Perspective

[Odinis]

Is there a way in Illustrator to do perspective?
In Photoshop it's in the transform area..
I have been doing it by hand in Illustrator and failing miserably..
Is there an easier way?

Thanks in advance
G

[Scott Weichert]

Hi G,

Select your object(s) then, using the Free Transform tool, click a corner then hold down Command-Option-Shift (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift) then drag. The order in which you click and hold the keys is important. Don't move the mouse until after you've held down the shortcut keys and don't hold down the keys until after you've clicked a corner.

This will work for everything except live type. Type must be converted to outlines before it will transform into a perspective shape.

Another method is to use Effect > Distort & Transform > Free Transform from the menu. But the Effect will not give you a live preview and it won't move sides simultaneously.

[paispais]

Select your object(s) then, using the Free Transform tool, click a corner then hold down Command-Option-Shift (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift) then drag. The order in which you click and hold the keys is important. Don't move the mouse until after you've held down the shortcut keys and don't hold down the keys until after you've clicked a corner.

Using this technique on type looks awesome. I'm learning something new every time I look through the forums. I'm loving it!

[kazbear]

You may also pull down from Effect>3D>Rotate. This will work with Live text...

[radams]

Hi

I was looking for a thread on perspective and found this one. I have drawn a top view of a road and now I would like to distort it so it would look like I am driving on it. The top would be narrowed and the base widened, in perspective.

I tried the technique you described however the free transform tool wouldn’t seem to allow me to select the points as you described. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

Rick

[kazbear]

1. Select all objects - no need to individually click on points.
2. With your Free Transform tool, Click and hold the top left corner of your selected objects.
3. Hold down Command-Option-Shift (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift) and drag towards to the right. You should see your perspective now.

Let go when you get the effect you like, You can further scale your ojects to best effect...

[radams]

Hi

That's just what I needed. Obviously the modifier keys constrain the proportions and move both sides in and out equally.

Thank you for the clarification.

Rick

[brain-damage]

i'd just like to say, i found what i needed in seconds on this forum.

Great site, think i'm gna stick around.

[Fakie]

Depending on the perspective you can always set up a one, two or three point grid in it and work off that. But I'm a technical illustrator by trade and the stuff I do has to be accurate to an extent, to be honest though so long as it looks right by eye is really all that counts, the client will probably never notice if your perspective is slightly out :D

[Mrbaseball34]

Seems evertime I do that, the cursor changes to the resize cursor and holding the ctrl-key down makes it constrain. I do not get a free transform at all when a group is selected. Any more tips?

[Scott Weichert]

You must use the free transform tool Mr. Baseball, the regular bounding box won't do it.

[Mrbaseball34]

I DO use the Free Transform tool. If a group is selected, I click the free transform tool icon in the toolbox and when I move the cursor over to the grouped object it chenges to a resize icon when moving it over any of the corner points.

[Scott Weichert]

it will. Simply click a corner handle then without moving the cursor, press the shortcut keys. The order in which you click and press keys is very important.

[dwesterdale]

Hi Folks - I was reading the forum post regarding the free transform tool. I'm using AI CS3 - when i select the object I want to trans form the perspective on, i'm grabbing the corner, holding down ctrl and with the free transform tool dragging. It's not dragging in a perspective it's only dragging up and down or left and right? Any thoughts? It's not giving me that perspective effect that I'm so used to with photoshop.
Thanks.

[mwestenhaver]

I had the same exact problem and it was driving me nuts. To put something in perspective, you can try drawing the shape you want the object to be, and make sure this new shape is the topmost layer. The select your object and this new shape, got Object > Envelope Distort > Make With Top Object. The object gets smushed into the frame, and voila! perspective.

[3388]

:)are there more?