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Create 3D graphics in Illustrator

Last updated on Oct 14, 2024

Illustrator User Guide
Get to know Illustrator
1. Introduction to Illustrator
2. Workspace
3. Tools in Illustrator
  1. Tools at a glance
  2. Select tools
  3. Navigate tools
    1. Hand
    2. Rotate View
    3. Zoom
  4. Paint tools
  5. Text tools
  6. Draw tools
    1. Pen
    2. Add Anchor Point
    3. Delete Anchor Point
    4. Anchor Point
    5. Curvature
    6. Line Segment
    7. Rectangle
    8. Rounded Rectangle
    9. Ellipse
    10. Polygon
    11. Star
    12. Paintbrush
    13. Blob Brush
    14. Pencil
    15. Shaper
    16. Slice
  7. Modify tools
    1. Rotate
    2. Reflect
    3. Scale
    4. Shear
    5. Width
    6. Free Transform
    7. Eyedropper
    8. Blend
    9. Eraser
    10. Scissors
    11. Dimension
4. Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
5. Quick actions
Illustrator on the web (beta)
Illustrator on the iPad
1. Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
2. Workspace
3. Documents
  1. Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
  2. Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
4. Select and arrange objects
  1. Create repeat objects
  2. Blend objects
5. Drawing
  1. Draw and edit paths
  2. Draw and edit shapes
6. Type
7. Work with images
  1. Vectorize raster images
8. Color
  1. Apply colors and gradients
Cloud documents
1. Basics
2. Troubleshooting
  1. Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
  2. Troubleshoot Illustrator cloud documents issues
Add and edit content
Import, export, and save
1. Import
2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
  1. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
3. Save and export
Printing
1. Prepare for printing
2. Printing
Automate tasks
Troubleshooting

Learn how to create lifelike objects in Illustrator by applying 3D effects, lighting, and materials sourced from Adobe Substance.

Explore the beta app

Build 3D artwork in Project Neo (Beta) and bring it to Illustrator to create stunning dimensional designs, graphics, and illustrations.

Get started

You can apply 3D effects, lighting, and material to 2D vector graphics with realistic textures viewed under different lighting scenarios. You can then render them with ray tracing to create realistic 3D graphics with ease.

Read on to learn how to re-create a sample vector art with 3D effects, as shown in this design sample.

3 steps to create a 3D artwork

Get started by drawing your favorite art on paper, tracing it into Illustrator, apply 3D effects like Extrude, Rotation, and Substance Materials. Provide finishing touches to your design with appropriate Lighting and Shadow effects, and then render your artwork with ease.

Try it in the app
Follow along with any project to create 3D graphics in a few simple steps.

Open Illustrator


Step 1 Create a vector art	Step 2 Apply 3D effects to the artwork	Step 3 Render the artwork

Create a vector art

You can convert the image of a pencil sketch drawn on paper into vector art using image trace. You can also download a sample 2D artwork to try on the go.

Download sample file

Draw your favorite art on a piece of paper. For example, Flora letters.
Import the raster image into Illustrator using File > Place in a document.
Choose Object > Image Trace > Make to trace the image with default options.

Neo

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Apply 3D effects to the artwork

Before you start applying 3D effects to the vector artwork, explore Object, Materials, or Lighting
options and presets available in the 3D and Materials panel. The 3D and Materials panel appears when you click Window > 3D and Materials.

Object

3d types — 3D Types in 3D and Materials panel

A. Plane	Flattens the object onto the plane.
A. Extrude	Extends a 2D object to add depth.
A. Revolve	Sweeps a path or profile in a circular direction.
A. Inflate	Inflates the flat object.
B. Depth	Sets the depth of the object from 0 through 2000.
C. Twist	Twists the object up to 360°.
D. Taper	Tapers the object from 100% through 1%.
E. Cap	Specifies whether the object appears solid or hollow.
F. Bevel	Applies beveled edge along the object's depth.
G. Presets	Applies rotation presets based on direction, axis, and isometrics.
H. Vertical rotation	Rotates object vertically from -180° to 180°.
I. Horizontal rotation	Rotates object horizontally from -180° to 180°.
J. Circular rotation	Rotates object in a circle from -180° to 180°.
K. Perspective	Changes the object's perspective from 0° through 160°.

Materials

A. Base Materials	Applies default preset material.
B. Adobe Substance Materials	Enables you to apply some of the Adobe Substance Materials.
C. Substance 3D assets	Adds Materials from Adobe Substance assets.
D. Substance community assets	Adds Materials from Adobe Substance community.
E. Add new materials and Graphic	Add Materials - Adds new materials to the panel. Add Graphics - Add artwork as a Graphic. You can use graphics to map artwork over 3D objects.
F. Material properties	Applies roughness and metallic properties from 0 through 1 for basic materials. Properties vary for each of the Adobe Substance materials.

Lighting

A. Presets	Applies pre-configured lighting effects like Standard, Diffuse, Top Left, or Right quickly to your artwork.
B. Lighting widget	Allows you to drag light sources to adjust their lighting angles.
C. Light source	Multiple light sources illuminate the 3D object better.
D. Move selected light to the back/front of an object	Moves the selected light to the back of the object when in front and vice-versa.
E. Intensity	Changes the selected light’s brightness from 0% through 100%.
F. Rotation	Rotates the focus of light around the object with a value from -180° through 180.
G. Height	Brings the light closer to the object, if it's lower causing a short shadow and conversely from 0° through 90°.
H. Softness	Determines how the light spreads. Overrides the diffuse preset with a value from 0% through 100%.
I. Ambient Light intensity	Controls the global lighting intensity, from 0% to 200%.
J. Shadows	Applies shadows to your artwork when the toggle button is on.
K. Position	Applies shadow either Behind Object or Below Object.
L. Distance from object	Adjusts the distance of the shadow from the object with a value from 0% through 100%.
M. Shadow Bounds	Applies shadow's boundary with a value from 10% through 400%.

Apply Extrude, Materials, Lighting, and Shadow Effects

Now that you have explored all the available 3D effects and materials options in the section above, you can apply Extrude and Rotation, Adobe Substance Materials, and Lighting, Intensity, and Shadows effects to the imported vector artwork.

Be familiar with these limitations and error messages before you start applying 3D effects:

If Ray Tracing is enabled, you will experience lag depending upon the complexity or size of the object. For objects with complex paths, 3D effects are applied partially.
3D effects are not supported on all object types. For example, raster images or single anchor point objects.

Extrude and Rotation

Watch this 17-second video to learn how to apply Extrude effects on the 2D artwork.

Select the artwork created using Create vector art.
Click Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel. 3D and Materials panel appears.
Set Depth, Twist, and Taper.
Select Rotation > Presets > Off-Axis - Front and set X-axis and Y-axis values to any appropriate value from 0° through 360°.

Rotation and Perspective

You can also set the rotation of an object and the perspective from which you view it.

Perspective camera — Add perspective to the object

To adjust the perspective, select a value within a range of 0 to 160 in the 3D and Materials > Object > 3D Type > Perspective slider.

A smaller angle is similar to a telephoto camera lens; a larger lens angle is similar to a wide-angle camera lens.

Adobe Substance Materials

After applying Extrude effects to the vector artwork, you can now learn how to apply 3D Materials.

Select the vector artwork after applying Extrude effects on it.
Select Materials from the 3D Effects panel. Choose material from the list or add your own material by clicking icon.

You can either add your own material or choose from the free community and Adobe materials. You can also add thousands of Adobe Substance 3D materials with a subscription plan.
Click Material Properties to apply parameters, or change position, channels, and filters.

Lighting, Intensity, and Shadows

After applying Materials to your 3D object, you can add lighting and shadow to it.

The Lighting tab in the 3D and Materials panel shows two light sources from opposite directions. — Add lighting to your 3D object

Select Lighting in the 3D and Materials panel.
Do one of the following to add lighting:
- Single light: Choose a default preset like Standard, Diffuse, Top Left, or Right. To adjust the angle of the light, drag the light within the lighting widget, or use the Rotation and Height sliders.
- Multiple lights: Use to add up to ten lights. To adjust the angle of the lights, drag them within the lighting widget, or select a light on the list and use the Rotation and Height sliders.
Select Move selected light to back of object to position the light behind the object.
Adjust the Color, Intensity, and Softness if required. If there are multiple lights, select a light on the list to adjust its Color, Intensity, and Softness.
Select Ambient Light > Intensity and set a value from 0 through 200%.
Select the Shadows toggle button to apply a shadow. You can use parameters like Position, Distance from the Object, and Shadow Bounds to customize a shadow effect.

Even if you have added multiple lights and enabled shadows, you will see only one shadow in Real-time preview. To see the shadows of all the lights, switch to Render with Ray Tracing.

Render the artwork

After applying the 3D effects to the vector art, you can use Render with Ray Tracing to create realistic 3D graphic artwork more efficiently and better. Ray tracing enables you to create realistic 3D graphics by tracing the path of light rays as they bounce over the object.

To enable/disable ray tracing and render, select Render with Ray Tracing in the upper-right corner of the 3D and Materials panel.

Render with Ray Tracing selected in the 3D and Materials panel. — Render with Ray Tracing to create realistic lighting for your 3D object.

Ray Tracing settings

You can also change quality, noise, and raster options for Ray Tracing. Select Render Settings in the upper-right corner of the 3D and Materials panel.

Select the Ray Tracing toggle button to enable/disable it.
You can also change the resolution, color, and background for the raster image by selecting Raster Settings.
Select Quality as High and click Render to get one of the industry's optimal quality renderings of your artwork.

Refer to some of the best practices on how to optimize CPU usage while you render the artwork.

Render or expand 3D objects as wireframes

Use wireframes to view the underlying structure of your 3D object to ensure accuracy. Do one of the following:

Render as wireframe: Select Wireframe in Render Settings to easily edit the 3D properties of the object such as Depth, Taper, and Twist.
Expand as wireframe: Select Expand as wireframes in the Quick Actions section of the Object tab to convert the object to a 2D object.

The final design

Now that you have learned about the power of 3D effects in Illustrator, play around with the sample files and take your creative design to the next level.

You can also download the final design to view your 3D graphic artwork.

Download your final design

Export 3D objects

You can export 3D objects to GLTF and USD file formats and open them in other 3D applications to further edit and enhance 3D objects and 3D objects with materials and graphics. Illustrator also supports exporting 3D objects as OBJ files along with colors.

When you export multiple objects, you can view each object as an independent modifiable object.

Follow the steps to export 3D objects:

In the 3D and Materials panel, select Export 3D objects.

Select Export 3D objects to open the Asset Export panel
In the Asset Export panel, select the 3D asset and select GLTF, USD, or OBJ from the Format drop-down list.

Note:

For any 3D object that you choose to export, the Format option is set as USDA by default in the Asset Export panel.
Select Export.

To learn more about how to export objects using the Asset Export panel, see Collect assets and export in batches.

You can import the exported file in Adobe Substance 3D Stager or any other 3D application to further enhance your 3D object.

Get Substance 3D Stager

What's next: Create 3D text effects

We've got you started on 3D effects in Illustrator. Take a step forward and learn how to create 3D text effects using basic tools and features. Or learn how to intertwine text with 3D objects.

Talk to us

If you have a question to ask or an idea to share, come and participate in Adobe Illustrator Community. We'd love to hear from you.

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