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Product Updates

What's New in Grid Maker Pro

Continuous improvement driven by user feedback. From the original 6-overlay launch in 2024 to today's 82-overlay catalogue and public API — every release notes entry below ties to a feature you can use right now.

Current Version v5.0.0 May 2026
82 Overlays Shipped
286 SEO Landing Pages
50K+ Active Artists

Latest Updates

Recent improvements and new features

v5.0.0 Major Update
May 2026

Catalogue & Public API

286 SEO landing pages spanning 11 category hubs and the full 82-overlay catalogue, and a public overlay data API under CC BY 4.0.

  • ✨ 286 landing pages: hubs, leaves, pillars, glossary
  • /api/overlays.json public dataset
v4.5.0 Minor Update
April 2026

Sacred Geometry, Typography & Architecture Hubs

Sacred geometry hub launched with all 19 traditions (Flower of Life through Platonic Solids), the typography + design templates hubs, and the Le Corbusier Modulor calculator under architecture grids.

  • ✨ 19-overlay sacred geometry hub
  • ✨ Typography hub (6 overlays incl. 12-col web grid)
  • ✨ Modulor proportion calculator
  • 🎨 Per-overlay color + opacity + line width controls
v4.4.0 Minor Update
March 2026

Overlay Search, Reilly Method & Isometric

Searchable overlay picker (no more scrolling through 80+ entries), the Reilly head construction method as an alternative to Loomis, and the isometric grid for technical illustration.

  • ✨ Overlay search box on right-hand panel
  • ✨ Reilly head construction overlay
  • ✨ Isometric grid with adjustable density
  • 📱 Improved iPad touch gestures

Complete Version History

Every update we've shipped since launch

Version 5.0.0

Major Update
May 2026

New Features

  • 286 SEO landing pages: 11 category hubs, 78 overlay leaves, 6 Tier-S tool landings, 12 educational pillars, 19 glossary entries, 4 audience hubs, 14 sub-segments, 8 competitor comparisons
  • Flagship 5,640-word pillar at /learn/82-composition-overlays
  • Founder + methodology E-E-A-T anchor pages
  • Public overlay data API at /api/overlays.json (CC BY 4.0)
  • Workspace export/import (JSON of all presets)
  • Hero tool deep-link integration (?overlay= and ?paper= URL params)
  • CSS-only mega-menu in the site header
  • Master glossary index page

Improvements

  • 5-script audit infrastructure (internal links, schema, similarity, deep links, image alt)
  • 85 per-page OG images for social previews
  • Analytics + PostHog scaffolding
  • Newsletter dual-backend (Buttondown + Web3Forms)
  • Editorial calendar + 6 new blog posts
  • 10-video YouTube content kit

Bug Fixes

  • Schema validation pass across all 1,153+ JSON-LD blocks (0 errors)
  • 21 legacy Gridmaker [Name].html URLs now 301-redirect to clean paths
  • Fixed sibling-similarity drift on the sacred-geometry leaves

Version 4.5.0

Minor Update
April 2026

New Features

  • Sacred geometry hub launched with all 19 traditions — Flower of Life, Seed of Life, Metatron's Cube, Vesica Piscis, Sri Yantra, Tree of Life, Merkaba, hexagram, pentagram, Egg of Life, Fruit of Life, Yin-Yang, Enneagram, Islamic 8-point, Islamic 12-point, Borromean Rings, Torus Field, Ain Soph, Celtic Triquetra, Platonic Solids
  • Typography hub with 6 overlays incl. 12-column web grid, baseline grid, 8pt spacing
  • Design templates hub with comic panel, storyboard, logo construction, icon grid, mobile app layout, poster/editorial, social media safe zones
  • Architecture grids with Le Corbusier Modulor calculator + structural grid + tartan grid
  • Per-overlay color, opacity, and line-width controls

Improvements

  • Overlay stacking — keep multiple overlays active at once, reorder with drag handles
  • Refined transform handles: rotation, scale, skew now snap to common angles
  • Improved high-DPI rendering for export

Version 4.4.0

Minor Update
March 2026

New Features

  • Overlay search box on the right-hand panel — type to filter 80+ overlays by name or category
  • Reilly head construction overlay as an alternative to Loomis (aliased under the same head-method IDs)
  • Isometric grid with adjustable density for technical illustration and game art
  • Dimetric and trimetric projection overlays for industrial drawing

Improvements

  • Improved touch gesture support on iPad — pinch to scale, two-finger rotate
  • Sharper line antialiasing at high zoom
  • Faster startup with route-level code splitting

Version 4.3.0

Minor Update
February 2026

New Features

  • Share button: copy the current overlay + transform state as a shareable URL
  • Recents panel: last 5 uploaded images stored locally for quick recall
  • Crop tool for trimming reference images before applying overlays
  • Per-overlay opacity slider in the right-hand panel

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed transform handles disappearing after rapid overlay switches
  • Resolved colour-picker reset when toggling overlays

Version 4.2.0

Minor Update
January 2026

New Features

  • All 8 composition overlays complete — rule of thirds, golden ratio, golden spiral, golden triangle, diagonal method, center cross, rule of fifths, quadrant
  • Per-overlay transform finalized: move + rotate + scale + skew with snap-to-axis
  • Diagonal method, center cross, and rule of fifths added to the composition hub

Improvements

  • Right-hand panel reorganized by category for faster discovery
  • Image upload now accepts HEIC alongside PNG/JPG/WebP

Version 4.0.0

Major Update
November 2025

New Features

  • Complete platform rewrite on Next.js with static export for instant loads
  • ~40 overlays across 7 categories — composition, artist guides, dynamic symmetry, perspective, specialty, sacred geometry, advanced composition
  • Client-side processing remains — images never leave your device
  • Real-time preview as you adjust settings
  • High-quality PNG export with retina-aware rendering

Improvements

  • 3× faster performance compared to v3.x
  • Better browser compatibility (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge — last two majors)
  • Fully responsive mobile design with refined touch targets

Breaking Changes

  • Removed any remaining server-side processing — now 100% client-side
  • Dropped support for IE11 and pre-2022 browser builds

2024–2025 history

Summary
Launch through Oct 2025

Grid Maker Pro launched in late 2024 with 6 overlays — square, rectangular, custom grid, rule of thirds, golden ratio, and the basic diagonal method. Through 2025 the catalogue grew to ~40 overlays based on user requests, with the dynamic symmetry root rectangles, golden spiral, the first head-construction guides (Loomis), and the early perspective grids landing across the year. Founder narrative is at /about/sarah-chen/; the long-form methodology is at /methodology/.

Upcoming Features Roadmap

What we're working on next (dates are estimates)

Q3 2026

July – September

Real-time Collaboration

In Progress

Y.js + WebRTC peer-to-peer sessions so a teacher and class share a live workspace. Workspace state syncs; reference images stay on-device. No backend, no accounts.

Annotation / Drawing Layer

Planned

Sketch directly on top of the reference + overlay composite with pen, marker, eraser. Stylus-pressure-aware via the Pointer Events API.

Custom Overlay Builder

Planned

Design and save your own overlay alongside the built-in 82. Stored locally, covered by workspace export so you can move presets between devices.

Q4 2026

October – December

Video Reference Support

Planned

Load MP4/WebM/MOV alongside still images. Scrub to a frame, apply overlays — useful for animators, cinematographers, and motion designers planning composition.

Voice Commands

Coming Soon

Hands-free overlay switching and transforms via the Web Speech API — useful when you're painting at the easel and the tablet is across the room.

Note: Roadmap items and dates are subject to change based on user feedback and development priorities. We'll keep you updated!

You Asked, We Delivered

Community-requested features that are now live

Full 82-overlay catalogue

"Sacred geometry, typography, architecture — when?"

Requested: 2024–2025 Delivered: Apr–May 2026

Public overlay data API

"Is the overlay metadata available anywhere I can build against?"

Requested: Mar 2026 Delivered: May 2026 (CC BY 4.0)

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Notes from the studio · Working practitioners on the tool

Illustrative composites of how the tool gets used in practice — not quotes from named individuals.

Bookmarked on the studio computer. The deep-link reopens with the exact overlay configured — no clicking through menus mid-session.
Portrait painterIllustrative scenario
Free and browser-only is the right shape for this kind of tool. I keep three tabs open during any project — one per overlay I'm comparing.
Brand designerIllustrative scenario
Lower friction means I actually use it, not save it for special occasions. Every overlay one click away.
Concept artistIllustrative scenario
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