Tips & Tricks

Transformation of inserted objects in Adobe Photoshop

• Moving an object in Adobe Photoshop

  To move an object we can either move the layer with the inserted object, or select a layer fragment and move this immediate fragment.

  Select the Move tool from the Toolbar to move the layer or its fragment.

  First of all, activate the layer with the inserted object and follow the instructions:

  • Step 1. If you want to move a fragment of the layer not the layer itself, you can select the necessary area using any selection tool.
  • Step 2. Select the Move tool from the Toolbar.
  • Step 3. Bring the cursor inside the selected fragment to move it or on any point of the layer to move the layer itself.
  • Step 4. Drag the object. For this purpose press the left mouse button and keeping it pressed drag the mouse cursor.
• Transformation of objects in Adobe Photoshop photo editor

  As far as the object is inserted in a new layer, we use Layer transformation commands to transform the object. To transform the layer or the selected fragment we can use one of the commands from the menu Edit - Transform. For example, the following commands: Scale, Rotate, Skew, Distort, Perspective, Rotate 180°, Rotate 90° CW, Rotate 90° CCW, Flip Horizontal, Flip Vertical.

  You can also use the command Free Transform from the Edit menu, which will help you to perform all transformations at a time. If you select the command Edit – Free Transform, the layer or the selected fragment will be enclosed in a frame with eight markers, and in the Options palette a number of parameters for adjustment will appear.

  
  Scale – to adjust the scale of the image within the area you should move one of the eight markers. To change the scale proportionally you should drag the marker in the corner keeping the SHIFT key pressed. You can enter values for the W and H parameters in percentage from the original size directly in the Options palette. For the size to be changed proportionally, you should activate the relation sign between the W and H parameters.

  Flip – to flip an image you should move one of the markers behind the opposite marker. For example, if you drag the left marker all the way to the right side of the right marker, the image will flip horizontally. However, if all you want is to flip the image, you'd better use the commands Flip Horizontal and Flip Vertical from the menu Edit – Transform.

  Rotate – to rotate an image you should bring the cursor to the marker in the corner so that the cursor transforms in a two-side rounded arrow, press the left mouse and keeping it pressed, drag the cursor. You can set the rotation angle in the Options palette using the Rotate parameter.

  Skew – to skew an image you should drag the marker on the side, the upper and the lower marker keeping the CTRL key pressed (Command in Macintosh). You can adjust the Skew transformation option in the Options palette setting the H and V parameters.

  Distort – it is possible to distort an image by dragging a corner marker keeping the CTRL key pressed (Command in Macintosh).

  Perspective – to create a perspective you should drag a corner marker keeping the CTRL and SHIFT keys pressed (Command and Shift in Macintosh). If you want to drag two points at a time, you should drag a corner marker keeping the CTRL, ALT and SHIFT keys pressed (Command, Option and Shift in Macintosh).

  To conform the transformation press ENTER (Return in Macintosh) or double-click with the left mouse button inside the object. You can as well press the button in the Options palette.

  To cancel the transformation press ESCAPE or the button in the Options palette.