Rotating
There are many reasons that you might want or need to rotate an image. If you have a scanned picture or a digital camera image that should be vertical but opens as a horizontally oriented picture, rotating it 90 degrees corrects the problem. This is a common occurrence when you use a scanner because it's usually quicker to scan with the picture horizontal, regardless of its normal orientation (see Figure 4.5).
Figure 4.5. Placing the short side horizontally shortens the scanning time.
They Have Been Transformed
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Rotate 180 Degrees and 90 Degrees Clockwise or Counterclockwise
To rotate the entire image, use the ImageRotate Canvas submenu shown in Figure 4.6. Choose 90 degrees clockwise (CW) or counterclockwise (CCW) to straighten up a sideways image, or 180 degrees if you somehow brought in a picture upside down.
Figure 4.6. The Rotate Canvas submenu.
Rotate by Degrees
To rotate the canvas by something other than a right angle, choose ImageRotate CanvasArbitrary to open a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 4.7. Enter the number of degrees to rotate. If you're not sure, guess. You can always undo and try again with a different number of degrees or a different direction if needed. Click the radio button to indicate the rotational direction: clockwise (CW) or counterclockwise (CCW). Then click OK to perform the rotation.
Figure 4.7. You can even rotate by fractions of a degree.
Try it YourselfStraightening the HorizonUsing the Arbitrary Rotation dialog box is an easy way to correct a picture that needs to be straightened. The picture in Figure 4.8 was shot just as the photographer was about to be blown off the boardwalk. Fortunately, fixing tilted horizons is an easy problem for Photoshop. Find this photo at the website and work along. It's called oldorchardbeach.jpg. Figure 4.8. Oops, the horizon's not supposed to slant downhill.
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Rotate a Selection
Rotating a selection, as opposed to turning the whole canvas, is done in the same manner as resizing one. First, make the selection. Then use EditTransformRotate to place a bounding box around your selection. Drag on any of the corner handles to rotate the selection around its center point. You can see the center point as the target-shaped object in the middle of the selection in Figure 4.12. If you need to rotate the selection off-center, drag the center point to where you want it and then rotate the selection.
Figure 4.12. Drag any corner point to rotate the selection.
Free Transform
You can use EditFree Transform to make any of the changes described. Drag the handles as you press modifier keys to rotate, skew, scale, or distort as much as you want. You can also access the numeric transformations in the Tool Options bar. To distort relative to the center of the bounding box, press Alt/Option as you drag. To distort freely, press Control/Command instead. To skew, press Shift+Control (Windows) or Shift+Command (Mac). Or, if you change your mind, press Esc to cancel the transformation.