What’s on the The Baseline Grid poster
A definition and 6 facts worth remembering.
A horizontal grid spaced at the body leading, which every baseline snaps to. Headings, captions and images are then sized in whole multiples of that unit.
- Text lines up across columns and across a spread.
- Space above and below a heading sums to a multiple.
- Captions at a smaller size take half-line steps.
- Images are sized so their edges land on a line.
- Back-up: type on both sides of a leaf aligns.
- It is a discipline, not an automatic improvement.
- Grid unit — = the body leading
- Everything — in whole multiples
- Body set 10/13 gives a 13-point grid, so a heading occupies 26 or 39 points including…
The grid exists to be broken deliberately. A full-bleed image or a display opening owes the baseline nothing.
Questions about the The Baseline Grid poster
- What’s on the The Baseline Grid poster?
- A definition and 6 facts worth remembering. A horizontal grid spaced at the body leading, which every baseline snaps to. Headings, captions and images are then sized in whole multiples of that unit. Text lines up across columns and across a spread.; Space above and below a heading sums to a multiple.; Captions at a smaller size take half-line steps.; Images are sized so their edges land on a line.; Back-up: type on both sides of a leaf aligns.; It is a discipline, not an automatic improvement.; Grid unit — = the body leading; Everything — in whole multiples; Body set 10/13 gives a 13-point grid, so a heading occupies 26 or 39 points including…. The grid exists to be broken deliberately. A full-bleed image or a display opening owes the baseline nothing.
- Who is the The Baseline Grid poster for?
- The Baseline Grid belongs to the Art & Design section rather than to a school year, because design is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning typography can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the The Baseline Grid poster?
- Use it in multi-column or multi-page work where text must align across a spread. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so The Baseline Grid belongs on the wall where that design work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with The Baseline Grid?
- Kerning, Tracking, Leading, Dashes & Quotes and Figures & Small Caps sit alongside The Baseline Grid in the Art & Design section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Kerning, Tracking, LeadingDashes & QuotesFigures & Small Caps
- Is the The Baseline Grid poster free to download and print?
- Yes. The Baseline Grid downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Art & Design section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the The Baseline Grid poster print at?
- The Baseline Grid is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of The Baseline Grid loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside The Baseline Grid on the same wall.
Browse every Art & Design poster, or start from the full catalogue.