Join Michael Ninness for an in-depth discussion in this video Scaling, skewing, and rotating with Free Transform, part of Photoshop CS5 Essential Training.
So when you crop an image, you're actually acting on the entire canvas of the file. The whole size, the whole dimensions of the overall file are changing. Same thing when you're using image size, that dialog box to change the size of the document. Other times, you just want to scale a certain piece of the document, or transform a certain piece of the document. Most of the time, that's an example like this where you've got content on a layer. So here I have this Jump layer, I can turn that on and off by clicking the Eye. You can see that background as a separate layer. I might want to change the Scale or Rotation of this particular item on this particular layer, so this Jump layer here.
The way you do that in Photoshop is use the Free Transform mode. Now it's not a tool. If you go over at the toolbar and looking for a Scale tool or a Rotate tool, it doesn't exist. It's a mode. Two ways to get there. The menu way is under the Edit menu, the Free Transform menu command. That puts a bounding box. You're now in a Transform mode inside Photoshop. I'm going to hit the Escape key to cancel out of that Transform mode. The way that I recommend is use the keyboard shortcut. So that's Command+T or Ctrl+T for Transform.
Once you're in the Free Transform mode, there is now a bounding box around your content. If you want to scale it, you just grab a corner handle and start dragging. If you're doing the corner handle, you're scaling both the Width and Height at the same time. Free Transform implies that you can just do it freely, right. There's no constraining going on. I'm going to undo that. You can undo the last thing you did in Free Transform before you are either canceling or committing to these changes. So Command+Z or Ctrl+Z will just undo that last thing you did. In this case, it was just as free scale. If I want to scale proportionally, then just hold down the Shift key as you are dragging.
And that will make sure that the end result is the same proportion as where you started. If you put your mouse outside of the Free Transform bounding box, you see your cursor changes to Rotate. So if it's inside, it's a little Move icon where you can move it around your screen. You put your mouse outside it turns to Rotate, which lets you rotate it freely. Now, by default, it's rotating from the center of the image. That might be a little tough to see, but there is this little cross hair thing in the middle of the bounding box there. You can actually move that to somewhere else. So if you want to rotate from say the upper left-hand corner, you can just click-and-drag on that little target and move it there.
So now when you move your mouse outside, it's going to be rotating from that new target, that new anchor point. It's kind of like swinging on a rope or something, which is kind of cool. You can go back and move that back to the center. As you get near the center, it will snap back to the center point. Now there are other different types of transformations you can make besides just scaling and rotating. If you hold down some modifier keys, like if I hold down the Command key on the Mac or Ctrl on Windows, you can do what's called the Perspective Transform. And you can kind of make this be on a plane that you're stretching in space, so to speak.
So some interesting things there, if grab up middle handle, I can do a Perspective Transform and do it from that way as well. There are other modifiers as well, but if you don't want to memorize keyboard shortcuts, if you right-click in the middle of the Transform box, you'll see all the different modes of Free Transform. So it can be used to Scale, Rotate, Skew, Distort, Perspective or Warp. Then you also have very simple commands. If I just want to flip this horizontally without having to figure out how to do that, I can just use the right -click menu command to do so. If you want to scale or rotate numerically, like a certain amount or to a certain angle, then if you take a look at the Option bar at the top here, you have Edit fields where you can actually change those values as well.
So if want to scale, let's say exactly 50%, I'm going to click on the W in the Options bar. That highlights that field and I can just type in 50. By default, this icon between Width and Height is not locked, so it's stretching it only in one dimension, the Width. I'm going to go ahead and click that Lock icon and that forces the H field to also go to 50%. If I want, I can go back and flip that vertically. So I can add multiple transformations up during the middle of this transform. When I'm happy with all these results, I just press the Enter key and it applies all those transformations to that particular image here.
If I want to undo it, Command+Z or Ctrl+Z and I'm back to where I started. So again, it's not a tool. It's a mode. Quickest way to get there is Command+T or Ctrl+T. Puts the bounding box around your layer and then you can just freely transform your content to whatever it is that you want to accomplish.
Author
Released
4/30/2010- Automating image adjustments with Camera Raw
- Adding keywords, ratings, and other metadata to images
- Filtering a large collection of images down to the "keepers"
- Cropping, correcting perspective, and straightening images
- Creating, naming, hiding, and deleting layers
- How to make selections and masks quickly
- Improving mask quality with Refine Edge
- Techniques for combining multiple images
- Non-destructive editing techniques with adjustment layers and Smart Filters
- Retouching essentials, such as blemish removal and body sculpting
- Color correcting images
- Using the essential blend modes, layer effects, and styles
- Creating contact sheets and web photo galleries
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
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Introduction
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Welcome1m 43s
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What is Photoshop?2m 49s
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Using the exercise files1m 34s
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1. It Begins in Bridge
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What is Adobe Bridge?1m 54s
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Getting photos from a camera3m 39s
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2. Whittling Down to "Keepers"
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Rating images3m 15s
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3. Camera Raw Essentials
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Raw vs. JPEG files5m 13s
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Choosing output settings2m 44s
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4. Fixing Common Problems Quickly with Camera Raw
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Sharpening the details8m 59s
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5. Retouching and Using Creative Techniques with Camera Raw
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6. Automating Camera Raw
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7. Photoshop Interface Essentials
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The Application frame2m 16s
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The Application bar1m 16s
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Panel management5m 30s
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8. Documents and Navigation
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The Arrange Documents widget1m 38s
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Pan and zoom5m 21s
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9. Digital Image Essentials
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File formats13m 6s
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Resize vs. Resample9m 40s
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10. Cropping and Transformations
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Crop options4m 12s
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Warping images3m 40s
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11. Working with Layers
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The Background layer5m 14s
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Transforming layers7m 16s
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12. Selections and Layer Masks
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Transform selections2m 40s
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Quick Mask is your friend4m 31s
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13. Tone and Color Correction with Adjustment Layers
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Starting with a preset4m 25s
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14. Additional Options for Tone and Color Correction
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Shadow/Highlight9m 3s
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15. Retouching Essentials
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Taming flyaway hair4m 47s
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De-emphasizing wrinkles4m 41s
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Body sculpting with Liquify3m 51s
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16. Combining Multiple Images
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17. Essential Filters
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Overview of filters4m 6s
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18. Essential Blend Modes
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19. Type Essentials
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Character (point) type8m 18s
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Paragraph (area) type4m 42s
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Type on a path2m 53s
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Warping type3m 20s
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20. Essential Layer Effects and Styles
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Adding a drop shadow effect4m 43s
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Adding an outer glow effect3m 13s
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21. Sharing Images
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Creating PDF contact sheets6m 41s
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Saving for the web3m 17s
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Conclusion
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Goodbye1m 19s
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Video: Scaling, skewing, and rotating with Free Transform