Reference library

Perspective references with the camera written on them.

35 scenes rendered from the same camera model as the tools: rooms, streets, crowds, cars, heads, and the same objects at different lenses and heights. Every one says what lens, what camera height and what angle it was drawn at, and opens in the tool so you can move the camera yourself.

Rooms & interiors
Sofa, coffee table, bookcase and a door seen straight on at 28 mm, camera 1.5 m: the classic one-point room.Living room, one-point28 mm · camera 1.5 m · straight on · levelBed, bedside table, wardrobe and door from the corner of the room at 24 mm.Bedroom, two-point24 mm · camera 1.5 m · turned 35° · levelA 3 m wide corridor with doors at 4, 6, 9, 12 and 16 m, straight on at 35 mm.Corridor with doors35 mm · camera 1.6 m · straight on · levelNine desks in three rows with two standing figures, seen from a corner at 24 mm.Classroom, rows of desks24 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 22° · levelSeven steps (0.3 m tread, 0.17 m rise) climbing away from the camera beside a wall, 35 mm.Staircase, two-point35 mm · camera 1.5 m · turned 30° · levelBed, table, stool and a figure seen from a camera at 2.6 m tilted 28° down: the security-camera view.Room from a high corner24 mm · camera 2.6 m · turned 35° · tilted down 28°
Streets & buildings
Four buildings along a 10 m wide street with two figures, from the corner at 28 mm.City street, two-point28 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 32° · levelBuildings both sides of a wide avenue seen down the middle at 35 mm, with figures at 7, 14 and 26 m.Avenue, one-point35 mm · camera 1.6 m · straight on · levelA 36 m tower and two neighbours from the pavement at 20 mm, camera tilted 22° up.Tower from the street20 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 30° · tilted up 22°Five blocks seen from 40 m up, tilted 35° down: the bird's-eye view.City from a rooftop28 mm · camera 40 m · turned 30° · tilted down 35°A 4 m alley between two tall walls at 20 mm with a figure and a bin, camera turned 15°.Narrow alley at 20 mm20 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 15° · levelA 9 × 11 m two-storey house at 35 mm from the corner, with a figure for scale.House from the corner35 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 40° · level
Figures & crowds
Four 1.75 m figures at 5, 10, 20 and 40 m from a standing camera.Figures at 5, 10, 20 and 40 m35 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 12° · levelTen figures of 1.6–1.85 m scattered from 4 to 36 m, camera at 1.6 m.Crowd, standing camera35 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 20° · levelTwo figures and a crate from a camera 0.5 m off the ground, tilted 20° up: the worm's-eye view.Figure from a low angle28 mm · camera 0.5 m · turned 15° · tilted up 20°Three figures and a crate from 3.2 m up, tilted 30° down: the balcony or staircase view.Figures from above35 mm · camera 3.2 m · turned 20° · tilted down 30°The three scale references most drawings need: a 1.75 m person, a 2.1 m door and a 1 m crate.Figure, door and crate35 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 32° · levelStanding figures, a table and a chair from a seated camera at 1.15 m.Seated eye level35 mm · camera 1.15 m · turned 25° · level
Vehicles
A 4.5 × 1.8 × 1.5 m saloon box at 11 m, camera 1.3 m, 50 mm: the brochure view.Car box, three-quarter, 50 mm50 mm · camera 1.3 m · turned 25° · levelThe same car box at 7.5 m, camera 0.7 m, 28 mm: the near end looms.Car box, hero angle, 28 mm28 mm · camera 0.7 m · turned 25° · levelFour car boxes parked side by side in a bay, noses toward the camera, with a pedestrian, at 35 mm.Parked cars, side by side35 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 30° · levelA 12 m bus box behind a car box and a figure, from the pavement at 35 mm.Bus and car35 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 28° · level
Heads, boxes & cylinders
A 16 × 20 × 24 cm head box on a body block at 2.5 m, camera 1.3 m tilted 8° up: the low three-quarter view.Head box from below85 mm · camera 1.3 m · turned 30° · tilted up 8°The same head box and body block from a camera at 2 m tilted 12° down: the high three-quarter view.Head box from above85 mm · camera 2 m · turned 30° · tilted down 12°Three 0.6 m cylinders 0.4, 1 and 2 m tall from a camera at 1.2 m: ellipse degree by height.Cylinders at three heights35 mm · camera 1.2 m · turned 20° · levelA cube, a rotated cube, a slab and a tall block: four boxes, three sets of vanishing points.Stacked and rotated boxes35 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 25° · level
Lenses & camera heights
A crate, a figure and a door at 24 mm: wide, deep, splayed at the edges.Same scene, 24 mm24 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 32° · levelThe same crate, figure and door at 50 mm, framed the same size: the natural view.Same scene, 50 mm50 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 32° · levelThe same scene at 85 mm from 12 m: compressed, nearly an elevation drawing.Same scene, 85 mm85 mm · camera 1.6 m · turned 32° · levelAdults, a table and a door from a camera 1.0 m off the ground.Child's eye level, 1.0 m35 mm · camera 1 m · turned 25° · levelTwo figures, a car and a shed from a balcony 5 m up, tilted 22° down.Balcony, 5 m up35 mm · camera 5 m · turned 32° · tilted down 22°Figures, a car and two low buildings from 12 m up, tilted 30° down: the fourth-floor window.Rooftop, 12 m up28 mm · camera 12 m · turned 32° · tilted down 30°
Curvilinear
Sofa, table, door and a figure inside a 180° fisheye view of a room.Room in fisheye180° view · camera 1.5 m · turned 20° · tilted down 8°The two-point street reference redrawn in five-point: buildings bow, the sky is a circle.Street in five-point180° view · camera 1.6 m · turned 25° · tilted up 5°The fisheye room continued round to 360°: a table and a figure behind the camera appear near the rim.Room in six-point, 360°360° view · camera 1.5 m · straight on · level

How to use a reference

Pick the scene closest to what you are drawing and read its camera line first: the lens, the camera height and the angle are the three decisions that make a drawing look photographic or not, and they are decided before the first line. Then open it in the tool, drag the view to your framing, and export a transparent PNG to draw over, or simply keep it open in another window while you draw and check your horizon, your convergence and the size of your figures against it.

The floor is always one-metre squares and every object is a real size: doors are 2.1 m, figures 1.75 m unless labelled, cars 4.5 × 1.8 × 1.5 m. That is what lets you measure across references: a figure at 10 m in one is the same size as a figure at 10 m in any other drawn with the same lens.

For the theory behind what you are looking at, the perspective basics page defines every term, and each reference links to the lesson that uses it. For paper, the same scenes are in the printable grids.

Questions

What is a perspective reference?

A picture you draw from or check against to get the perspective of a scene right: where the horizon is, how strongly lines converge, how big a figure is at a given distance. Photographs work but hide their camera settings; these references show them, so you can copy the exact lens and height into your own drawing.

Why are the references line drawings rather than photos?

Because a line drawing shows the construction. Every reference here is rendered from the site's camera model with a stated lens, camera height, rotation and tilt, the floor is one-metre squares and every object has real dimensions. There is nothing to guess, and you can open any of them in the tool and move the camera.

Can I use these references in my own work?

Yes. Draw over them, trace them, put them under a layer in Procreate or Photoshop, use them in classes and in client work, no credit needed. Redistributing the images as a pack of their own is the one thing not allowed.

How do I get a reference that is not here?

Open the nearest one in the tool, then change what you need: the lens, the camera height, the rotation, or add boxes, cylinders and figures at real sizes with the box generator. The share link keeps your version. If a reference is missing that many people would want, email and it will be added.

Newsletter

A new lesson and a new grid, about once a month.

Each lesson arrives by email before it goes on the site, with the grid it was drawn on and the link to open it. Subscribers also get both free starter packs and the subscriber price on the paid ones. Never more than two emails a month; one click to leave.

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