Unfortunately, the process for doing this isn’t as simple as a tap on a 2D-to-3D button (wouldn’t that be nice!). Converting a 2D image to a 3D model might involve copying parts of the image, using a brush tool to paint colors and designs, rotating and positioning objects, and more. Here’s how to do it: Doing this makes it much easier to sample the picture so that you can apply the same colors and shapes to the 3D model. In our example with this flower, you can see that we first outlined the petals with the soft edge doodle tool, and then did the same with the stem and leaves. Once the image has been traced, drag it off to the side to build the 3D model. You can do fine-tune adjustments later. For now, we just want the different parts of the 3D model to exist off to the side. In the Brushes menu are several tools that let you paint and draw directly onto the model. Since we have a simple image with easy colors and lines, we’ll use the Fill bucket tool to paint large areas at once. The Eyedropper tool below the drawing utensils is for identifying a color from the canvas. We can use that, along with the Fill tool, to quickly paint the flower the same colors seen in the 2D picture. You can use the Stickers menu to select components of the 2D image, and then the Make 3D option to make it jump off the canvas. However, doing so will not make the image truly 3D, but instead just push it off of the background. It’s also important to recognize the 3D qualities of the image like flatness, roundness, and other characteristics that aren’t necessarily clear from looking at the 2D version. Since we know how flowers look in real life, we can select each of its parts and make them rounder, longer, thicker, etc., based on how an actual flower looks. Use the same method to adjust your 3D model to make it more life-like. This is going to be unique for each model, but with our example, the flower petals needed fluffing up, which is why we used the soft edge 3D doodle instead of the sharp edge, but then used the sharp edge for the center section since it’s not really the same substance. As you can see in our example, the stem could be moved freely into any position, but to make it look more like a real flower, it has to be behind the petals but not too far behind or we risk the two not connecting at all. You might find yourself constantly switching in and out of 3D view so you can see how all the different parts look when seen as a whole. Doing this lets you export the model to a 3D file format without having the original image stuck on the canvas background. Paint 3D supports exporting to GLB and 3MF files.
