Quick Colors

VIEW

60%
Workspace Color
Page Setup

GRID


35%

Page

Print Margins

Layout System

Editor-only guides for modular poster layouts. These never appear in exports.

Structure Object spacing Baseline Axes

Background

Add Items

Items

Selection Inspector

No item selected. Click any item in the left-hand sidebar to add it to the canvas.

How to use GridSmith (Quick Start)

Once items are added, click on any item on the page and it will load the controls for that item here in the Inspector. Hitting the Delete key will automatically delete any item on the page.

  • Add items: Click an item from the ADD ITEMS section in the left-hand sidebar to add it to the page. Pattern Library and SVG Library open searchable asset browsers.
  • Select multiple items: Click and drag on empty space to draw a selection box. Hold Shift while clicking items to add or remove them from the selection.
  • Move items as a group: With multiple items selected, drag any selected item or use the arrow keys to move the entire group.
  • Align and distribute items: When two or more items are selected, alignment and distribution controls appear in the Inspector:
    • Align Items aligns objects to each other (left, right, top, bottom, or centered).
    • Distribute Evenly spaces items evenly horizontally or vertically.
  • Edit items: Click any item on the page to load its controls here in the Selection Inspector (here in the right column).
  • Delete items: Select an item and press Delete.
  • Duplicate items: Select an item and press ⌘/Ctrl+D (duplicates with a small offset). Or hold ⌘/Ctrl+Shift while dragging an item to duplicate while placing.
  • Save your layout: Use Save JSON to download a layout file you can reload later.
  • Reload a layout: Use Open JSON to open a saved layout design file.
  • Apply colors fast: Drag a swatch, from the Palette Bar, onto any color field (Text, Fill, Border, Background, etc.). The Palette Bar is able to import any swatch palette you want. Custom color palettes can be created using Palette Grabber Pro .
  • Quick Colors: Mix your own custom colors, then use the grab-dotor drag/drop to apply those colors to different objects or text items or save them to a topbar Quick Color slot.
  • See the whole page in the window: Use Fit to Screen or press F to center and frame the page in your workspace.
  • Change the desktop around your poster: Use VIEW → Workspace Color to switch the surrounding workspace between white, grey, and black.
  • Undo has a key command: ⌘/Ctrl+Z
    You can perform multiple undos.
  • Redo has a key command: ⇧+⌘/Ctrl+Z
  • For photos, set Fit Mode to Fill Frame to use the Image Position feature. – Works with Fill Frame mode sliders; other modes ignore those position controls.
  • View shortcuts: F = Fit to Screen, G = Show/Hide Grid, S = Show/Hide Structure, P = Preview, Esc = Exit Preview, 1 = 100%, + / = = Zoom In, − = Zoom Out. The zoom slider also supports arrow keys after it is focused.
  • Scroll Color PaletteUse the Shift key ⇧ and the wheel on your mouse.
  • Move items faster Hold Shift while pressing ↑/↓ in X, Y, W, H fields to jump by 100 pixels.
Copyright
© Liam Hayes. All rights reserved.
GridSmith is a free browser-based poster design app by Green Macaroni.
Google Fonts are used under their respective open-source licenses; font copyrights remain with their respective designers and rightsholders.

Quick tips

• Use Save JSON to download your layout, then reload it later with Open JSON.
• Undo has a key command: ⌘/Ctrl+Z You can perform multiple undos.
• Redo has a key command: ⇧+⌘/Ctrl+Z
• Duplicate selected item: ⌘/Ctrl+D (offset copy) or ⌘/Ctrl+Shift+Drag (duplicate while placing).
• Drag a color palette chip onto any color field (Text, Box, Line, Box Border, etc.) to apply that swatch and copy its hex code to the clipboard.
• For photos, set Fit Mode to Fill Frame to use the Image Position – Works with Fill Frame mode sliders; other modes ignore those position controls.
• View shortcuts: F = Fit to Screen, G = Show/Hide Grid, S = Show/Hide Structure, P = Preview, Esc = Exit Preview, 1 = 100%, + / = = Zoom In, − = Zoom Out. The zoom slider also supports arrow keys after it is focused.
• Color palettes can be created using Palette Grabber Pro .
• To scroll along the Color Palette Row, just use the Shift key ⇧ and the wheel on your mouse.
• To save a custom color: click any Inspector color swatch to mix it, then drag the small bullseye dot beside it onto a topbar Quick Color slot.
• Hold Shift while pressing ↑/↓ in X, Y, W, H fields to jump by 100 pixels.
• Drag on empty space to select multiple items. Use Align and Distribute controls to arrange them evenly.