Four of us in New York. Juniors kept deleting guides before export. Locked construction layers fixed that faster than another process doc the team ignored.
Marcus Holt
Principal · Brand Practice, New York
7 free grids · 7-day Pro trial
Install GridMe in four steps
The logo grid panel for Adobe Illustrator. Generate construction grids without rebuilding guides on every revision. One download for Mac and Windows.
Follow the four steps below to install with the free setup app. First launch unlocks a full Pro trial. No credit card required.
Install guide
Follow these four steps
Go in order. Each one takes about a minute.
Step 1 · Download
Save the GridMe file in your computer
Click Download at the top of this page. One file goes to your Downloads folder. Leave it there. You will need it in step 3.
Step 2 · One-time setup
Install the setup app
Illustrator needs a small free setup app first. Your platform is highlighted below. Install it like any normal app. You only do this once.
Step 3 · Add GridMe
Load GridMe into the setup app
Open the setup app. Click Open and select the file from step 1. Wait for the success message before you move on.
Step 4 · Open in Illustrator
Start GridMe in Illustrator
Quit Illustrator fully, then open it again. Go to Window, Extensions, GridMe. Paste your key from your account or invite email when asked.
Let's Cook
Real output from the panel
Foundation grids, construction overlays, clearspace zones, and Present sheets from identity work inside Illustrator.
From the field
Less grid grunt, more client work
Studios and freelancers on the designer beta. Quotes from real sessions, not a marketing deck.
Friday was grid day for me. Anchors, fitted circles, and foundation grids land on locked layers while the mark stays editable. I log off before dinner now.
Liam Brennan
Identity designer · Freelance, Dublin
Legal wanted ghost copies on the working AI file, not a guessed margin in PDF. It matches how we write exclusion zones in the brand book. Fewer review loops.
Rachel Torres
Founder · Torres Identity, Austin
Holding company brief: three sub-brands, three exclusion zones. Multi-zone clearspace beat redrawing wrappers by hand. Nothing outlined, nothing flattened.
Nadia Rousseau
Design director · Atelier Nord, Paris
I dock it under Window Extensions like any native panel. Select the art, generate, keep talking on client Zoom. No script dialog sitting over the artwork.
Carlos Mendes
Illustrator specialist · Freelance, São Paulo
Round marks: I used to eyeball fitted circles. Three-point fit on a locked overlay is what I pin in crits. Looks like the tracing I did, without the tracing time.
Sofia Lindstrom
Senior designer · Lindstrom Identity, Stockholm
I still sketch on paper for mood boards. In Illustrator I dock GridMe, run clearspace the day we sign off, and hand legal a file that matches the PDF.
Elena Marchetti
Identity designer · Studio Marchetti, Milan
Clearspace and Present sit in the same panel as construction. We stopped billing a half day just to draw wrappers and min-size blocks nobody asked for.
Tobias Keller
Creative director · Keller Studio, Berlin
Hex badge Tuesday, baseline wordmark Thursday. I doubted seven grid types until both showed up the same week. One panel, same habit, no context switching.
James Okonkwo
Logo designer · Okonkwo Marks, London
The color matrix at 11pm was my punishment. Present drops a four-up sheet on a locked layer beside construction so I quit rebuilding swatches for every deck.
Kenji Watanabe
Brand design specialist · Freelance, Tokyo
Monthly for one pharma rebrand, annual after the second. One billable hour we used to spend placing guides covers the year. My studio lead approved it same day.
Claire Beaumont
Senior logo designer · Freelance, Sydney
Three retainers, three machines. Activate each seat once, then the panel runs offline on flights. That matters more than another tab I have to babysit in a browser.
Tom Callahan
Illustrator specialist · Contract identity, Chicago
FAQ
Before you install
Pricing, trials, locked layers, offline use, and what happens to your artwork when you generate.
Yes. The trial starts automatically the first time you open the panel. When it ends, Base stays unlocked. Pro tabs show a lock until you subscribe or enter a license key.