Perspective Tools 2 (v2) Alternative: Free Grids Without the Plugin

Perspective Tools 2 (often written "Perspective Tools v2") is a Photoshop panel by concept artist Sergey Kritskiy. It is well made and widely used in game and film concept art, and it costs money. Whether it is worth buying depends almost entirely on one question: do you need the grids, or do you need the layer transforms? The grids you can get free, here or elsewhere. The transforms are the part that is genuinely hard to replace, and if that is what you came for, the plugin is a fair price for the hours it saves.

What the plugin does

Three things, roughly:

1. Grids. Generate 1-, 2- and 3-point grids and a 5-point curvilinear grid on a Photoshop layer, with control over the vanishing points and a "camera" style angle setting.
2. Layer transforms. Take an existing layer (a texture, a window, a logo) and transform it onto a plane of the grid, or mirror it across the grid. This is the part Photoshop's own tools do slowly by hand.
3. Helpers. Measuring points, dividing a face into equal parts in perspective, and quick planes.

If your work is mainly the second and third points, inside Photoshop, all day, the plugin earns its price. If what you want is a correct grid to draw over, you do not need it.

The free alternative for grids

The generators here do the grid part in the browser, with two things the plugin does not emphasise: a real lens readout in millimetres and a frame with cinema aspect ratios.

• 1-point grid, 2-point grid, 3-point grid with camera rotation, curvilinear 5- and 6-point grid.
• Export: transparent PNG at 2× or 4×, or SVG (vector, so the lines can be scaled without softening).
• Into Photoshop: drag the PNG in, or File → Place Embedded for the SVG, lower opacity, lock the layer.
• Also works in Procreate, Clip Studio, Krita, Affinity, and on paper, which the plugin cannot.

The free alternative for layer transforms

Photoshop already has this: Edit → Transform → Perspective for a quick corner drag, and Edit → Perspective Warp for plane-based reshaping. With the grid layer underneath, line the corners of your texture up with the grid's squares. It is a few more clicks than the plugin's one-button transform, but it is free and stays inside standard Photoshop. See Photoshop's perspective tools.

When to buy the plugin anyway

Buy it if you paint architecture in Photoshop daily and the layer-to-plane transform would save you an hour a week; if you need measuring-point subdivision automated; or if you want everything in one panel without leaving Photoshop. Check the developer's page for the current price and Photoshop compatibility first.

Summary

| Need | Perspective Tools 2 | Free browser grids | |---|---|---| | 1/2/3-point grid | yes | yes, with lens in mm | | Curvilinear grid | 5-point | 5- and 6-point, up to 360° | | Cinema frame / letterbox | no | yes | | Transform a layer onto a plane | one click | Photoshop's Perspective Warp | | Works outside Photoshop | no | any app, or paper | | Price | paid | free |