Photoshop Elements 8 for Windows: The Missing Manual

Transforming Images

You'll probably end up using the Correct Camera Distortion filter, explained in the previous section, for most of your straightening and warp-correction needs. But Elements also includes a series of Transform commands that you can use, as shown in Figure 11-11. For example, Transforming comes in handy when you want to make a change to just one side of a photo, or for final tweaking to a correction you made with Correct Camera Distortion. You can also apply these commands just for fun to create wacky photos or text effects.

Figure 11-11. Left: While you might use Correct Camera Distortion (Correcting Lens Distortion) to straighten a slanting building like this, you can also use the Transform commands, a better choice when you only need to adjust one side, as in this image. Right: Here, it took only a dose of Skew and a bit of Distort to pull the building straight and make it tall again.

Skew, Distort, and Perspective

Elements gives you four commands, including three specialized ones—skew, distort, and perspective—to help straighten up the objects in your photos. While they all move your photo in different directions, the way you use them is the same. The Transform commands have the same box-like handles that you see with the Move tool, for example. You choose the command you want, and then the handles appear around your photo. Just drag a handle in the direction you ...