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Define perspective grids

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To view the default two-point perspective grid in a document, you can do any of the following:

  • Click View > Perspective Grid > Show Grid.

  • Press Ctrl+Shift+I (on Windows) or Cmd+Shift+I (on Mac) to show the Perspective Grid. The same keyboard shortcut can be used to hide the visible grid.

  • Click the Perspective Grid tool from the Tools panel.

Perspective Grid in Illustrator
Perspective Grid

A. Plane switching widget B. Left Vanishing Point C. Vertical Grid Extent D. Perspective Grid Ruler E. Right Vanishing Point F. Horizon Line G. Horizon Height H. Ground Level I. Horizon Level J. Extent of Grid K. Grid Cell Size L. Ground Level M. Extent of Grid N. Right Grid Plane Control O. Horizontal Grid Plane Control P. Left Grid Plane Control Q. Origin 

The Perspective Grid tool group consists of the Perspective Grid tool and the Perspective Selection tool .

You can select the Perspective Grid tool from the Tools panel or press Shift+P. When the Perspective Grid tool is selected, it shows:

  • Left and right grid controls to adjust planes

  • Horizon height

  • Left and right vertical plane position

  • Visibility and extent of a grid cell

  • Grid cell size

  • Origin

  • Left and right ground level widgets used for grid movement

In addition, when you select the Perspective Grid, a Plane Switching Widget also appears. You can use this widget to select the active grid plane. In Perspective Grid, an active plane is the plane on which you draw an object to project the observer’s view of that portion of the scene.

Plane Switching Widget
Plane Switching Widget

A. Left Grid Plane B. No Active Grid Plane C. Right Grid Plane D. Horizontal Grid Plane 

You can set options to position the widget on any of the four screen corners and choose to display it when the Perspective Grid is visible. To set these options, double-click the Perspective Grid icon in the Tools panel. In the Perspective Grid Options dialog box, you can select the following:

Show Active Plane Widget

This option is selected by default. If you deselect this check box, then the widget is not displayed with the Perspective Grid.

Widget Position

You can choose to display the widget on the upper left, upper-right, lower-left, or lower-right corner of the document window.

When you select the Perspective Selection tool, the left, right, and horizontal grid controls are displayed. You can switch to the Perspective Selection tool by pressing Shift+V or selecting it from the Tools panel. The Perspective Selection tool enables you to:

  • Bring objects, texts, and symbols in perspective

  • Switch active planes using keyboard shortcuts

  • Move, scale, and duplicate objects in perspective space

  • Move and duplicate objects perpendicular to its current position in the perspective plane

With the Perspective Selection tool, the active planes in the perspective grid are indicated by the following pointers.

Active Plane

Pointers

Left Grid Plane

Right Grid Plane

Horizontal Grid Plane

The Perspective Selection tool snaps the objects to the grid of the active plane while moving, scaling, duplicating, and bringing objects into perspective. Objects snap to the grid lines within 1/4th distance of the cell size.

You can enable or disable snapping from View > Perspective Grid > Snap to Grid.

This option is enabled by default.

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