Expert: LizaL - 9/11/2004

Question
Can you teach me how to draw Perspective & 3D Drawing from photoshop or any step i can learn from.

Thanks
Regards,
titan Leong

Answer
Hi Titan --

Photoshop isn't the best program for perspective and 3D drawing, mainly because Photoshop is generally used for bitmap images. What you want to draw -- 3D and perspective drawings -- usually originate from vector images.

There are, however, some kind of basic tools in Photoshop for dealing with these things.

If you want to add perspective to something you've drawn in Photoshop, you can use the Free Transform tool. First draw something -- let's make it a rectangle -- then fill it with any color. While it's still selected, choose the Edit pulldown menu, select Transform, and then Perspective. Then, if you're using a PC, press Control+Alt+Shift (or on a Mac, Command+Option+Shift). Click on a corner handle and drag, and you'll see the ends of the image slide out and give the item some perspective.

The 3D Transform filter is one of the most complicated in Photoshop. Do you have a particular image in mind that you want to be transformed into a three-dimensional object? I can give you the basic steps that you could apply to it, but unless you have a certain thing in mind, they might not make sense.

Anyway, the basic idea is to draw the image you want to make 3D, then from the Filter pulldown menu, select Render>3D Transform.

Your goal here is to create the object as it would appear, when it's oriented to match the 3D selection in the filter. If you're making a label for a bottle, for instance, first you'd draw the label, in a regular Photoshop window, then you'd go to the 3D Transform menu (Filter>Render>3D Transform).

From the basic wireframes on the left, choose the shape you're looking for. For the lable on the bottle example, you'd draw the bottle, using the pen tool on the left, around the label. Once you've made the 3D wireframe look like the bottle you'd be putting the label on, it's time to "bend" the selection -- the label -- so it looks like it'll fit around a bottle. You can do this using the "trackball" tools on the left. With these you can tilt the image, and rotate it too.

Use the controls on the right to adjust the final appearance. The Field of View represents the camera lens, and the Dolly slider zooms the view in and out. The Options lets you choose your resolution, and also anti-aliasing.

Once it all looks good to you, click OK. After the filter is applied, you can add things like shadows and highlights to further add realism.

I realize this is a crash course in 3D in Photoshop. But be aware that Photoshop isn't the best program for 3D rendering.

I always used RayDream Designer for the Mac. Bryce is also a very good 3D rendering program. I don't think they make RayDream any more, but here's a link for Bryce, which is also made for PC:
http://www.daz3d.com/program/bryce/#01

I hope I haven't confused you here! Please post back if you have any questions. If possible, please also provide me with some specific things you wish to draw.

Hope this helps!

Lisa