How to Make an Isometric Grid in Illustrator

Isometric illustrations are made in 2D (2 dimensions) but they look like 3D drawings. Essentially you are mimicking the depth and distortion of the 3D object. To better achieve this you need to create a Grid to aid you with your designs. We will show you how to create an Isometric Grid in Illustrator.

The Isometric Grid is very handy for creating isometric illustrations with the correct perspective. The technique is super quick to use so let’s get started.

Step 1 - Create the Grid

To make your grid, create a new document. Select the Rectangular Grid tool and click inside the canvas to bring out the Tool Options panel.

For the Horizontal and Vertical Dividers, we used a value of 20. A value of 30 can be used depending on your needs.

Now, we are going to create a grid that is larger than our document. Hold the Shift key while dragging down and right to create it making sure that it extends beyond the canvas edges.

Step 2 - Adjust the Grid to the Isometric perspective

We need to adjust the Grid so it has the correct measurements and perspective to create isometric designs.

Let’s first adjust the Scale. Make sure that it is selected and go to Object > Transform > Scale.

In the Scale panel, check the Non-Uniform button, and use a Vertical Scale of 86.602%.

Next, we will use the Shear tool. Go to Object > Transform > Shear.

We used a Shear Angle of 30° with a Horizontal Axis.

Finally, to rotate the grid, go to Object > Transform > Rotate.

In the options, we used an Angle of -30°.

The resulting grid should look like the image below.

Step 3 - Turn your Grid into Guides

We are going to turn the grid into guides so we can use it as references for Isometric designs. Without deselecting, go to View > Guides > Make Guides (Command/Control + 5) to turn it into guides.

You should notice that the grid color changed to the same one that is assigned to the document guides.

Step 4 - Use the Grid to create Isometric Designs

Your Grid is now ready to be used as a guide. You can use the Pen tool (P) to start creating Isometric vectors.

You can use this to write simple vector text or to make other objects.

You can also make 3D geometrical shapes like in the image below.

If you wish to hide the guides to check your design without them, go to View > Guides > Hide Guides (Command/Control + ;).

We have now completed our design and this is what it looks like.

The grid can aid you when using the isometric perspective with text and fonts. Check out our full tutorial on creating isometric text in Illustrator.