Photoshop: Transforming

Photoshop Transforming You will find that transforming will be necessary in much of your Photoshop work. Let me first explain just what transforming is. This is the process of changing an object’s appearance by modifying one or more of its physical characteristics. 

The Photoshop transform function includes: scaling, rotating, skewing, changing perspective, distorting, and flipping. Photoshop had the insight to design the program in a way that allows users to transform entire images, individual layers, and/or specific selections. 

1) Scale – Allows one to change the size of the image.
2) Rotate – This function rotates the bounding box clockwise or counter-clockwise
3) Skew – Think of the Eiffel Tower….this function makes an image look like it’s leaning.
4) Changing Perspectives – With this feature you can change a part of the image to look closer or farther away.
5) Distort – To distort an image you will find that it will look twisted – no two sides will be parallel. 
6) Flipping – This feature will completely reverse an image – the reversal can either be horizontal or vertical.

To begin a transformation first choose what it is that you want to transform. To apply a transformation to a layer use the Layers tab to select it. To apply a transformation to an image you must select the image using the selection tools.

Using the Edit menu, choose the desired transformation from the transform menu. You should now see a box with handles around your selection. Use the handles to drag to make the desired change. You will be able to view the results. 

You have the ability to make more than one transformation. After you are finished with your modifications press the Enter or Return key to accept the transformation. You can select to cancel the transformation with the Esc key or by clicking Cancel.