Perspective Grid Generator – 1, 2, 3-Point & Curvilinear

One generator, every grid

Perspective grids differ only in where the camera points and how wide it sees. A one-point grid is a camera looking square at the scene; turn it sideways and the same scene needs a two-point grid; tilt it up or down and the verticals start converging too, which is three-point; open the field of view past what a flat picture plane can hold and the straight lines curve into a curvilinear grid. This page is all four generators in one place, with a switch above the canvas to change between them. The camera, lens and export settings are shared, so a room you set up as one-point can be turned into a corner view without starting again.

If you already know which grid you want, its own page is the better place to work: the 1-point, 2-point, 3-point and curvilinear generators each carry more presets for their kind of scene and a longer explanation of the construction. This page has one preset per grid and exists for choosing, and for the scene you are not sure about.

Which grid, in one sentence each

One-point (straight on) is a road, a corridor, a room seen from the doorway, a building face seen square. One vanishing point on the horizon, and every other line horizontal or vertical.
Two-point (level) covers a building corner, a box on a table seen from an angle, and most street scenes. Two vanishing points on the horizon, usually well outside the picture. Verticals stay vertical.
Three-point (tilted) is for looking up at a tower or down from a roof: the two horizon points plus a third, above or below, that the verticals run to. The bird's eye and worm's eye pages open this camera already tilted.
Curvilinear (fisheye) is any view wider than about 100°, or a deliberate fisheye look: five or six vanishing points and lines that bow away from the centre.

A quicker test: one flat face toward you is one-point, a corner is two-point, and if you are noticeably above or below the subject it is three-point. Curvilinear is for when the scene will not fit in a normal picture at all.

Lens, height and rotation

The three controls that shape every grid are the same for all of them. The lens (or field of view) sets how far apart the vanishing points are and how strongly things shrink with distance: 24 mm is the wide, dramatic end, 50 mm is roughly how the eye sees, 100 mm flattens the scene into something nearly parallel. Camera height places the horizon: 1.6 m is a standing adult, 1.2 m seated, 5 m a first-floor window, 0.5 m a child or a cat. Rotation turns the camera left or right to move the vanishing points along the horizon, and tilts it up or down to bring the third point in. Drag the horizon line or the vanishing points on the canvas if you would rather set them by eye; the readouts update.

The ground grid is drawn in one-metre squares at the camera's height, so anything you place on it is at a real scale. The frame overlay marks a 16:9 or 2.35:1 shot for storyboards and thumbnails.

Exporting a perspective drawing grid

Export a transparent PNG at 2× for screen work or 4× for print, or an SVG for vector lines that scale without softening. Put it on a layer under your drawing at 30–40% opacity and lock the layer, or you will draw on the grid by accident within the first minute. Every app in the software guides takes a PNG layer; Procreate, Clip Studio, Krita and Photoshop each have a page on the details, and Affinity and Illustrator can open the SVG as editable paths. The share link records everything, lens included, so a grid you set up for a project can be reopened at the same settings and re-exported at another size.

What it does not do

The generator draws grids; it does not correct or transform an existing picture. To straighten a photograph, use your editor's perspective crop or warp (Photoshop's tools, GIMP, paint.net). For placing boxes with real dimensions on the grid, the box generator shares this camera; for an interior with a ceiling and furniture, the room generator does the same.

The lessons behind the grids

how to draw perspective · one-, two- and three-point perspective explained · perspective basics · 1-point grid · 2-point grid · 3-point grid · curvilinear grid

Questions

What is a perspective grid generator?

A tool that draws a perspective grid for you from a camera rather than from vanishing points placed by hand: you choose how many vanishing points (one, two, three, or a curvilinear grid with five or six), a lens, a height and a rotation, and it computes every line. The export is a transparent image you draw over in any app, or print.

One-, two- or three-point: which grid should I make?

One-point when you look straight at a wall, down a road or into a room: one vanishing point, verticals and horizontals stay straight. Two-point when you look at a corner: two points on the horizon, verticals stay vertical. Three-point when you also look up or down: the verticals converge to a third point above or below. Curvilinear when the view is wider than about 100° and straight lines should bend the way a fisheye lens bends them.

Is this a perspective grid maker for Procreate, Clip Studio or Photoshop?

It works for all of them, because the export is an ordinary transparent PNG or SVG. Procreate: import the PNG as a layer (its own Drawing Guide covers 1- and 2-point but not lenses or 3-point). Clip Studio and Krita: put the PNG on a locked layer, or set their perspective rulers to the same vanishing points. Photoshop, Affinity and Illustrator: the SVG gives editable vector lines.

How do I make the grid match a photo?

Find the photo's horizon (the height where receding lines level out), set the camera height so the grid's horizon sits at the same place, then rotate until the grid lines follow the building or road edges. The lens readout gives you the field of view; a phone's main camera is about 24–28 mm, a typical DSLR kit lens 28–50 mm.

Can I print the grid?

Yes. Export a PNG at 4× for a clean A4 or Letter print, or the SVG and scale it to any paper size without softening. Light grey at low opacity prints well under pencil; use the line-colour and opacity controls before exporting.

What does the lens setting actually change?

The distance between the vanishing points, and with it how fast things shrink. A wide lens (16–24 mm) pulls the vanishing points close together and makes near objects loom; a long lens (85 mm and up) pushes them far outside the picture so the grid looks almost parallel. That is why grids drawn by placing two points near the picture edge always look wide-angle: the points are where a 20 mm lens would put them.