GIMP Version: 2.8.14
Operating System: Windows
GIMP Experience: Basic Level

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There's no hotkey that turns the Grid on or off?

Every time I want to use the Grid, I have to manually reconfigure its dimensions, because it is too small for the work I do. Is there an option to change the default Grid size the program starts with?

Thanks!

You can assign a short cut
under Edit -> Preferences -> Interface -> Scroll down to Keyboard Shortcuts and look for the one you want and just enable it and hit a Key to make it shortcut.

I totally agree about the default grid with the small spacing. However You can set up a custom grid from Edit -> Preferences Default Image -> Default Grid. These are my settings.



There are also settings for an image-by-image basis. For any image Image -> Configure Grid. Like other properties guides / active selections ... this is saved when you SAVE the image as a Gimp .xcf file.

OK. This is whack: After changing the default grid size in Preferences\Default Grid, the grid I end up with is HALF the size of what I expect GIMP to use. What the heck is going on?

Apparently, I cannot post screenshots without first finding some image hosting service and linking to that. So I have to describe what happens, instead of showing:

In Preferences\Default Grid, and under Spacing, I have entered a grid size of .100—the size I've used for months.

Subsequently, when I add a grid to an image, it seems smaller than it should be. Sure enough, upon pulling up Image\Configure Grid, I see the Spacing in inches listed at .050, instead of .100. It appears that I have to manually change this grid size for every image going forward into perpetuity, regardless of how I set up Preferences\Default Grid.

Is this behavior a bug or a feature?

Your problem is using real world units (inches / millimetres..etc) while Gimp used pixels.
This is the default Gimp 2.10, where the default image uses a resolution of 300 pixels-per-inch (ppi)
The default grid settings is 10 pixels (very small spacing IMHO) and that gives a inches value of 0.033 inches.



If the image ppi changes, and that can be the default value you set or the ppi of the open image the spacing in inches will change. The spacing in pixels still the same-old-10 pix. This if you changed the default ppi to say 96 - a common value for some images - the grid spacing is now 0.104 inches and still 10 pixels.



The bottom line is, there is no automatic setting for inches spacing, only for pixels spacing. For inches, yes you will have to change this on an image-by-image basis and no it is not a bug.

The images I edit most often are scanned at 600 dpi. What you are saying tracks with my intended grid size being cut in half.

It seems that to get around this, I must change my perspective and alter grid size in pixels, not inches. When I set that pixel size to 60 (.1 inches equated to 30 pixels), I end up with the grid size I need for my work.

Thanks.

If you have time for another question, could you share what image hosting service you are using to post those screenshots?

If you only use scanned images with a resolution of 600 ppi and you want a 1/2 " grid then set the default grid spacing to 300 pixels.

Any other image resolution, say you have an image with resolution of 250 ppi then you set a grid spacing of 125 pix for that 1/2" spacing. You would do that on an image-by-image basic using Image -> Configure Grid.

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The sceenshots are on the forum as attachments. Otherwise, I usually use imur.com