CorelDRAW Help | Draw in perspective

Draw in perspective

Using perspective drawing (Object Perspective Draw in Perspective), you can draw complex sketches, patterns, and designs, creating the illusion of distance and depth.

When you draw in perspective, CorelDRAW automatically creates a perspective field and lets you add lines and shapes that align with the perspective lines. The result is a perspective group comprising of the perspective field and the objects you added. A drawing can contain multiple perspective groups with unique perspective fields.

A perspective group consists of a perspective field and one or more objects.

The perspective field includes a grid of perspective lines that converge towards one, two or three vanishing points. The visible part of the perspective field is called viewport.

Elements of a perspective field: Perspective grid (1), horizon (2), vanishing point (3), viewport (4)

CorelDRAW provides presets for three types of perspective: one-point, two-point and three-point perspective.

• One-point — creates a perspective field where all lines recede from view towards one vanishing point

• Two-point — creates a perspective field where all lines recede from view towards two vanishing points

• Three-point (worm’s-eye view) — creates a perspective field where all lines recede from view towards one of three vanishing points. This preset helps you create views as seen from below.

• Three-point (bird’s-eye view) — creates a perspective field where all lines recede from view towards one of three vanishing points. This preset helps you create views as seen from above.

Perspective types: (1) one-point, (2) two-point, (3) three-point (worm’s-eye view), (4) three-point (bird’s-eye view)

Before you start drawing in the perspective field, you can choose the plane you want to draw on. You can choose to draw on an orthographic plane, which is a flat plane without perspective, on the top perspective plane or on one of the side perspective planes.

(left to right) The same object placed on four different planes: orthogonal, top, left, and right.

Perspective drawing assumes that the viewer or the camera is at a certain distance from objects. All objects are scaled relative to the viewer. In CorelDRAW, the position of the viewer is indicated by camera lines, which you can use as a drawing aide to place objects. Camera lines are linked to the active perspective plane and are hidden by default. After displaying a camera line, you can move it to increase or decrease the distance between the viewer and the depicted objects. Moving a camera line doesn’t change existing objects, but impacts how an object appears when it is moved to the active plane. If an object side aligns with the camera line, that side appears at 100% - it is not shortened or lengthened. Object sides or objects that appear at a distance from the camera line will appear smaller than their actual size.

The red rectangle is further away from the camera line so it appears smaller than the blue rectangle.

You can customize the perspective drawing presets by adjusting the perspective field. For example, you can move vanishing points, horizon lines, and camera lines. You can also resize the viewport.

For information about how to edit perspective groups, see Edit perspective groups.

When you save a drawing that contains perspective groups to a CorelDRAW version earlier than 23.0 (2021), the perspective groups keep their appearance, but they are saved as regular groups of objects.

To draw in perspective

1 Using the Pick tool

, click an empty space in the drawing window to make sure no objects are selected.

2 Click Object

Perspective

Draw in Perspective.

3 Choose a perspective type from the Type list box.

• One-point

• Two-point

• Three-point (worm’s-eye view)

• Three-point (bird’s-eye view)

4 Do one of the following:

• Drag in the drawing window to set the perspective field.

• Press Return to fill the page with a perspective field.

If you want to reset the perspective field, click Edit

Undo, and draw the perspective field again.

5 To choose the plane you want to draw on, click one of the following buttons:

• Orthographic

— to draw on a flat plane, without perspective

• Top

— to draw on the top perspective plane

• Side

— to draw on the side perspective plane. This button is available only for one-point perspective.

• Left

— to draw on the left perspective plane

• Right

— to draw on the right perspective plane

6 Click a line or a shape tool, and draw one or more objects.

7 Click Finish on the floating toolbar.

You can’t change the perspective type after drawing the perspective field.

The application prevents you from drawing in perspective in certain areas so that you don’t get unexpected results. For example, you can’t draw an object over a vanishing point on a perspective plane.

You cannot draw in perspective when in Focus mode. For more information about Focus mode, see Edit objects in Focus mode.

You can modify the appearance of the perspective field to suit your needs. For example, you can increase the number of the perspective lines for greater drawing precision. For information, see To modify the appearance of the perspective field.

You can also draw objects on the orthographic plane, without perspective, and then move (project) them to another plane. For more information, see Move an object to another plane.

You can also add an existing object to the perspective group. For more information, see Add an object to the perspective group.

To adjust the perspective field

1 Click Object

Perspective

Draw in Perspective.

2 Choose a perspective type from the Type list box on the floating toolbar, and choose a plane to draw on.

3 Using the Pick tool

, perform a task from the following table.

To	Do the following
Move the vanishing point	Drag a vanishing point to a new position. One of the vanishing points was moved to tilt the horizon line.
Move a horizon line	Point to a horizon line, and when the cursor changes to a double-sided arrow, drag the horizon line to a new position.
Resize the viewport	Click the viewport frame to display its handles. Drag a middle handle to adjust the width or height of the viewport. Drag a corner handle to resize the viewport proportionally.
Move a camera line	Click the Show camera lines button on the floating toolbar to display the camera line. Drag the camera line to a new position. Note: A camera line on the orthographic plane cannot be moved. Tip: You can also drag a camera line by one of its diamond-shaped handles. Two identical rectangles are added to the left plane with the camera line at a different position. Their right sides remain the same, at 100% of their size, because they are aligned with the camera line.

For best results, adjust the perspective field before drawing or adding objects in perspective.

Each time you move a vanishing point, horizon line, or camera line, the perspective field is redrawn. Existing objects remain unchanged but each new object you draw reflects the new position of the vanishing point, horizon line or camera line.

If you can’t move a vanishing point, horizon line or camera line, click the Lock perspective field button on the floating toolbar to allow changes to the perspective field.

To prevent accidental changes to the perspective field, click the Lock perspective field button again after you finish editing.