Transforming Layers, Selections, And Shapes - Adobe PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS Manual

CHAPTER 6
126
Transforming and Retouching
• Canvas 90° Right to rotate the image clockwise
by a quarter-turn.
• Canvas 180° to rotate the image by a half-turn.
Canvas Custom to rotate the image by the angle
•
you specify. If you choose this option, enter an
angle between –359.99 and 359.99 in the angle text
box, and then select Right or Left to rotate
clockwise or counterclockwise. Click OK.
• Flip Canvas Horizontal to flip the image
horizontally.
• Flip Canvas Vertical to flip the image vertically.
Straightening images
Skewed images are a common by-product of the
scanning process. For example, if you lay a photo-
graph on the scanner at an angle, the image will
appear rotated when you open it in Photoshop
Elements. You can quickly correct a rotated image
using one of the Straighten Image commands.
To straighten an image:
Do one of the following:
To straighten and crop the image, choose
•
Image > Rotate > Straighten and Crop Image.
Note: The Straighten and Crop Image command
may not produce good results if the edges of the
rotated scan are too close to the image window
boundaries. In this case, you can use the Canvas Size
command to enlarge the work canvas. (See
"Changing the size of the work canvas" on page 118.)
• To straighten the image and leave the canvas size
the same, choose Image > Rotate > Straighten
Image. Using this command results in an image
with a transparent border at its edges.
Transforming layers, selections,
and shapes
You can scale, rotate, skew, distort, and apply
perspective to entire layers, selected parts
of layers, and shapes.
Specifying what to transform
You can apply a transformation to a selection on a
layer or to an entire layer. You can also link layers
in order to transform them together.
To specify what to transform:
Do one of the following:
To transform the entire layer, make the layer
•
active, and make sure nothing is selected. (See
"Using the Layers palette" on page 166.)
Important: You cannot transform the background
layer. However, you can convert a background layer
to a regular layer. (See "Adding layers" on page 170.)
To transform part of a layer, make the layer
•
active, and then select part of the image on that
layer. (See "Making pixel selections" on page 103).
To transform multiple layers, link the layers
•
together in the Layers palette. (See "Linking layers"
on page 170.)
To transform a shape on a layer, use the shape
•
selection tool ( ) to select the shape. (See "Trans-
forming shapes" on page 159.)
Setting the reference point
All transformations are performed around a fixed
point called the reference point. By default, this
point is at the center of the layer or selection.