Straighten your picture in Photoshop the easy way

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

Found a "new" (to me anyway) clever way to straighten your pictures in Photoshop for those of you that have it. With the image open, get the measure tool (under the eyedropper flyout). Using the measure tool, draw a line along a section of the image that should be either vertical or horizontal (click and drag). Now select
Image -> Rotate Canvas -> Arbitrary
The "Rotate Canvas" dialog will open with the exact angle offset entered to rotate the image. Click "OK" Now click the crop tool and crop the image as needed for the corners from the rotation. Click the apply check mark.
Presto - one level image !! (well, I thought it was cool anyway !! )

mikey

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Hi Mikey

That is one great method! Worked fine for me - currently using Photoshop CS/version 8 - and much quicker than other methods I've used in the past.

Thank YOU

Iris

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Someone taught that trick to me around 4 or 5 years ago, and it's now one of my most precious little tricks. If it's in the manual, I can't find it. (I just looked, but the manual is two inches thick, so it could be in there undiscovered until the next century.)

Barbara

[cherub Profile Private messageWebsite]

Do you guys mean to say that Photoshop doesn't have a tool of its own called "Straighten" ?

Because PaintShop Pro does, and it functions pretty much like what you described Mikey, if not easier.

[MG - Admin]

I've been using that trick for years. What I'd really like to do is find a way to get my wife to hold the camera straighter so I wouldn't have to use that trick so often.



The image above is pretty typical. I blame it on the fact that she, like everyone else with a point and shoot, tries to compose the shot using the LCD screen in bright sunlight. I know, you'd think she'd notice that the camera is tilted, but that's another issue.

[mikemullett Profile Private message]

Another technique useful in this straightening of a picture is not to crop the result to eliminate the white corners, but to clone them in with adjacent material. This is particularly useful if the original picture has been framed a bit tight and you want to preserve as much as possible of the original.
. . . Mike

[pd Profile Private message]

In the next `wife` version of the camera, an electronic spirit level will be fitted. It will buzz until you get it level.

This is my workflow to level `wife` photo.

- Duplicate Layer
- View > Show > Grid
- Transform > Rotate

It is a little more labourius, but I think it is more flexible. I will try your method as it is possibly quicker. Thanks for reminding me.

pd

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Hi there

pd - Just to speed you up a little... Ctrl + ' (apostrophe) will bring up the grid, then Ctrl + T then brings up the transform bounding box - this is just one of my usual ways of doing it in Photoshop - there's another way too, based solely on the crop tool - but I do like this 'new' method as it allows you to actually draw a guideline along a straight edge in the image and get it spot on

Mike M - that's also a good tip re cloning in the inevitable blank canvas that results from the cropping or rotation

Mona... I believe there's a 'Straighten and Crop' tool in Elements... but nothing is ever that 'straight'forward in Photoshop

TTFN
Iris

[pd Profile Private message]

Hi there

pd - Just to speed you up a little... Ctrl + ' (apostrophe) will bring up the grid, then Ctrl + T then brings up the transform bounding box - this is just one of my usual ways of doing it in Photoshop - there's another way too, based solely on the crop tool - but I do like this 'new' method as it allows you to actually draw a guideline along a straight edge in the image and get it spot on

TTFN
Iris

Tried it. Works well. Thanks for the tip
pd

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Do you guys mean to say that Photoshop doesn't have a tool of its own called "Straighten" ?

Yes, it's called the ruler, which means that it takes years before a Photoshop user realizes what it does best.

Mike M: You described one of my favorite "cheats." A refinement to it: When the parts to be cloned come from something very dark (heavy vignette or night sky, for instance), if you bring up an adjustment layer, choose brightness, and then increase the brightness so you can see all the subtle variations, you can do the cloning with finesse. Choose the background layer to do the cloning, and because of the adjustment layer, you'll be able to see the best places from which to clone. When done, delete the adjustment layer.

Mike G: Has it not dawned on you that your wife has a rare and special internal gyroscope? This should be submitted for scientific study.

Barbara

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

You have two options -- train the wife or fix the picture ... I give you Photoshop (after 32 years, I know the path of least resistance / most likely for success !! )

mikey

[debngar Profile Private message]

Using Photoshop LightRoom, it can be done similarly with the crop/angle/straighten tool in 4 clicks. Select the crop tool, then straighten tool, then a start and end point along a horizontal line, hit enter to finish and the image automatically rotates level and crops the picture just inside the original boundaries.

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Very similar to Debbie's description is the same thing in Photoshop RAW, assuming you shoot in RAW mode, that is. It's a separate tool from the crop. However, I rarely use it because I like to see how things are going to look once I get them into Photoshop proper. You can use the crop tool in Photoshop to straighten simply by rotating it, but it's only as precise as your eye is.

Barbara

[LEE7 Profile Private messageYIM]

Hi
That picture would be great for the Irishman that bought some waterski's & couldn't find a sloping Lake (sorry)


Really old joke from a old man.


Regards.

Peter

[trulytango Profile Private message]