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How to Create a 3D Drawing in Microsoft Paint 3D

Microsoft's free 3D painting tool offers great functionality for 3D doodling

By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 14, 2021 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Design 3D Design Animation & Video Graphic Design

What to Know

Choose Canvas on the menu bar and turn on the Transparent canvas slider. Resize the canvas if needed.From the 3D Shapes menu, choose the sharp edge or soft edge tool. Draw a closed shape that begins and ends at the same place.Use the tools that appear automatically to change the shape and rotate it. Add additional closed shapes as needed. This article explains how to create a 3D drawing in Microsoft Paint 3D by drawing shapes, changing their characteristics, and rotating them. Microsoft Paint 3D was introduced in the Windows 10 Creators Update and installs by default for that and newer versions.

How to Create a 3D Drawing in Microsoft Paint 3D

Microsoft's Paint 3D program offers a free and easy-to-use tool for creating three-dimensional drawings and art. Use the hard and soft doodle tools to fine-tune your pictures.

Set Your Canvas

Set up the canvas that you'll draw on. Choose Canvas from the top of the program to get started. Activate a transparent canvas so that the background blends in with the colors around it with the Transparent canvas option. This toggle is optional, but it avoids a final product with a white background. Resize the Paint 3D canvas. By default, the canvas is measured in percentage form and is set at 100% by 100%. Change those values to whatever you like or select Percent to change the values to Pixels like what's shown above. The small lock icon below the values can toggle an option that locks the aspect ratio. When locked, the two values will always be the same.

Use a 3D Doodle Tool

The 3D-doodle tools are located in the 3D Shapes menu accessed from the top of the Paint 3D program. Two of the 3D-doodle tools include a sharp edge and soft edge tool. The sharp edge doodle adds depth to a flat object, which means you can use it to literally "pull out" 3D space from 2D space. The soft edge doodle makes 3D objects by inflating 2D objects, something that might be useful for drawing objects like clouds. A third tool, 3D Tube, was introduced into Paint 3D in a subsequent feature update.

How to Use the Sharp Edge 3D Doodle in Paint 3D

Select the sharp edge 3D doodle tool. Pick a color for the 3D object. Draw a simple circle to start with. As you draw, your starting point illuminates with a small blue circle. Click and drag for freehand or click once and then move to a different location and click again to make a straight line. Combine both techniques into one as you're drawing the model. No matter how you do it, always end up back where you started — at the blue circle — to complete the drawing. When the object is finished, it will remain only slightly 3D until you begin using the tools that automatically show up around the object when you click it. Every tool moves the object in a different way. One will push it back and forth against the background canvas. The others will rotate or spin the model in whichever direction you need. The eight small boxes surrounding the object are useful too. Hold and drag one of those to see how it affects the model. The four corners resize the object, making it larger or smaller depending on if you pull the box in or out. The top and bottom squares affect the size in that direction, letting you flatten the object. The left and right squares can make a small object much longer or shorter, which is useful when making true 3D effects. If you click and drag on the object itself without using those buttons, you're able to move it around the canvas in a conventional 2D manner. The sharp edge 3D doodle is great for objects that need to be extended, but not so ideal for rounded effects. That's when the soft edge tool comes into play.

How to Use the Soft Edge 3D Doodle in Paint 3D

Local and select the soft edge 3D doodle from the 3D doodle area of the 3D Shapes > Select menu. Choose a color for the model. Just as with the sharp edge 3D doodle, you must complete the drawing by starting and ending in the same place. When the object is selected, use the controls located on the selection box to rotate the model around every axis possible, including pushing it back and forth toward and away from the 2D canvas and other 3D models. When you create objects with the soft edge 3D doodle, rotate it to face a particular direction to alert the manipulation buttons about how you want to edit the model.

Download Models

Use these 3D drawing tools to make models from scratch as well as convert 2D images into 3D models. However, if you'd rather not make your own 3D art in Paint 3D, download models created by other users through the Remix 3D website. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Turn a 2D Drawing Into 3D Art in Paint 3D How to Use Stickers and Text in Paint 3D 5 Ways to Create 3D Art Using the Paint 3D Toolbar Do I Need to Know How to Draw for 3D Modeling? What Is Microsoft Paint 3D? How to Add Text to Photos on Phones and Computers How to Insert and Paint 3D Models in Paint 3D DWG File (What It Is and How to Open One) How to Rotate an Image in Google Docs How to Make a Timeline on Google Slides How to Add a Border in Google Docs How to Use Canva How to Create the Out of Bounds Effect in Photoshop How to Apply Rubber Stamp Effects in Photoshop Elements 8 EPRT File (What It Is and How to Open One) The 13 Best iPad Drawing Apps of 2022 Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies