PlantStudio Botanical Illustration Software is a tool for creating 3D plant models and 2D illustrations. PlantStudio simulates herbaceous (non-woody) plants like wildflowers and cut flowers, vegetables, weeds, grasses, and herbs using a parameter-driven simulation of plant growth and structure. You can "grow" plants over their life cycles, producing lifelike images at any age. You can design, animate and breed a wide variety of plants. By using the "evolutionary arts" of variation and selection in the plant breeder, you can quickly and easily create whole families of unique plants for your 3D scenes.

You can download this software here.

This page incorporates most of the still-relevant content about PlantStudio. To look at the old (archived) PlantStudio pages click here.


PlantStudio Features

These are some of the things you can you do with PlantStudio.

Make your own plants using a step-by-step wizard wizard
Choose from libraries of plants libraries
Create multiple-plant compositions such as bouquets bouquet
Breed new plant varieties by mutating existing plants
breeding
Create your own leaves and other 3D structures
3D editing
Animate plants through their life cycles
animation
Work with your other graphics tools to merge plants into compositions
merged picture
Learn how plants grow and about terms and modeling
terms
Send and receive plants by email
text copy

PlantStudio works with the graphics tools you already have. You can:

You can use your botanical drawings to: And you don't have to stop at plants! The organic forms you create with PlantStudio can be used as starting points for anything you can imagine, such as:

Some exceptional PlantStudio features are:


PlantStudio Screen Shots

This picture shows the PlantStudio main window, in which you work with the plants in a plant file and create compositions.
main window

This is the PlantStudio breeder, which creates new plants by "mutating" them from "parents". It's a lot of fun to play with, and you can get some incredible outcomes. This picture shows the outcome of breeding variations on a phlox plant.
breeder

This is another view of the PlantStudio main window showing how you can change parameters on individual plants. PlantStudio uses a simulation model with over 200 parameters to encompass a wide range of herbaceous (non-woody) plants.
parameters

This is a page of the PlantStudio plant wizard, which guides you through creating new plants by asking you simple questions based on the most important parameters.
wizard


PlantStudio Sample Plants

These are some examples of output from PlantStudio in DXF and POV formats.


Fireweed
fireweed_DXF.zip
(76 K)
fireweed_POV.zip
(24 K)

Violet
violet_DXF.zip
(100 K)
violet_POV.zip
(36 K)

Maiden grass
maiden_grass_DXF.zip
(492 K)
maiden_grass_POV.zip
(71 K)


PlantStudio Plant Exchange

These are plants you can download and use in PlantStudio. Most of them were contributed by PlantStudio users back in the day. All plants and pictures of plants here were placed in the public domain by their authors and may be distributed freely.

To use any of these plants in PlantStudio, Right-click on the name or picture of the plant, choose Save Link As or Save Target As, and save the file. Then find the plant file you downloaded and open it in PlantStudio. (If you can't see the plant right away, click "Scale to Fit.") Or you can download all the plants in one zipped file (about 320K - does not include the "Genus" collections).

plant picture
Genus Kurtzia (13 species) [90K]
(click here for larger picture)
plant picture
Genus Fernhoutia (17 species) [120K]
(click here for larger picture)
plant picture
blue star grass
(PS2)
plant picture
violet
(PS2)
plant picture
yellow rose
(PS2)
plant picture
florist's eucalyptus
(PS2)
plant picture
baby's breath
(PS2)
plant picture
pin-wheel plant
(PS2)
plant picture
hybrid swirl plant
(PS2)
plant picture
tri-fan palm
(PS2)
plant picture
holly berry
plant picture
emperor's crown
plant picture
corn silkie
plant picture
shaeffer daisy
plant picture
star daisy
plant picture
vision lily
plant picture
sunny jonquil
plant picture
poinsettia head
plant picture
iris
plant picture
blue flower plant
plant picture
reedy grass
plant picture
green fern
plant picture
tall grass
plant picture
pink flower plant
plant picture
violet
plant picture
dandelion
plant picture
daisy
plant picture
yellow ball plant
plant picture
summer wish
plant picture
writhing envy
plant picture
autumn branch
plant picture
sloe blossom
plant picture
berry delight
plant picture
mistletoe
plant picture
sandpiper
plant picture
cardinal vine
plant picture
feline delight
plant picture
feather fluff
plant picture
sessile bellwort
plant picture
thistle
plant picture
fern tree
plant picture
blue fern


More PlantStudio Plants

Real plants Download all real plants zipped (21K)

agave

dandelion

gentian

goldenrod

hawkweed

loosestrife

lupine

polemonium

venus looking glass

woodsorrel

yellow poppy

red poppy

lobelia

chicory

cinquefoil

mariposa lily

bulrush

drooping rose
   
Imaginary plants Download all imaginary plants zipped (38K)

graceful shrub

wavy grass

fall shrub

purple plant

viney plant

happy plant

gentle plant

orange plant

teal plant

curlique plant

cool blue plant

blue-green grass plant

marsh grass

fall shrub 2

yellow flowers plant

pinwheel plant

creepy crawly
     

PlantStudio Tubes for Paint Shop Pro

(NOTE: These instructions are old but the files may still be useful.) To use these tubes in Paint Shop Pro 5, download the zip file and unzip it to a tube file in your Paint Shop Pro Tubes directory. Then copy the lines under the picture for that tube and paste them into your tubes.ctl file so that Paint Shop Pro can find and use the tube. Each tube has five or six randomly varying plants of one type. You might want to decrease the tube scale; we make the tube pictures large so that you have the resolution if you want it. If you need more help installing tubes, see your Paint Shop Pro help system.


buttercup
TubeName:buttercup
TubeFile:buttercup.tub
StepSize:260
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

clover
TubeName:clover
TubeFile:clover.tub
StepSize:437
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

coreopsis
TubeName:coreopsis
TubeFile:coreopsis.tub
StepSize:144
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

fireweed
TubeName:fireweed
TubeFile:fireweed.tub
StepSize:396
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

goldenrod
TubeName:goldenrod
TubeFile:goldenrod.tub
StepSize:510
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

loosestrife
TubeName:loosestrife
TubeFile:loosestrife.tub
StepSize:462
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

maiden grass
TubeName:maidengrass
TubeFile:maidengrass.tub
StepSize:392
TubesAcross:6
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:6
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

phlox
TubeName:phlox
TubeFile:phlox.tub
StepSize:346
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

pine shrub
TubeName:pineshrub
TubeFile:pineshrub.tub
StepSize:327
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

yellow poppy
TubeName:yellowpoppy
TubeFile:yellowpoppy.tub
StepSize:667
TubesAcross:5
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:5
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

red tulip
TubeName:redtulip
TubeFile:redtulip.tub
StepSize:206
TubesAcross:7
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:7
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0

yellow tulip
TubeName:yellowtulip
TubeFile:yellowtulip.tub
StepSize:208
TubesAcross:7
TubesDown:1
TotalTubes:7
TubePlacementMode:0
TubeSelectionMode:0


PlantStudio Nozzles for Painter

(NOTE: These instructions are old but the files may still be useful.) To use these nozzles in Painter, download the zip file and unzip it. In Painter, open the Nozzle Mover and open the nozzle file on the right side, then drag the nozzle picture to the left side (your Painter nozzle library). Click Quit; the nozzle should appear in your nozzles window and you can choose it and paint with it. Each nozzle has five or six randomly varying plants of one type. You might want to decrease the nozzle scale (at the bottom of the nozzle window); we make the nozzle pictures large so that you have the resolution if you want it. If you need more help using nozzles, see your Painter help system.


buttercup

clover

coreopsis

fireweed

goldenrod

loosestrife

maidengrass

phlox

pineshrub

yellow poppy

redtulip

yellowtulip


PlantStudio Gallery

These are a few of of our all-time favorite images from the old PlantStudio gallery. All were created using PlantStudio and contributed by users. (All images shown here are the copyright of the artist, and reproduction without the artist's consent is strictly prohibited.)


Frysteria Blooms


A Cracking View


Vase of flowers


Puddle


Wildflowers