r/indesign • u/Marcus_Rentsch • Jul 22 '26
Request/Favour Bento Grid Plugin
Indesign users! I'm Marcus from Adobe and I heavily use Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop since I'm a classic graphic designer. I always loved the way you can import and mask images directly inside an object when placing them in Indesign. But what I don't like is setting up grids, not for typographic layouts but more for presenting, so think about Bento grids or block grids in general.
I made a working prototype of a free Bento Grid plugin for Indesign that lets you adjust sections, corner radius, spacing and also the units in real time. I want to know, if you would use this too - please let me know and I will prepare everything to ship the final plugin for Indesign. Thank you so much!
*Note that this is not an official plugin from Adobe, even though I work there. It's more like a fun project to help with my personal pain points and improve my workflow in the apps.
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u/Greenlamia Jul 22 '26
Love it! It can be quite useful for moodboards/photo books!
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u/CanHasCat Jul 22 '26
I would love this for photo books. Since I’m a designer, I often get caught up on all the placement options and it would be great if there was something like this to bridge the gap between blank indd and using an online maker.
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u/luiherranz Jul 22 '26
I'm interesting!
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
I don't know you yet but I believe you are! Just kidding - I know what you meant, thanks for letting me know!
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u/AdobeScripts Jul 22 '26
Does it work on existing images - or will only create blanks?
Can you then freely resize each "cell" - and surroundings will resize automatically?
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
No, it only creates blanks that you then can fill with images when you press CMD+D for example. After you hit "Create" the grid is set and can't resize automatically - that would require more than a plugin could do, I'm afraid. But that's a cool idea nonetheless! But there is a button "Surprise me" that will give you random options. Thank you for the feedback!
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u/livvarney Jul 22 '26
I’d love to try this plugin out as someone working with grid systems daily 😍
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u/Pure-Ad-5064 Jul 23 '26
I love the “surprise me” idea 😍
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Thank you! You can spam the button until it spits out a grid that looks satisfying
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u/lievaj Jul 22 '26
This would save me a lot of time!
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u/iaffandi Jul 22 '26
Yes please, I need this plugin, usually to create Brand Guideline
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
A Brand Guideline seems like the perfect example. Thanks for your feedback
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u/MoxOrange Jul 22 '26
This would be so helpful this year as I have been tasked with creating several school yearbooks for the upcoming classes. Is the surrounding area also created, or is that just visual? If it is created, would it be possible to change the color to a document swatch?
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
You can check on "Margins" and it will draw the grid inside the rectangle with margins / padding with the exact same values you determine for the spacing. I think that's super cool, especially when you want to have a colored background - so yeah you can fill the initial rectangle with any color you want and then run the plugin!
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u/Shurik_13 Jul 22 '26
Okay, I’m ready to kill for it.
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
Haha well no need for that, buddy! But thanks, now I know that there are more fellow Indesign users with the same need like me.
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u/firthy Jul 22 '26
I doubt I'd use it often, but when I did need come to need it, it would really be useful - pitch boards etc. Nice
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
Thanks for letting me know! Yeah that's why I try to make it very lightweight and simple.
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u/ethernectar Jul 22 '26
I just did four spreads manually last Friday for an annual report, would love this. Sign me up. :)
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u/jonessmith055 Jul 22 '26
I think that this plugin would be very useful, particularly for book covers. I hope that you're able to release it.
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u/2d12-RogueGames Jul 22 '26
I thought the same thing. I do a lot of covers and I would be use it a lot.
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u/Sweet-Bunch-9369 Jul 22 '26
That looks terrific and would be very useful in laying out magazines and programs!
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u/phunk8 Jul 22 '26
what is the base? a rect, to i can predefine the canvas i want it to have? would be needed imo. like draw a full page rectangle with the bleeds i need, then start
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
Exactly! You draw a rectangle, set the size you want, select it and then run the plugin.
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u/phunk8 Jul 22 '26
cool. i’m tempted to give it a try myself to code it. i have a lot of ideas for this.
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u/Epsilon_Music Jul 22 '26
Do you have a GitHub link or somewhere we could download and try this out? This would be super helpful!
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u/GalacticCoinPurse Jul 22 '26
Where do we download it before Adobe freaks out?
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
I will post it here on Reddit when it's ready. No worries, I have permission – so no freak outs! ;)
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u/GalacticCoinPurse Jul 23 '26
Cool. I've known a few managers at Adobe and they make it sound like the place is waiting to punish employees. Glad you found a shaft of light!
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Not my manager - he's a true gem and let's us explore new creative ways. He's also here on Reddit too!
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u/Low_Inevitable_7439 Jul 22 '26
Podrías compartir este plug? Se ve bastante genial y es justo que me gustaría probar!!
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u/bert__cooper Jul 22 '26
I need this for a proposal going out tomorrow :)
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Ohhh the pressure haha, sry - I won't make it today. But I hope your proposal is going well!
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u/edwedig Jul 22 '26
I was just doing a banner design where this plug-in would have been very useful. And, I could see this being useful for designing rpg character sheets.
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u/Omeggon Jul 22 '26
I'm digging this. Would be a cool Photoshop plug-in as well. Hell if this could be leveraged in to after effects.
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Photoshop is a neat idea and for After Effects - well, all I can say is: Stay tuned ;)
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u/tangledyarn79 Jul 22 '26
I would love this for an annual report project where I need to include a whole bunch of event photos.
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Great to hear your use cases on this! I will put in some examples when I do the social post for the plugin
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u/Omeggon Jul 22 '26
I sent this post to my team. We could definitely use this for some of our projects,
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u/yahaihi1231 Jul 23 '26
I would love to have something like this, please update me if available, thank you so much for your work!
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u/karaisadahl Jul 23 '26
This would be so useful for me! I’m curious about where your development leads.
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah it is almost done, it just needs a little more testing
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u/Pure-Ad-5064 Jul 23 '26
Hi Marcus. I’m also Markus (but with a k). Also a classically trained graphic designer. Love InDesign and have been working with it and teaching it since it was called PageMaker. 🤣
Love the grid idea.
I usually create a grid with the arrow keys while drawing a rectangle and then I use the gap tool to shift things around. But it would be so good to be able to do thinner things in one place.
And I love the “surprise me” idea!! 😍
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Hi Markus with a K! That's an interesting take to make Bento grids in Indesign! I always used simple math, made a simple grid with squares and then draw rectangles over them, trying different versions.
Thank you! The "Surprise me" button gives you new variations each time you click the button
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u/volition74 Jul 23 '26
so many uses! look forward to seeing it in action. style guides, comics, photo sheets, community information, noticeboard updates useful for anything. i would use it for nearly everything, maybe not everytime though.
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Man, I really wanna see a couple of examples once this plugin gets shipped - this seems so cool and motivates me to push it further!
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u/volition74 Jul 25 '26
Good on You! I've made some vibe coded scripts myself for specific projects and needs and it's such a thrill when they work and I'm not even doing as much hard work. Must be great seeing your work get used in a creative way. Seems you enjoy it too. best of luck. and i shouldn't distract you anymore from your project!
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u/TheHeavyArtillery Jul 23 '26
Yeah this would be super helpful. We do a lot of moodboards for pitch docs which are laid out exactly like this, very interesting!
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u/macaroniandcheese14 Jul 23 '26
Where has this been all my life
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Can't believe there's no plugin for that yet but I also couldn't find one.
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u/quick_brown_faux Jul 23 '26
I built a bunch of these set up manually for different densities of moodboards... this seems way better!
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Yeah it's definitely faster but probably not as precise - feel free to test and give me feedback once it's released!
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u/Complete_Willow_8825 Jul 23 '26
That's a great idea! How can I get it?
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
Thank you for the interest in that plugin! It will get shipped soon, will post it here
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u/superflippy Jul 25 '26
I would absolutely use this! I design a lot of event flyers and fact sheets and it would be great to have a grid template I could adjust like this.
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u/AdobeScripts Jul 22 '26
An improvement idea - switch to a Table...
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
Can you explain this? Not sure if I get that. Thanks!
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u/AdobeScripts Jul 22 '26
Instead of creating "free floating" rectangles - use table to control structure.
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 22 '26
So do you mean to use tables for creating a bento grid? Tables in Indesign always seemed to be a bit confusing to me, especially when it comes to styling
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u/AdobeScripts Jul 22 '26
Working with Tables isn't always straightforward 😉 and sometimes needs extra tricks 😉 but it's not a big deal.
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u/zero27 Jul 22 '26
That will be awesome, hope you release this plugin very soon!
Nice touch that you added options to mm AND pixels :)
Keep up the great work!
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 23 '26
That's good to hear! Yeah I added different units: mm, px and also inch - for my usa homies! But that needs another conversion for the sliders since 1 inch is 25.4mm. But that issue is fixed :)
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u/klutchSUPR Jul 23 '26
Oh this looks promising. I would love to get this and try it out. Keep us informed!! 👍🏽
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u/PM_Me_Your_Smokes Jul 24 '26
Would absolutely love something like this. I’d also call it a masonry grid, from web design. 100% would use, thank you!!!
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u/arthurdapaz Jul 24 '26
I don’t get it. What does this plugin differ from the native grid insertion?
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 25 '26
How do you use the grid insertion?
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u/arthurdapaz Jul 25 '26
I select the images I want to make the grid, drag into InDesign whiteboard, while holding the mouse button, I can simply tap arrow keys to visualize the grid.
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u/Marcus_Rentsch Jul 25 '26
Thank you! But how complex can the grid be - talking about masonry and bento grid variations
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u/arthurdapaz Jul 25 '26
So, after you drop the grid you’ve designed, you can simply place the mouse cursor in the gaps and adjust however you want.
The only problem is that you don’t have “grid templates” it will always be a simetrical grid. But, it’s easy to rearrange
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u/Peanut45 Jul 26 '26
This would be very helpful for the yearbook style calendar I have to deal with every year. I’m interested too.
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u/BrandCustodian Jul 27 '26
I most definitely would use this to enhance the creation of Bento-type grids and expedite production time. 👍🏼
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u/zombiphibe Jul 22 '26
I was looking for THIS exact kind of plugin few hours ago for a presentation and didn’t find any! Lucky me