A Tool for Generating Perspective Grids 1

I wanted to develop a flexible tool for being able to draw perspective grids on my drawings. I often use perspective grids for indicating a flat surface or ground plane. Using a tool like this one reduces the size of a straight-edged ruler required for producing perspective grids based on widely spaced vanishing points. Shown below is the flash tool I developed. On the following page, I explain how the tool was developed.

Unfortunately, flash objects are now not able to run in web browsers, so the tool is available for download here (right-click on the link and "save as" to a place on your Windows computer and run it from there - it is a self-contained Windows flash projector executable). I have put screen captures on this page to show the tool in operation; firstly as it draws one particular perspective grid, then the reference help page, then the text output of the same particular perspective grid (for actually drawing the grid on your drawing).

To use the perspective tool:

1. Enter measured parameters in the top panel. Press the Help/Ref button to see an explanation of the various measurements required.

2. Press Take in Changes to Parameters button to read in parameter values.

3. Press Draw All button to show the calculated perspective grid.

4. Press the Show Values button to provide a listing of the parameters and measurements for drawing the perspective grid onto a drawing. This listing can be selected, then copied and pasted into a new text document for printing out or otherwise recording.