Isometric Scaling

[LyleMills]

Hi All,

Can someone please clarify what the proper scaling amount is for doing isometric drawings? On one site it is 86.602% and on another it is 86.062% Which one is correct? Also, where does this "magical" number come from? Could someone explain?

Thanks,
Lyle

[LyleMills]

Well, trying the tutorials it is 86.062%, but I am still unable to figure out how that number comes about. Anyone?

[JamesProvost]

It should be 86.602%

Scaling compensates for the stretch that the Shear does. Try working backwards from a 1" isometric cube made from 3 parallelograms. Then rotate and shear each side. You'll see they're not quite square. Then scale them and you'll see you end up with three 1" squares.

[LyleMills]

Thanks James!

Makes much more sense after "reverse-engineering" the cube.

[matt_lorenzi]

This may have been asked / posted somewhere already. Is there an isometric plugin for AI? I know there are grids available, which I have. Just wondering if there is a plugin which will shear/scale for you.

Otherwise, can the Perspective Tool draw you an isometric grid? That would be a nice feature to have...and am sure would be no issues for Adobe to incorporate.

[JamesProvost]

Look into "Actions," they can turn scale/shear/rotate into one hotkey each for top/front/side.

[matt_lorenzi]

@James
Thanks, keep forgetting about actions. Will try.