How to Draw 3D Letters

3D letters are very important, especially in design. They give emphasis and are often titles or taglines for designs. There are many ways to make 3D letters, all you have to do is follow this tutorial and you'll be making your own very soon.

Method 1
Method 1 of 29:

Digital Method

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    Open your graphic designing program and type in your desired "Text" using the Text box. 3D will be used as the "Text" for this example.
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    Transform the text. Skew, rotate or distort the text to whatever your design needs.
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    Define the front. You will be making copies of the original text so you need to define it by giving it a different color.
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    Duplicate the black text. Keep duplicating the shadow text until you reach the front.
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    Refine the edges to smooth out some jagged edges from the text.
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    Add some finishing touches to the piece like some highlights or some shadows.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 29:

Traditional Method

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    Sketch the text lightly using a pencil. Don't worry if it's a bit messy as you will ink it later on. Don't forget to add boldness to each letter as you need it to convey shadows.
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    Add depth to the sketch. The trick is to copy the contours of the text/ letters and there you have it, depth!
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    Ink the drawing and erase the sketch.
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    4
    Fill in some colors. The top part should be a lighter color while the depth should be darker.
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    5
    Add some finishing touches to the piece like some highlights or some shadows.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 29:

A

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    1
    Draw simple sticks of the letter A as the main guideline for the bubble letter A.
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    2
    Using the letter A guideline, draw an outline sketch of letter A. Simply draw a very light line that will look like it is covering the letter. If you want it thicker, show more space on the inner part of the bubble letter A.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color. Pick your favorite color and fill it in the bubble letter A outline.
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    4
    Add the highlights. Now, use lighter shade of the color you chose to show the highlight. This shows the 3d effect on the letters. Light and shade is very important in showing the 3D effect on any drawing.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 29:

B

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    Use the same outline sketching for the letter B. Basically, we will be doing the same techniques for the entire alphabet.
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    Fill in the basic color for the letter B.
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    3
    Add the shadow with darker tones of color.
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    4
    Add lighter tone of color, and smudge the areas of the highlight and shadow to show the 3D effect.
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Method 5
Method 5 of 29:

C

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    1
    Draw the simple stick line figure of the letter C.
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    2
    Add the bubble outline sketch for the letter C.
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    3
    Erase the stick figure for the letter C and fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the darker and lighter tone, and smudge the colors to show the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect.
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Method 6
Method 6 of 29:

D

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    1
    Draw the outline sketches for letter D bubble letter.
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    2
    Fill in the colors.
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    3
    Smudge the colors to show the 3D effect. Make sure that you are consistent with the light and shade effect. That helps a lot in showing the 3D effect.
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Method 7
Method 7 of 29:

E

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    1
    Draw the outline sketches for the bubble letter E.
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    2
    Fill in the basic color.
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    3
    Add the light and shade effect for bubble letter E.
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Method 8
Method 8 of 29:

F

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    1
    Draw the outline sketched for bubble letter F.
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    2
    Add the colors which can also be used for the light and shade effect.
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    3
    Smudge the colors to show the 3D effect.
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Method 9
Method 9 of 29:

G

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    1
    Do the same techniques with the bubble letter G.
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    2
    Add the light and shade, then smudge the colors to show the 3D effect.
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Method 10
Method 10 of 29:

H

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    1
    Draw the stick figure for letter H.
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    2
    Fill in the colors.
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    3
    Smudge the colors to show the 3D effect.
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Method 11
Method 11 of 29:

I

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    1
    Draw the stick figure on the letter I.
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    2
    Add the outline sketch for the bubble letter I.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the light and shade color, then smudge the colors to show the 3D effect of the letter I.
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Method 12
Method 12 of 29:

J

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    1
    Draw the stick figure for the letter J.
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    2
    Add the outline for the letter I bubble letter figure.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the light and shade colors, then smudge the colors to show the 3D effect of the bubble letter J.
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Method 13
Method 13 of 29:

K

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    1
    Draw the stick figure for the letter K.
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    2
    Add the outlines for the bubble on the letter K.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows.
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Method 14
Method 14 of 29:

L

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    1
    Draw the stick figure for the letter L.
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    2
    Add the outline sketch for the bubble letter L.
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    3
    Fill in the color, the shadows and the highlights.
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    4
    Blend the colors to show the 3D effect.
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Method 15
Method 15 of 29:

M

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter M.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter M.
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    3
    Fill in the color.
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    4
    Smudge the colors to show the 3D effect for letter M.
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Method 16
Method 16 of 29:

N

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter N.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the letter N bubble letter.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadow for the letter N 3D letter.
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Method 17
Method 17 of 29:

O

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    1
    Draw the stick figure for the letter O.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter O.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadow for the 3D effect.
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Method 18
Method 18 of 29:

P

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    1
    Draw the stick figure for the letter P.
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    2
    Use the same techniques until you get the bubble letter P then fill in the basic color.
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    3
    Add the highlight and shadow for the 3D effect of the letter P.
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Method 19
Method 19 of 29:

Q

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter Q.
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    2
    Add the bubble letter Q outline sketches.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect on the bubble letter Q.
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Method 20
Method 20 of 29:

R

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter R.
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    2
    Use the same techniques until you get the bubble letter R then fill in the basic color.
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    3
    Add the highlight and shadow for the 3D effect of the letter R.
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Method 21
Method 21 of 29:

S

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter S.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter S.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect on the bubble letter S.
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Method 22
Method 22 of 29:

T

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter T.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter T.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect on the bubble letter T.
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Method 23
Method 23 of 29:

U

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter U.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the letter U bubble letter.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect on the bubble letter U.
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Method 24
Method 24 of 29:

V

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter V bubble letter.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter V.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows.
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Method 25
Method 25 of 29:

W

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter W bubble letter.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter and fill in the basic color.
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    3
    Add the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect.
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Method 26
Method 26 of 29:

X

  1. Image titled Draw 3D Letters Step 84
    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter X.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter X.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect for the letter X.
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Method 27
Method 27 of 29:

Y

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter Y.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter Y.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect for the letter Y.
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Method 28
Method 28 of 29:

Z

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    1
    Draw the stick figure of the letter Z.
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    2
    Add the outline sketches for the bubble letter Z.
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    3
    Fill in the basic color for letter Z bubble letter.
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    4
    Add the highlight and shadows for the 3D effect on the letter Z bubble letter.
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Method 29
Method 29 of 29:

SHADOW EFFECT

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    1
    Gather all the 3D bubble letters that you have done.
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    2
    Add more shadow effect to show that there is only one source of light. Lighting effect is very important in drawing any 3D objects. So make sure that everything is synchronized with the light source.
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    3
    Finish the effect by adding the cast shadow. If the light source is coming from the upper areas, the shadows should be shown on the areas that are against the light.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How many letters are in the alphabet?
    Katrina Im
    Katrina Im
    Community Answer
    It depends on what language you are talking about. English has 26 letters, while other languages have more or fewer. For example, Finnish has 29, Cambodian has 74, and Hebrew has 22.
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Things You'll Need

  • Paper
  • Pencil
  • Pencil sharpener
  • Eraser gum
  • Colored pencils, crayons, markers or watercolors

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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 19 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 172,953 times.
32 votes - 57%
Co-authors: 19
Updated: July 1, 2021
Views: 172,953
Categories: Drawing Text and Lettering
Article SummaryX

To draw 3D letters, start by lightly sketching the letters with a pencil and adding contours around them to give the letters depth and add a 3-dimensional quality. Next, trace around the letters with ink and erase the pencil lines. Then, fill in the top part of the letters with a lighter color and use a darker color for the contours. Finally, add some finishing touches to the letters, like highlights or shadows. For more tips, including how to create 3D letters digitally, keep reading!

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