Perspective tools, explained.
"Perspective tools" means five different things depending on who is asking. This page sorts them out and points you to the right one: a grid you can draw over right now, the tool hidden inside your app, a plugin, a ruler, or the technique itself.
Interactive grids that run in the browser. Set the type, rotate the view, choose a lens, export a transparent layer for Procreate, Clip Studio, Photoshop or paper.
Photoshop has Perspective Warp, Perspective Crop and the Vanishing Point filter. Illustrator has the Perspective Grid tool (and a notorious way of refusing to go away). Clip Studio has the Perspective Ruler. Affinity has Perspective correction. Procreate has Drawing Guides.
Perspective Tools 2 is a paid Photoshop panel by Sergey Kritskiy that draws grids and bends layers into perspective. Morpholio Trace, Lazy Nezumi and Carapace do related jobs. If all you need is the grid, the free generators here replace that part.
Rolling rulers, adjustable set squares, ellipse guides, French curves, and the string-and-pin method for vanishing points that sit off the page. Useful on paper, and a good way to understand what the digital tools automate.
Horizon line, eye level, vanishing points, station point, measuring points. A tool only helps if you know what it is drawing. Start with the basics, then pick a grid.
Open the 2-point grid, drag until the corner of your object sits where you want it, download the PNG, put it under your sketch at 30% opacity. Ten seconds, no software.
Which perspective tool do I need?
| You want to… | Use |
|---|---|
| Draw a room, corridor or road seen straight on | 1-point grid |
| Draw a building, box or vehicle from a corner | 2-point grid |
| Look up at a tower or down into a street | 3-point grid with camera rotation |
| Draw a fisheye or very wide scene where straight lines curve | Curvilinear grid (5- and 6-point) |
| Straighten a photo of a building | Perspective correction (online, no upload) |
| Put artwork onto a wall or screen in a photo | Perspective warp (online) |
| Print a grid to put under tracing paper | Printable templates (PDF) |
| Place a box, a door or a person at a real size | Perspective box builder |
| Find the vanishing points and lens of a photo | Vanishing point finder |
| Know how big a figure should be at a distance | Figure height calculator |
| Make Illustrator stop showing the grid | Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + I |
Questions
What is a perspective tool?
A perspective tool is anything that helps you draw lines that converge correctly toward vanishing points: an online grid generator, a feature inside a drawing app (Photoshop's Perspective Warp, Illustrator's Perspective Grid, Clip Studio's Perspective Ruler), a plugin, or a physical drawing aid such as a rolling ruler.
Which perspective tool is best for beginners?
A 2-point perspective grid. It covers most objects and buildings, and it teaches the horizon line and vanishing points without the extra complexity of a third point. Use the free 2-point grid here, export it as a transparent PNG, and draw over it in any app.
Is there a free alternative to Perspective Tools 2 for Photoshop?
For grids, yes: the generators on this site produce 1-, 2-, 3-point and curvilinear grids you can paste into Photoshop as a layer. Perspective Tools 2 also transforms layers into perspective, which you can do with Photoshop's own Perspective Warp.
How do I get a perspective grid into Procreate or Clip Studio?
Export a transparent PNG from any grid here, import it as a layer, lower its opacity and lock it. On iPad, Copy to clipboard then paste directly into Procreate.