Straightening Images
I’ve been meaning to write about this Photoshop tip since I read about it a few months ago in an issue of the PhotographyTech newsletter. It was one of those moments when you realise that despite using Photoshop almost every day for many years, there are still things to learn…
If you have an image with a horizon that isn’t quite horizontal, the usual method is to use the crop tool and rotate the crop.
Try this instead:
1. Select the Measure Tool (usually hidden under the eyedropper tool) in the tools palette.
2. Draw a line along the edge of the part of the image that you want to make horizontal.
3. Go to Image > Rotate Canvas > Arbitrary, ignore whatever value has been entered into the “Angle” box, and just hit “OK”.
4. The image will now have been rotated so that the line you drew is a perfect horizontal, and all that’s left is to crop the black canvas out of the frame.
I still use the normal method most of the time - but do find this useful for pictures where you need an accurate horizontal or where you need to visualize the rotated image before cropping.
