A triangular grid for sketching in three dimensions.
Free Printable Isometric Paper
A 30 degree triangle grid for drawing cubes, parts and maps in 3D. Set the spacing, then download.
This is the PrintNook page, not the printable sheet.
To print the sheet at its true size, go back and use the Print or Download PDF button, then print at 100 percent scale, not Fit to page.
Print at 100 percent scale, not Fit to page. That is what keeps the measurements true.
Preview: A4, portrait, isometric paper, 6 mm grid, 12 mm page margin.
Free for personal and commercial use. No attribution required, no watermark. See terms.
Want a coarser or finer triangular grid? Open it in the paper generator.
Isometric paper replaces the square grid with a mesh of equilateral triangles set at 30 degrees. Those angled guides make it easy to draw objects in pseudo 3D, where three faces of a cube stay visible at once. Engineers, product designers, and tabletop mappers reach for it to sketch parts, packaging, and dungeons with believable depth. Pick the triangle spacing and page size, then download a clean PDF.
What isometric paper is good for
3D and technical sketching
Draw boxes, mechanical parts, and product concepts with consistent 30 degree angles and no perspective distortion.
Game and dungeon maps
Lay out isometric levels, buildings, and terrain for tabletop games where a three quarter view reads more clearly than a flat plan.
Architecture and packaging
Rough out room layouts, furniture, and box nets while keeping proportions and depth under control.
Why the angle is 30 degrees, and what spacing to choose
Isometric drawing works because all three visible axes of a cube are treated equally: two horizontal axes at 30 degrees above the horizon and one true vertical. That is why the grid is built from 30 degree lines rather than the 45 degrees people often expect, and it is why a cube drawn on it has no vanishing point and no foreshortening. For spacing, 6 mm suits general sketching and matches a standard 30/60 set square. Go coarser, around 10 mm, for room layouts and packaging nets where each cell is a unit of something real. Go finer, around 4 mm, for mechanical parts, where you want to count cells for dimensions.
How to draw a box on isometric paper
Almost every isometric drawing starts as a box that you then cut into or build onto. Get the box right and the rest follows.
- Turn the sheet the right way. Hold the page so one set of lines runs straight up and down. The other two sets then rise at 30 degrees to the left and to the right. Those are your height, width and depth directions.
- Draw the nearest vertical edge. Pick a point low on the page for the corner closest to you and draw up along a vertical line. Count the steps: at 6 mm spacing, 5 steps is a 30 mm tall object.
- Add width and depth along the diagonals. From the bottom and the top of that edge, draw along the 30 degree lines to the left and to the right, counting cells for each dimension so the proportions stay true.
- Close the box. Finish with lines parallel to the ones you already drew. Every edge of a box sits on a grid line, so if a line falls between grid lines, a count is off somewhere.
- Cut away, then shade. Remove notches and add details inside the box rather than drawing them freehand. Circles become ellipses, sketched inside a diamond of grid lines. Shade one face light, one medium and one dark so the form reads at a glance.
Printing tips
- Check the scale before you draw: at the default 6 mm spacing, 10 vertical steps should measure 60 mm with a ruler. If it comes out at about 56 mm, Fit to page is still on.
- Pick a light line colour so your ink stands out and the grid fades in a scan or photo.
- Children and quick room sketches are easier at 8 to 10 mm. Small mechanical parts are easier at 4 mm, where each step can stand for a fixed unit.
- There is no separate 11 x 17 file: the generator draws A4 and US Letter. Printed onto 11 x 17 with Fit to page, a Letter sheet grows by about 1.29, so a 6 mm grid prints at roughly 7.8 mm.
Specifications
Counted from the generator itself at its default settings, not estimated. Change a setting and these numbers change with it. How we measure explains where they come from.
| Measure | A4 | US Letter |
|---|---|---|
| Sheet size (portrait) | 210 x 297 mm (8.27 in x 11.69 in) | 215.9 x 279.4 mm (8.50 in x 11.00 in) |
| Page margin | 12 mm | 12 mm |
| Triangle side | 6 mm | 6 mm |
| Vertical line spacing | 5.2 mm | 5.2 mm |
| Grid angle | 30 degrees from horizontal | 30 degrees from horizontal |
| Vertical lines per page | 36 | 37 |
| Line weight | 0.2 mm | 0.2 mm |
Print at 100 percent. Turn off Fit to page in your print dialog so the layout keeps its true measurements. See our print settings guide for the full checklist, or A4 versus Letter if you are unsure which size to pick.
Frequently asked questions
What is isometric paper used for?
It is used for drawing three dimensional objects on a flat page. The triangular grid supplies ready made 30 degree guide lines so cubes and prisms look right without freehand estimation.
How is it different from graph paper?
Graph paper uses a square grid for flat, top down drawing. Isometric paper uses a triangular grid tuned for angled, three dimensional views.
Is the grid really at 30 degrees?
Yes. The horizontal step is the vertical spacing multiplied by the tangent of 30 degrees, which is what puts every diagonal at exactly 30 degrees from the horizontal.
Does the angle survive printing?
At 100 percent scale it does, because the page is not rescaled. Print with Fit to page on and the sheet is squashed by a few percent, which tilts every line slightly and stops it matching a set square.
Can I use it for hexagon or triangle drawing too?
Yes. A triangular grid contains hexagons, so the same sheet works for hex maps drawn by hand. For a printed honeycomb instead, use the hexagon graph paper.
Is it free for professional work?
Yes, for anything. The PDFs are free for personal, classroom and commercial use, with no attribution required and no watermark anywhere on the page.
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