Summary
GRIDS in Premiere Pro is a $10.00 pack of high-resolution grid backgrounds and overlays that you import like any other media and place on a video track. Put it on a lower track to use it as a background behind a keyed subject, titles or graphics, or on a track above your footage with a blend mode set in Effect Controls > Opacity to use it as a texture. Scale and reposition it under Effect Controls > Motion.
What Is GRIDS?
GRIDS is a pack of carefully-crafted grid backgrounds and overlays designed for YouTube videos and presentations. The designs are high-resolution, and the pack works across video editing and image editing software — so the grid behind your talking head can be the same grid in your thumbnail.
- What you get — grid backgrounds and overlays, built to lift production quality.
- Where it fits in Premiere — as ordinary media on a video track. No plugin, no preset import, no Effects panel entry.
- Compatibility — works across video editing and image editing software, Windows and macOS alike.
- Price — $10.00.
That last point matters more than it sounds. Presets and plugins break across Premiere versions and need reinstalling after an update. Media does not.
How GRIDS Works in Premiere Pro
- Import the designs — File > Import (Ctrl+I / Cmd+I), or drag them straight into the Project panel. Keep them in their own bin so they do not get lost among your rushes.
- Decide background or overlay — a background goes on a track below your subject. An overlay goes on a track above. Everything after this depends on that choice.
- Place it on the timeline — for a background, drag the grid to V1 and move your existing edit up to V2. For an overlay, drop it on the track above whatever it is treating.
- Fit it to the frame — right-click the clip in the timeline and choose Set to Frame Size. This scales it to your sequence without baking in a scale value, which keeps the full resolution available if you later push in.
- Refine the framing — select the clip, open Effect Controls (Shift+5), and open Motion. Adjust Scale to change how large the cells read, Position to slide the pattern so the lines fall where you want them, and Rotation if you want the grid off-axis.
- If it is an overlay, set a blend mode — still in Effect Controls, open Opacity and choose from Blend Mode. Screen keeps light lines and drops the black; Multiply keeps dark lines and drops the white; Overlay and Soft Light push the grid into the existing contrast. Then pull Opacity back to roughly 10–25%.
- Extend it across the shot — drag the clip's out point to cover the full range, or copy and paste it end to end. For stills, set a sensible default first under Edit > Preferences > Timeline > Still Image Default Duration.
- Add your type on top — Window > Essential Graphics, use the Type tool in the Program Monitor, and the text lands on its own track above the grid where you can style it in the Edit tab.
Using a Grid as a Background Behind Your Subject
The most common request is a grid behind a talking head. Premiere gives you two routes, depending on how the shot was filmed.
- Green screen — put the grid on V1 and the talking head on V2. Apply Effects > Video Effects > Keying > Ultra Key to the V2 clip, use the Key Color eyedropper on the screen, then work through Matte Generation and Matte Cleanup. Set the Output dropdown to Alpha Channel while you tune it — you are looking for pure white on the subject and pure black on the background.
- No green screen — you cannot replace the whole background, but you can still use the grid as a panel. Draw a rectangular mask under Effect Controls > Opacity on the grid clip, size it to one third of the frame, and slide your subject to the opposite side. This is the split-screen layout most explainer channels use, and it costs you one mask.
The same panel idea works behind lower thirds: a small grid rectangle behind the name and title gives the type a surface to sit on instead of floating over a moving room.
Recolouring the Grid With Lumetri
A grid in a colour that has nothing to do with your channel looks borrowed. Premiere has three ways to fix that, in increasing order of control.
- Lumetri Color — select the grid clip, open Window > Lumetri Color, and use Basic Correction > Temperature and Tint for a quick shift, or Color Wheels & Match to push the shadows and highlights in different directions. Because the grid is a separate clip, the grade only touches the grid.
- Tint — Effects > Video Effects > Color Correction > Tint maps black and white to two colours you pick. On a two-tone grid this is the fastest route to an exact brand pair.
- Hue/Saturation Curves — inside Lumetri, the Hue vs Hue curve lets you rotate only the grid's colour while leaving everything else alone. Useful when the grid sits on the same track as other graphics.
Sample the colour from artwork you already use rather than guessing — pick the hex out of your channel art and drive the grid toward it.
Track Order, Safe Areas and Performance
- Higher tracks win — Premiere composites from the bottom up. V3 covers V2, which covers V1. If your grid disappeared, it is under something opaque.
- Turn on safe margins — right-click in the Program Monitor and enable Safe Margins. YouTube's progress bar, timestamp and end-screen cards sit over the bottom and right of your frame. The grid can run under them; your captions should not.
- Nest long backgrounds — select the grid clips, right-click and choose Nest. One nested background is easier to move, trim and grade than fourteen repeated clips.
- Scale down, not up — you have resolution headroom, but a grid pushed past roughly 200% starts reading as stripes rather than a grid. Crop instead.
- Watch the render bar — a static background costs almost nothing, but stacked blend modes will yellow it. Sequence > Render In to Out before a review.
Conclusion
In Premiere the whole workflow comes down to two decisions: which track the grid sits on, and whether it needs a blend mode. Below your subject at full opacity it is a background. Above your footage at 15% with Screen or Soft Light it is a texture. Scale under Effect Controls > Motion, recolour with Lumetri, and put your Essential Graphics text on top.
GRIDS is $10.00 for high-resolution grid backgrounds and overlays that work across video editing and image editing software. If you are building a matching title treatment to sit on top, Replica 3 title presets pairs with it directly, and the full MoonBear collection covers the rest of the kit.
FAQ
Q: How do I install GRIDS in Premiere Pro?
A: There is nothing to install. Use File > Import or drag the designs into the Project panel, then drop them on a video track like any other media.
Q: Which track should the grid go on?
A: V1 or another low track if it is a background, since Premiere composites bottom-up. A track above your footage if it is an overlay, with a blend mode set in Effect Controls > Opacity.
Q: How do I make the grid fill my frame?
A: Right-click the clip and choose Set to Frame Size, then fine-tune Scale and Position under Effect Controls > Motion.
Q: What blend mode should I use for an overlay?
A: Screen if the grid lines are light, Multiply if they are dark, Overlay or Soft Light if you want the grid to follow the existing contrast. Then drop Opacity to around 10–25%.
Q: Can I change the grid's colour to match my brand?
A: Yes. Apply Lumetri Color to the grid clip and use Basic Correction or Color Wheels, or use the Tint effect to map its blacks and whites to two brand colours.
Q: Does GRIDS work on both Windows and macOS?
A: Yes. It works across video editing and image editing software, and the Premiere workflow is identical on both platforms with Cmd replacing Ctrl.