redline
03-24-2006, 07:31 PM
I've noticed that one of my major faults when shooting is not taking the time to check my horizons. I'll get back and start processing my images and notice that all my landscape shots have crooked horizons. And its even more pronounced when shooting buildings or skylines where there is a deffinate seperation between foreground and background elements. So, by request, here is a little tutorial I've put together. Hopefully this will be of some help, if you have any further questions, just let me know as sometimes I forget to fully explain myself :rolleyes: :D Btw- this tutorial was written for Adobe PS CS.
First off is our sample image, which has a noticeably crooked horizon. So first off, launch PSCS and open your image. Zoom way out (amount depends on the file size) so that you can see the whole image on your screen. This way you can see how crooked your horizon actually is. And while your at it, go ahead and make sure you have your rulers turned on in photoshop (hotkey apple+r on a mac, I believe its ctrl+r on those "other" machines :D ).
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/8655/picture18mi.jpg
Ok next step you'll wnat to drag down a Guide. This can be done by selecting the move tool (hotkey v on a mac, v on a pc). Now move your mouse and position the move tool at the top of the ruler and click and drag down onto the canvas. If that doesn't make much sense, you can go to View>New Guide at the top of the screen. Select "Horizontal" and with the move tool still in effect, drag the guide onto the canvas.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1658/picture21us.jpg
Now move your guide with the move tool to the horizon of the image.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/949/picture34fh.jpg
I actually like to reposition mine at the tree line.
Ok now we're going to basically rotate the image so that it complies with the correct horizon, which is represented by the guide. So go to select>all in order to select the entire canvas.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6493/picture42fw.jpg
Then go to edit>transform>rotate.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9046/picture57bc.jpg
Rotate your image so that the horizon line, or the tree line in my case matches up fairly well with the guide. Hit enter twice, or hit the check box at the top of the screen to O.K. the selection. You can now de select your image with hotkey: apple+D or ctrl D.
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/9500/picture65de.jpg
Now take the crop tool (hotkey c on both mac and pc) and crop out the white portions of the image that are left from the transformation. If your BG color on your color palate is a color other than white, then the background of the image will be something other than white. So, just crop out what 'ya don't need :D If your brave, you can take the clone tool and clone out the white areas to preserve the images original dimensions. Sometime this works and it worth it, sometimes its not. It all depends on how complex the background is.
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/8915/picture70lw.jpg
All thats left is to clear your guides and you're done!
http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/9052/picture88lt.jpg
First off is our sample image, which has a noticeably crooked horizon. So first off, launch PSCS and open your image. Zoom way out (amount depends on the file size) so that you can see the whole image on your screen. This way you can see how crooked your horizon actually is. And while your at it, go ahead and make sure you have your rulers turned on in photoshop (hotkey apple+r on a mac, I believe its ctrl+r on those "other" machines :D ).
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/8655/picture18mi.jpg
Ok next step you'll wnat to drag down a Guide. This can be done by selecting the move tool (hotkey v on a mac, v on a pc). Now move your mouse and position the move tool at the top of the ruler and click and drag down onto the canvas. If that doesn't make much sense, you can go to View>New Guide at the top of the screen. Select "Horizontal" and with the move tool still in effect, drag the guide onto the canvas.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1658/picture21us.jpg
Now move your guide with the move tool to the horizon of the image.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/949/picture34fh.jpg
I actually like to reposition mine at the tree line.
Ok now we're going to basically rotate the image so that it complies with the correct horizon, which is represented by the guide. So go to select>all in order to select the entire canvas.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6493/picture42fw.jpg
Then go to edit>transform>rotate.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9046/picture57bc.jpg
Rotate your image so that the horizon line, or the tree line in my case matches up fairly well with the guide. Hit enter twice, or hit the check box at the top of the screen to O.K. the selection. You can now de select your image with hotkey: apple+D or ctrl D.
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/9500/picture65de.jpg
Now take the crop tool (hotkey c on both mac and pc) and crop out the white portions of the image that are left from the transformation. If your BG color on your color palate is a color other than white, then the background of the image will be something other than white. So, just crop out what 'ya don't need :D If your brave, you can take the clone tool and clone out the white areas to preserve the images original dimensions. Sometime this works and it worth it, sometimes its not. It all depends on how complex the background is.
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/8915/picture70lw.jpg
All thats left is to clear your guides and you're done!
http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/9052/picture88lt.jpg