Articles and Press Releases

2-D construction technique to create an isometric view

The following IntelliCAD end-user tip and trick is a 2-D construction technique that manipulates the top, front and end views with a series of rotations and non-uniform scaling factors so that the resulting geometry can be combined to give the appearance of a 3-D isometric drawing.

combo iso image resized 600

  • You start with the 2-D drawings of each of the top, front and end views.
  • You rotate the top view in a counterclockwise direction of +45°.
  • You repeat a similar rotation of +45° for the front view.
  • The end view is however rotated in a clockwise direction of -45°.
  • You then turn each of the views into a block by using the block command. Give each block a name corresponding to its view.

  • Then insert the top view block with a Y scaling of 0.57735. Be sure to leave the X and Z scaling at one. Also ensure rotation is 0°.
  • Then insert the front view block. This time the X scaling should be 0.57735 with the Y and Z scaling at one. Rotation for this block should be -30°. Place this block in the drawing below and to the right of the top view block.
  • Insert the end view block. This also has an X scaling of 0.57735 with the Y and Z scaling at one, but the rotation is in a +30° direction. Insert this to the left and below the top view.
  • The blocks can now be snapped together and exploded to allow familiar 2-D modification techniques to trim and add lines as needed to give the desired 3-D isometric appearance.

If you are interested in purchasing IntelliCAD you can locate an appropriate IntelliCAD technology consortium member via the following website members.IntelliCAD.org/members.

If you're interested in becoming a member of the consortium please contact us via twitter @IntelliCAD or via email ITCsales@IntelliCAD.org

Topics: IntelliCAD DWG Isometric 2-D construction technique top view front view end view