A crooked horizon can easily ruin an otherwise stunning photo. Fixing a crooked horizon in Photoshop might seem difficult, but it’s actually pretty easy. The easiest way to straighten a photo is with the Crop tool, which you can find in the toolbar. If you can’t see the Crop tool, you’re likely in the wrong workspace. Now that you’ve activated the Crop tool, check the tool menu at the top of the interface. So find the reference line that I encouraged you to determine in Step 1, then drag the Straighten tool across! (Pro tip: The farther you drag the Straighten tool, the easier it is to align it with the reference line. Finally, let go of the Straighten tool. Watch as Photoshop automatically straightens your image, then take a look.
On the other hand, if the image does look straight, then you’re done! In general, crooked images look bad. However, there are times that you can use crookedness for artistic effect. Flower photographers sometimes tilt the camera to emphasize long stems. Street and architectural photographers sometimes tilt the camera to add a sense of immediacy to the scene or to fill the frame with the subject. At the end of the day, if you notice a crooked horizon but you’re not sure you want to fix it, that’s okay! Perhaps try to straighten it up, then compare the before and after. See what you think.
Use Photoshop’s Camera Raw filter to transform the image and remove the converging horizontals. Of course, you can also straighten the image using the method I shared above, but you’ll need to pick a horizontal line to target (because they converge, you can’t straighten them all!). As I’ve emphasized above, doing a straightening job in Photoshop isn’t difficult, nor is it time-consuming. Why? This is unavoidable when straightening your files, and that’s why it’s always best to get the image right in-camera.
If you suspect that your next shot will need straightening - because you’re struggling to get the camera straight or because you’re shooting from an awkward position - leave a bit of extra space around the composition. So go practice. Find some images that need straightening, then test out the method I’ve shared!
When you take a photograph, it’s not always easy to get that horizon line straight. Any small variance in your posture can tip it off to one side, and it isn’t easy to eyeball it in camera. Depending on which post-production program you prefer to use, we’ve got a full guide here on how to get it done. Straightening an image in Photoshop is pretty easy, because the software itself takes a lot of the pressure out of the operation.
Start by using the ruler tool. This is found in the toolbar to your left-hand side of the screen. If you can’t find it, it’s in the same menu as your eyedropper. Now, using the ruler, draw a straight line across the screen. It’s easiest to use your horizon line, or any other line that you want to appear straight, and just draw across the top of it. If you aren’t satisfied that your line is in the right place, you don’t have to redraw it completely. Now, at the top of your screen, you will see an option that says, ‘Straighten Layer’. Click on this. You will probably end up with some blank areas on your canvas, and with some of the parts of your image now disappearing off the edge of your canvas. You can use the move tool to drag your layer around to where you want it, and then the crop tool to take off those blank areas.
There are other options for rotating your layer manually, using the ‘Move’ tool - an image of a mouse pointer with a movement symbol beside it. When you move your mouse to the corners of your image, your mouse cursor will change to a curved line that has arrows on either end. First up, make sure that you’re in Full Photo Edit mode. Now you will see ‘Straighten’ in the tools menu - or you can just press ‘P’ for an easy shortcut. Grow or Shrink Canvas to Fit - this will rotate the image and then either grow or shrink the canvas to accommodate the new total image area. Crop to Remove Background - this option will cut off the parts of the background which move outside of your canvas area. Now, finally, draw a straight line across your image where you want the horizon to sit.
The technique for straightening an image in Lightroom is also very simple. One option is to go into your Develop screen and then scroll down on the right-hand panel to Lens Corrections. Under the Manual tab, you will find the option to rotate your image. The other option is to use the ‘Crop Overlay’ which is available in the right-hand panel, right at the top. One of these looks like a ruler. Hover your mouse over it, and it will be labelled ‘Straighten Tool’. Select this option, then click and drag your mouse over your horizon line. Lightroom will calculate how much rotation is needed to get your image straight to that line, and will move it for you.
Remember that no matter what method you make, you have to either lose part of your image or cope with areas at the corners which do not contain any information. What other burning questions do you have about editing your photographs with Photoshop, Lightroom, or Photoshop Elements? Let us know in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them!
One of the cardinal rules for architectural photography is that vertical lines must remain vertical. It’s considered bad form in many instances to photograph a building and have it look like it’s falling backwards, or heavily distorted. Unfortunately, there may be times when it just isn’t possible to achieve this in camera and some post production is required. For many architectural photographers, a good tilt-shift lens is crucial to prevent distortions and ensure straight lines. The problem with many of these types of lenses is mostly the price. They’re expensive and not a lot of photographers entering the industry may be able to immediately afford these types of lenses.
Fortunately, a video from Demas Rusli discusses a few methods on how you can correct your vertical lines using software such as Lightroom and Photoshop. In a previous article, I demonstrated the difference between using a tilt-shift lens and fixing things in post. What I found interesting was that in most instances, fixing the image in post was pretty effective. Of course, as architectural photographers, a tilt-shift lens is vital for the kind of work we do not only for keeping your vertical lines straight but for composing in tight spaces and moving your field of view relative to the perspective. Nonetheless, knowing how to fix issues in post is useful for those odd situations when you’re caught without your gear, or if you’re relatively new to the industry. Check out the full video linked above.
Straighten Vertical Lines in Photoshop
Practical steps to straighten lines in Photoshop
- Identify a clear horizontal or vertical reference line in your image.
- Activate the Crop tool from the toolbar and, if needed, switch to the Straighten option.
- Drag the Straighten tool along the reference line to align it, then release to apply the correction.
- If necessary, use the Move tool to reposition the image and the Crop tool to remove blank edges created by rotation.
- Review the before and after to decide if you want to keep the adjustment or compare with the original.
Alternative methods and when to use them
Camera Raw filter offers another route to remove converging horizontals after an initial straighten. The Lightroom workflow provides a dedicated Straighten Tool in the Crop Overlay and a Lens Corrections panel under Manual for rotation. Both programs will rotate the image to align with a chosen horizon line, but you must contend with some loss of image area or empty corners.
Keeping verticals straight in architectural photography
Vertical lines should stay vertical to avoid distortion. Tilt-shift lenses help, but they can be expensive. In post-production, you can correct verticals using Lightroom or Photoshop, or rely on software solutions demonstrated in related videos and articles. If you’re caught without specialized gear, post-process corrections are a practical and effective alternative.
tags: #photoshop #straighten #lines