by Painter's Perspective Guides tool is one of the better-designed perspective aids in any painting app: presets with one, two or three vanishing points, a horizon that the points slide along, and brushstroke alignment that can be switched on per brush. This guide sets it up, tunes the snapping, and adds the one thing it lacks, a camera model, using the grids on this site.
Enabling the guides
Choose the Perspective Guides tool in the toolbox (the period key selects it). On the property bar click Enable Perspective Guides, then open the preset list box and choose a preset. The presets are grouped by the number of vanishing points, with standard-horizon variants that put the horizon across the middle; the guide lines appear over the canvas, with primary lines from each vanishing point and lighter intermediate lines between them.
Show/Hide Primary Lines and the opacity, colour and density controls for primary, horizon and intermediate lines are on the same property bar. Dense, faint lines are the right setting for painting over; a few strong lines for planning.
Placing the vanishing points
Drag a vanishing point to move it. Shift + drag constrains it to the horizon line, which is what you want when you are only changing the rotation of the scene. Ctrl + Shift + drag (Cmd + Shift on Mac) moves all points together, which shifts the whole view without changing the lens. For three-point, the third point sits on the vertical through the centre of view, above for looking up and below for looking down.
Where the points go is the decision Painter leaves to you. The spacing of the two horizon points is the lens: close together is wide-angle and dramatic, far apart is a long lens and calm. The 3-point grid shows the exact positions for any lens and rotation; the section below turns that into a Painter preset.
Aligning strokes to the guides
Select a brush, open the Stroke Options flyout on the property bar, and choose Perspective Guides. Strokes now align to the nearest guide line, so long edges converge correctly without a ruler. Align to Guides in the same flyout turns it off; holding Shift while painting disables alignment for one stroke, which is the fastest way to mix aligned construction lines with free painting. Selection tools that use brushstrokes align too, so a lasso can follow the perspective.
Saving presets
With the points where you want them, click Add Preset on the Perspective Guides panel or the preset flyout, name it and save. Presets are worth building for each recurring camera: a 35 mm three-quarter view, a 24 mm interior, a low three-point. They apply to any document, so a series keeps one camera.
The older Perspective Grid
Earlier Painter versions (and current ones, still) have a separate Perspective Grid under Canvas > Perspective Grids > Show Grid, with horizontal and vertical gridlines you adjust with the Perspective Grid tool and presets you add and delete from the same menu. It is a single-vanishing-point visual grid without stroke alignment, useful for one-point interiors and floor patterns. For anything with a corner, use the Perspective Guides tool instead.
A lens-accurate preset from this site
Open the 3-point grid (or the 2-point one for a level camera), set the lens, rotation, tilt and camera height, and switch the vanishing-point markers on. Export a transparent PNG at your canvas size and place it in Painter on a layer at 30–40% opacity. Enable Perspective Guides, choose a preset with the same number of points, and drag Painter's vanishing points onto the exported marks. Save it as a preset named for the lens. The snapping now matches a real camera, and the exported grid's one-metre squares give you sizes and distances that the guides alone cannot.
Common problems
Strokes align when I do not want them to. Stroke Options > Align to Guides off, or hold Shift.
Vanishing points off screen and hard to grab. Zoom out; the guides extend beyond the canvas. Ctrl + Shift + drag moves everything if the whole view needs shifting.
Guides gone after reopening a file. Guides are a tool state, not a layer. Save a preset before closing and re-apply it.
Related
3-point perspective grid · Photoshop perspective tools · Krita perspective assistant · perspective basics · perspective drawing tools compared
Questions
How do I turn on perspective guides in Corel Painter?
Select the Perspective Guides tool in the toolbox (shortcut: the period key), click Enable Perspective Guides on the property bar, and choose a preset from the preset list. Presets have one, two or three vanishing points; drag the points to reposition them.
How do I make brushstrokes follow the perspective guides in Painter?
With a brush selected, open the Stroke Options flyout on the property bar and choose Perspective Guides; strokes then align to the nearest guide line. Turn it off with Align to Guides in the same flyout, or hold Shift while painting to disable the alignment for one stroke.
How do I move a vanishing point along the horizon in Painter?
Shift + drag the vanishing point; it stays on the horizon line. Ctrl + Shift + drag (Cmd + Shift on Mac) moves all the vanishing points together, which shifts the whole view without changing the lens.
What is the difference between Perspective Guides and the Perspective Grid in Painter?
Perspective Guides (Painter 2019 and later) is the current tool: one to three vanishing points, presets, snapping of brushstrokes. The Perspective Grid under Canvas > Perspective Grids is the older single-point grid with horizontal and vertical planes you drag with the Perspective Grid tool; it is a visual aid without stroke alignment.
Can Painter draw fisheye or curvilinear perspective?
No. The guides are linear, with up to three vanishing points. For a fisheye or 360° view, export a curvilinear grid from this site as a PNG and place it on a layer.
How do I save my own perspective guide setup in Painter?
Position the vanishing points, then click Add Preset on the Perspective Guides panel (or the preset flyout), name it and save. The preset keeps the points and horizon and can be applied to any document.
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