Correcting Perspective Problems in PhotoShop
by Adrienne Cleveland
Oops, Everything's Leaning
Have you ever taken a photo like this? Everything in it seems to be leaning, and not all
in the same direction, either. This effect, called "keystoning," happened because I tilted the camera up
to catch the tall building. The effect was exaggerated because I was using a wide-angle lens.
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Fortunately, PhotoShop can help correct these problems. There are many ways to do it, but
I'll just discuss a couple of them.
Correcting Perspective using the Crop Tool
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First, make sure that the image is level horizontally. Hugh Stockton
has written a Tip showing
one easy way to level images.
For me, what works best is to make sure that the vertical lines near the center of the image
are indeed vertical.
In this image, objects in the center appear to be vertical, so we won't need to level the image.
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Once the image has been leveled, select the Crop Tool, and use it to select the entire image.
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Then check the "Perspective" checkbox.
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Now drag the top corners of the Crop Tool inward, lining up the
right and left edges with something that should be vertical:
in this case, the bricks on the left and the light pole on the right.
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When you are satisfied, finish the crop by double-clicking the image or some other method.
The Result
Things are much straighter!
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Other Methods
- Using Transform/Perspective
- For even more control, try using Edit/Free Transform. Holding down the shift and control keys as
you drag the mouse
changes how the tool works.