow your artboards. Resize an artboard and its grid redraws itself.
• Drag to adjust: drag the margins or a gutter in the live preview.
• Your own content in page layouts: paste or load an article (first line headline, then standfirst, body, > pull quote, Caption: lines) and pick a folder of images; photos are placed, filled and cropped to the frames.
• PortableStudio brands: use a brand's fonts, name, copy and photos in a layout with one click.
• Overset warning: text that doesn't fit is reported and marked with a red + (never printed).
• Keyboard shortcuts in the panel (Ctrl+Enter draw, Alt+G toggle grid, Alt+S snap, Alt+C check, Alt+L layout, Alt+↑/↓ presets), and Illustrator menu commands (File › Scripts) for Toggle grid, Snap and Grid check.
• Share presets: import and export preset files.
• Update notice when a new version is out (turn it off in Settings).
• One undo for a whole grid in Photoshop too; the grid layer never prints in Illustrator.
• Installers can now be code-signed automatically (see docs/SIGNING.md).

Download

Platform	File
Windows 10/11	PortableGrid-0.3.0-setup.exe
macOS (Intel & Apple silicon)	PortableGrid-0.3.0.pkg
Any ZXP installer	PortableGrid-0.3.0.zxp (signed)
Manual install	PortableGrid-0.3.0-windows.zip / PortableGrid-0.3.0-macos.zip

After installing, restart Illustrator/Photoshop and open Window › Extensions › PortableGrid. Please report anything that doesn't work, especially in Photoshop and on macOS.

PortableGrid 0.2.0

PortableGrid 0.2.0: the free, open-source layout grid plugin for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop now designs with you, not just for you.

New

• Magazine page layouts (Illustrator): article, feature opener, spread, news page, photo grid and cover, built on your grid with image frames, threaded body columns, captions, pull quotes, running heads and page numbers. Every text frame sits on the baseline grid and uses editable PG paragraph styles.
• Harmonious grid from one number: type your body text size and get the baseline, margins, gutters and rows, all locked together.
• Lock rows to the baseline grid: every module is a whole number of baselines.
• Snap to grid: move (and optionally resize) messy objects onto the nearest columns, rows and baselines.
• Grid check: scores how much of the page is on the grid and outlines what isn't.
• Type styles on the grid: a modular type scale as paragraph styles with baseline-locked leading.
• Creator safe zones: Instagram Story and Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, thumbnail, channel banner and the Instagram 4:5 profile-grid crop, with one-click artboards at the right size.
• 33 presets, a cleaner live preview, and Export tiles no longer includes the grid itself.

Download

Platform	File
Windows 10/11	PortableGrid-0.2.0-setup.exe: installer, no admin rights needed
macOS (Intel & Apple silicon)	PortableGrid-0.2.0.pkg
Any ZXP installer	PortableGrid-0.2.0.zxp: signed Adobe extension
Manual install	PortableGrid-0.2.0-windows.zip / PortableGrid-0.2.0-macos.zip

After installing, restart Illustrator/Photoshop and open Window › Extensions › PortableGrid (Photoshop: Window › Extensions (Legacy)).

Tested in Illustrator 2023. Photoshop support (guides, cells, lines and safe zones as layers, tile export) is newer: please report anything that doesn't work. The installers aren't signed with paid developer certificates yet, so Windows SmartScreen or macOS may ask you to confirm.

PortableGrid 0.1.0

PortableGrid 0.1.0 (beta): a free, open-source layout grid plugin for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

What it does

• Layout grids: column, modular, baseline, hierarchical (2fr 1fr, 240px auto), manuscript, Van de Graaf canon, fixed-width web containers and facing pages
• Composition guides: rule of thirds, phi grid, golden spiral, golden triangles, harmonic armature, diagonals
• Drawing grids: square (8pt), dot, isometric, triangle and hexagon
• Draw as guides, cells, styled lines or artboards on the active artboard, all artboards, the selection or each selected object
• Arrange objects into cells, split artwork into tiles and export tiles as numbered PNG/JPEG (Instagram 3 × 3 grids and carousels)
• 26 presets plus your own, a live preview, and any unit in any field (px, pt, mm, cm, in, %)

Download

Platform	File
Windows 10/11	PortableGrid-0.1.0-setup.exe: installer, no admin rights needed
macOS (Intel & Apple silicon)	PortableGrid-0.1.0.pkg
Any ZXP installer	PortableGrid-0.1.0.zxp: signed Adobe extension
Manual install	PortableGrid-0.1.0-windows.zip / PortableGrid-0.1.0-macos.zip

After installing, restart Illustrator/Photoshop and open Window › Extensions › PortableGrid (Photoshop: Window › Extensions (Legacy)).

This is a beta: please report anything that doesn't work. Requires Adobe Illustrator 2021+ and/or Photoshop 2021+. The installers aren't signed with paid developer certificates yet, so Windows SmartScreen or macOS may ask you to confirm.