d.grid(1)

NAME
d.grid - Overlays a user-specified grid in the active display frame on the graphics monitor.

KEYWORDS
display, cartography, graticule, grid

SYNOPSIS
d.grid
d.grid --help
d.grid [-agwcdfnbt] size=value [origin=east,north] [direction=string] [width=float] [color=name] [border_color=name] [text_color=name] [bgcolor=name] [fontsize=integer] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

  Flags:

-a
    Align the origin to the east-north corner of the current region

-g
    Draw geographic grid (referenced to current ellipsoid)

-w
    Draw geographic grid (referenced to WGS84 ellipsoid)

-c
    Draw ’+’ marks instead of grid lines

-d
    Draw ’.’ marks instead of grid lines

-f
    Draw fiducial marks instead of grid lines

-n
    Disable grid drawing

-b
    Disable border drawing

-t
    Disable text drawing

--help
    Print usage summary

--verbose
    Verbose module output

--quiet
    Quiet module output

--ui
    Force launching GUI dialog

  Parameters:

size=value [required]
    Size of grid to be drawn (in map units)
    0 for north-south resolution of the current region. In map units or DDD:MM:SS format. Example: "1000" or "0:10"

origin=east,north
    Lines of the grid pass through this coordinate
    Default: 0,0

direction=string
    Draw only east-west lines, north-south lines, or both
    Options: both, east-west, north-south
    Default: both

width=float
    Grid line width

color=name
    Grid color
    Either a standard color name or R:G:B triplet
    Default: gray

border_color=name
    Border color
    Either a standard color name or R:G:B triplet
    Default: black

text_color=name
    Text color
    Either a standard color name or R:G:B triplet
    Default: gray

bgcolor=name
    Background color
    Either a standard color name, R:G:B triplet, or "none"
    Default: none

fontsize=integer
    Font size for gridline coordinate labels
    Options: 1-72
    Default: 9

DESCRIPTION
d.grid overlays a grid of user-defined size and color in the active display frame on the graphics monitor. The grid can be created as a standard rectangular grid or a geographic grid.

If the user provides a -g flag a geographic (projected) grid will be drawn. With the -g flag the size argument accepts both decimal degrees and colon separated ddd:mm:ss coordinates (eg. 00:30:00 for half of a degree). A geographic grid cannot be drawn for a latitude/longitude or XY projection.

Colors may be standard named GRASS colors (red, green, aqua, etc.) or a numerical R:G:B triplet, where component values range from 0-255. Grid color can be set with option color. Options text_color and bgcolor set the color of the text and its background.

The grid drawing may be turned off by using the -n flag.
The border drawing may be turned off by using the -b flag.
The coordinate text may be turned off by using the -t flag.

To draw grid lines at different intervals, e.g. at high latitudes, you can run the module twice, once with direction=east-west at one interval size, and again with direction=north-south at another interval size.

EXAMPLES
To draw a red geographic grid with 30 minute grid spacing, run one of the following commands:

d.grid -g size=00:30:00 color=red

or

d.grid -g size=0.5 color=255:0:0

Figure: Showing a geographic grid in red line color To draw a blue standard rectangular grid at a 500 (meter) spacing run the following:

d.grid size=500 color=blue

Figure: Showing a rectangular grid in blue line color

SEE ALSO
d.barscale, d.legend, d.geodesic, d.rhumbline, d.erase, d.frame, d.rast, v.mkgrid

AUTHORS
James Westervelt, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
Geogrid support: Bob Covill
Border support: Markus Neteler
Text and RGB support: Hamish Bowman
Background color implemented as part of GSoC 2016 by Adam Laza, CTU in Prague

SOURCE CODE

Available at: d.grid source code (history)

Accessed: Saturday May 09 11:14:28 2026

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© 2003-2025 GRASS Development Team, GRASS GIS 8.4.2 Reference Manual