Vanishing Point

Do any of the following:

• Select the Zoom tool  in the Vanishing Point dialog box, and click or drag in the preview image to zoom in; hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and click or drag to zoom out.

• Specify a magnification level in the Zoom text box at the bottom of the dialog box.

• Click the Plus sign (+) or Minus sign (-) button to zoom in or out, respectively.

• To temporarily zoom into the preview image, hold down the “X” key. This is especially helpful for placing the corner nodes when defining a plane, and for working on details.

Do any of the following:

• Select the Hand tool in the Vanishing Point dialog box, and drag in the preview image.

• Hold down the spacebar with any tool selected, and drag in the preview image.

(Optional) Prepare your image for work in Vanishing Point.

Before choosing the Vanishing Point command, do any of the following:

• To place the results of your Vanishing Point work in a separate layer, first create a new layer before choosing the Vanishing Point command. Placing the Vanishing Point results in a separate layer preserves your original image and you can use the layer opacity control, styles, and blending modes.

• If you plan to clone the content in your image beyond the boundaries of the current image size, increase the canvas size to accommodate the additional content. See also Change the canvas size

• If you plan to paste an item from the Photoshop clipboard into Vanishing Point, copy the item before choosing the Vanishing Point command. The copied item can be from a different Photoshop document. If you’re copying type, you must rasterize the text layer before copying to the clipboard.

• To confine the Vanishing Point results to specific areas of your image, either make a selection or add a mask to your image before choosing the Vanishing Point command. See also Select with the marquee tools and About masks and alpha channels.

• To copy something in perspective from one Photoshop document to another, first copy the item while in Vanishing Point in one document. When you paste the item in another document while in Vanishing Point, the item’s perspective is preserved.

Choose Filter > Vanishing Point.

Define the four corner nodes of the plane surface.

By default, the Create Plane tool  is selected. Click in the preview image to define the corner nodes. Try to use a rectangle object in the image as a guide when creating the plane.

To tear off additional planes, use the Create Plane tool and Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) an edge node. For more information, see Define and adjust perspective planes in Vanishing Point.

Edit the image.

Do any of the following:

• Make a selection. Once drawn, a selection can be cloned, moved, rotated, scaled, filled, or transformed. For detailed information, see About selections in Vanishing Point.

• Paste an item from the clipboard. The pasted item becomes a floating selection, which conforms to the perspective of any plane that it’s moved into. For detailed information, see also Paste an item into Vanishing Point.

• Paint with color or sampled pixels. For detailed information, see Paint with a color in Vanishing Point or Paint with sampled pixels in Vanishing Point.

• Scale, rotate, flip, flop, or move a floating selection. For detailed information, see About selections in Vanishing Point.

• Measure an item in a plane. Measurements can be rendered in Photoshop by choosing Render Measurements To Photoshop from the Vanishing Point menu. For detailed information, see Measure in Vanishing Point.

Export 3D information and measurements to DXF or 3DS format.

Textures are also exported to 3DS format. For detailed information, see Export measurements, textures, and 3D information.

Click OK.

Grids can be rendered to Photoshop by choosing Render Grids To Photoshop from the Vanishing Point menu before you click OK. For detailed information, see Render grids to Photoshop.

Open the Vanishing Point menu and choose either Export to DXF or Export To 3DS.

In the Export DXF or Export 3DS dialog box, select a location for the saved file and click Save.

In the Vanishing Point dialog box, select the Create Plane tool  and click in the preview image to add the four corner nodes.

Try to use a rectangular object or a plane area in the image as a guide when creating the perspective plane. To help with node placement, hold down the “X” key to zoom into the preview image. As you add corner nodes, you can delete the last node if it’s not correct by pressing the Backspace key (Windows) or Delete key (Mac OS). You can also reposition a node by dragging it.

Select the Edit Plane tool  and do one or more of the following:

• To reshape the perspective plane, drag a corner node.

• To adjust the grid, enter a value in the Grid Size text box or click the down arrow and move the slider. You can also adjust the grid size when the Create Plane tool is selected.

• To move the plane, click inside the plane and drag.

• To scale the plane, drag an edge node in a segment of the bounding box.

The bounding box and grid of a perspective plane is normally blue. If there’s a problem with the placement of the corner nodes, the plane is invalid, and the bounding box and grid turn either red or yellow. When your plane is invalid, move the corner nodes until the bounding box and grid are blue.

Select the Create Plane tool or Edit Plane tool and Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) an edge node of an existing plane’s bounding box (not a corner node).

The new plane is torn off at a 90° angle to the original plane.

(Optional) Do one of the following to change the angle of the newly torn off plane:

• With either the Edit Plane tool or Create Plane tool selected, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the center edge node on the side that’s opposite from the axis of rotation.

• Enter a value in the Angle text box.

• Move the Angle slider.

Choose Show Edges from the Vanishing Point menu.

Do any of the following:

• Select the Edit Plane  or the Create Plane  tool, and then enter a Grid Size value in the tool options area.

• Select the Measure tool  and then select Link Measurements To Grid in the tool options area. Drag the Measure tool in a plane and enter a Length value in the tool options area.

Open the Vanishing Point menu and choose Render Grids To Photoshop.

The Render Grids To Photoshop command must be chosen for each Vanishing Point session.

Select the Marquee tool.

(Optional) In the tool options area, enter values for any of the following settings before making the selection:

Specifies how much to blur the edges of the selection.

Specify this value if you plan to use the selection to move image content. This option determines how much the moved pixels obscure or reveal the image underneath.

Choose a blending mode if you plan to use a selection to move image content. This option determines how the moved pixels blend with the surrounding image:

• Choose Off so the selection doesn’t blend with the colors, shadows, and textures of the surrounding pixels.

• Choose Luminance to blend the selection with the lighting of the surrounding pixels.

• Choose On to blend the selection with the color, lighting, and shading of surrounding pixels.

Drag the tool in a plane. You can make a selection that spans more than one plane. Hold the Shift key to constrain the selection to a square that’s in perspective.

Make a selection in a perspective plane.

Choose one of the following from the Move Mode menu to determine the behavior when you move a selection:

• To select the area you move the selection marquee to, choose Destination.

• To fill the selection with the image pixels in the area where you drag the Selection tool pointer to (same as Ctrl-dragging or Command-dragging a selection), choose Source.

Drag the selection. Hold down the Shift key to constrain the move so it is aligned with the grid of the perspective plane.

Do any of the following:

• To move a floating selection, select the Marquee or Transform tool, click inside the selection and drag.

• To rotate a floating selection, select the Transform tool and move the pointer near a node. When the pointer changes to a curved double arrow, drag to rotate the selection. You can also select the Flip option to flip the selection horizontally along the vertical axis of the plane or select the Flop option to flip the selection vertically along the horizontal axis of the plane.

• To scale a floating selection, make sure that it is in a perspective plane. Select the Transform tool and move the pointer on top of a node. When the pointer changes to a straight double arrow, drag to scale the selection. Press the Shift key to constrain the aspect ratio as you scale. Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to scale from the center.

Make a selection in a perspective plane.

(Optional) Move the selection where you want it. Make sure the Move Mode is set to Destination, when you move the selection.

Do one of the following:

• Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) the pointer from inside the selection to the image area that you want to fill the selection.

• Choose Source from the Move Mode menu and drag the pointer from inside the selection to the image area that you want to fill the selection.

The filled selection becomes a floating selection that you can scale, rotate, move, or clone using the Transform tool, or move or clone using the Marquee tool.

Make a selection in a perspective plane.

Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the selection with the Marquee tool to create a copy of the selection and its image pixels.

The copy becomes a floating selection, which seems to hover above the main image. You can move a floating selection, or you can select the Transform tool to scale or rotate the floating selection.

Do one of the following:

• Click outside the floating selection to deselect it. The selection’s content is pasted into the image, replacing the pixels that were below it.

• Click in the floating selection with either the Marquee or Transform tool and Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) to make another copy. Once copied, the original floating selection is deselected and replaces the pixels that were below it.

Copy an item to the clipboard. The copied item can be from the same or different document. Keep in mind that you can paste only a raster (not vector) item.

(Optional) Create a new layer.

Choose Filter > Vanishing Point.

If necessary, create one or more planes in the image.

Press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac OS) to paste the item.

The pasted item is now a floating selection in the upper-left corner of the preview image. By default, the Marquee tool is selected.

Use the Marquee tool to drag the pasted image to a plane.

The image conforms to the perspective of the plane.

Select the Brush tool.

Specify a brush color by doing one of the following:

• Select the Eyedropper tool and click a color in the preview image.

• Click the Brush Color box to open the Color Picker to select a color.

In the tool options area, set the Diameter (brush size), Hardness (edge smoothness), and Opacity (the degree to which painting obscures the image below).

Choose a Healing mode:

• To paint without blending with the color, lighting, and shading of the surrounding pixels, choose Off.

• To paint and blend the strokes with the lighting of the surrounding pixels while retaining the selected color, choose Luminance.

• To paint and blend with the colors, lighting, and shading of the surrounding pixels, choose On.

(Optional) Specify the paint application options:

• To paint continuously, automatically conforming to the perspective from one plane to another, open the Vanishing Point menu and choose Allow Multi-Surface Operations. Turning this option off lets you paint in the perspective of one plane at a time. You need to stop and then start painting in a different plane to switch perspective.

• To confine painting to the active plane only, open the Vanishing Point menu and choose Clip Operations To Surface Edges. Turning this option off lets you paint in perspective beyond the boundaries of the active plane.

Drag in the image to paint. When painting in a plane, the brush size and shape scales and orients properly to the plane’s perspective. Shift-drag constrains the stroke to a straight line that conforms to the plane’s perspective. You can also click a point with the Brush tool and then Shift-click another point to paint a straight line in perspective.

In Vanishing Point, select the Stamp tool  .

In the tool options area, set the Diameter (brush size), Hardness (the amount of feathering on the brush), and Opacity (the degree that the painting obscures or reveals the image beneath it).

Choose a blending mode from the Heal menu:

• To prevent the strokes from blending with the colors, shadows, and textures of the surrounding pixels, choose Off.

• To blend the strokes with the lighting of the surrounding pixels, choose Luminance.

• To blend the strokes with the color, lighting, and shading of surrounding pixels, choose On.

To determine the sampling behavior of the Stamp tool:

• Select Aligned to sample pixels continuously, without losing the current sampling point even when you release the mouse button.

• Deselect Aligned to continue using the sampled pixels from the initial sampling point each time you stop and resume painting.

(Optional) Specify the paint application options:

• To paint continuously from one plane to another, open the Vanishing Point menu and choose Allow Multi-Surface Operations.

• To confine painting to the active plane only, open the Vanishing Point menu and choose Clip Operations To Surface Edges.

Move the pointer into a plane and Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) to set the sampling point.

Drag over the area of the image you want to paint. Hold the Shift key down to drag a straight line that conforms to the plane’s perspective. You can also click a point with the Stamp tool and then Shift-click another point to paint a straight line in perspective.

In Vanishing Point, select the Measure tool and then click and drag over an object in a plane.

It’s best to make your initial measurement of an object that you know the size of.

With a measurement selected, enter a Length value to set its measured length.

(Optional) Draw additional measurements.

The size of these measurements are scaled to the size of your initial measurement.

(Optional) Do one of the following:

• If you want the size of the grid to be independent of the Length value you assigned to the initial measurement, make sure Link Measurements To Grid is deselected. This is the default setting.

• If you want the size of the grid to adjust according to the Length value you assigned to the initial measurement, select Link Measurements To Grid.

Vanishing Point measurements in an image are preserved after closing the dialog box. They appear when you launch Vanishing Point again.

Double-click the Measure tool in a perspective plane.

Select the Measure tool.

Click anywhere along the length of an existing measurement and drag.

Select the Measure tool and move it over the end point of an existing measurement line.

Do any of the following:

• To change the orientation and length of a measurement, drag an end point.

• To change the length of a measurement and constrain its angle changes to 15 degree increments, Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) an end point.

• To change the length of a measurement without changing its orientation, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) an end point.

• To change the orientation of a measurement without changing its length, Shift-drag an end point.

Select a measurement and press Backspace (Windows only) or Delete.

Open the Vanishing Point menu and choose Show Measurements.

Open the Vanishing Point menu and choose Render Measurements To Photoshop.

The Render Measurements To Photoshop command must be chosen for each Vanishing Point session.