Cutting Up Blueprints For 3d Modelling

This is a small tutorial showing how to cut up and arrange some Blueprints ready to be used in the background views of your preferred 3D application.We'll be using a blueprint from Suurland.com You can find the fullsize blueprint by clicking here.

First things first, we convert it to an RGB image by going to IMAGE>MODE>RGB. Second using the poly Lasso tool we go around the side view as shown. COPY and PASTE this onto a new layer of its own.

Do the same for the front view. Select around it, COPY and PASTE, now we have three layers:- front, side and top. Its also a good idea to name the layers by double-clicking them and typing a useful name.

Blank out the front and side from the top view layer by creating a new layer above it, select around the front/side views and fill with WHITE. Merge this layer down (CTRL E) so you now have the top view alone on the bottom layer. Now you have three layers with only front, top or side on them. This allows you to MOVE, SCALE and ROTATE them independently of each other, essential for lining them up!!

Next thing we need is a little more room. 1. Go to IMAGE>CANVAS SIZE, 2. Set each box to PERCENT, 3. Set width and height to 200%. This should give us plenty of room!

As you can see the canvas is much larger, I have also created another layer and filled it with WHITE, moved it down below all the other layers, its just there to provide a background.

One thing to note is the side view, the plane is actually tilted 1. You can see the ground line here, we need to align that with the RED line so draw a horizontal one on a layer above temporarily. 2. CTRL T to transform, movet he pivot tothe position as shown, 3. By dragging just outside the the handles you can rotate the side view down until the floorline matches the horizontal RED line we marked. Press ENTER once its aligned!

1. Turn off the front view for the time being and flip the side view layer horizontally, 2. Set the layer to Multiply, this allows you to align it over the top view and SCALE it etc to fit the length. 3.CTRL R to turn on RULERS, using the MOVE tool drag a couple of new vertical GUIDELINES onto the canvas, one to align the back and one to align the front. Make sure SNAP to GUIDLINES is turned on the VIEW menu for later on, these guides just help to make sure the scale is correct etc!!!

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1. Switch the front viewback on and 2. Set the Layer to MULTIPLY 3. As you can see you can align it over the top view and SCALE it if needs be to match the top view. Once aligned we will move it back to the right side into its own space, using the MOVE tool and holding SHIFT to keep it aligned! The same technique can be used to move things vertically...

Now were getting there, Select a rectangle around the views just skimming the edges and CROP the whole image down to that size. Also dont forget to FLATTEN it at this point so all the views are on one layer!!

1. Now you got the em aligned you need to cut them up neatly, Select the MOVE tool and DRAG on a couple of GUIDLINES, one to divide them up vertically and one horizontally. Along with VIEW>SNAP TO GUIDELINES these allow you to select each view ready for COPYing.

Select the side view and you'll notice the rectangle selection snaps to the GUIDELINES. Now comes the easy part, COPY (CTRL C), Create a NEW document (CTRL N - its size will already be correct) and PASTE in the side view with CTRL V. I tend to find out the size of the ref now and write it down, as when I save them I like to include the width and height. E.g. sideview867x579.jpg

Do the same for the front and top views and SAVE em!!!. You now have three images ready for use in a 3D modelling program. Hope you found this tutorial useful!!

Click to enlarge