Grouting refers to injection of flowable stabilizers into a soil or rock formation to change its physical properties. The most important characteristic of grouting process is groutability, which is a ratio of particle diameter corresponds to 85% finer and 15% finer of base soil and grout material, respectively. Groutability is said to be very consistent if the ratio is high. However, the existing method to estimate the groutability may mislead the ratios as the conventional sieves may not represent the whole range of particle sizes available in the materials. Besides, state or density of the base soil is utmost important to estimate the groutability, especially if permeation grouting is considered. To overcome these disadvantages of the traditional methods, a new image-based method is introduced in the present study to estimate the groutability. Due to availability of promising imaging technics and latest advancements in image processing technics, an improved estimation of groutability is possible. Series of experiments were conducted on sand specimens at various depths to assess the groutability through imaging technic. Gradation analysis also has been performed to compare the data. The proposed new imaging technic has more promising information about the groutability than the traditional gradation curves. In addition to the time and energy consumed in traditional methods, the image-based method proves it highly accurate and simple than the traditional method. © 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.