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Things get interesting when you start to work with multiple photos, text, and logos in a single Photoshop project. Learn how to transform, scale, rotate, and align multiple elements to create the perfect composition and bring yours design ideas to life.
This is Day 8 of our 30 Days of Photoshop series. Follow along with all 30 episodes as we explore the the magic of Photoshop together!
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Transform, Scale, Rotate, and Align
Transform
As you get more comfortable with Photoshop, you’ll find yourself using the Transform options more and more. So what can Transform do? A lot! Transforming usually starts with scaling a Layer larger or smaller to fit the canvas size or to fit within a particular area within the canvas. It’s a good idea to first convert any Layers you’re transforming into Smart Objects. We’ll get more into Smart Objects in a later episode, but for now, just know that they’ll help you preserve the original quality and resolution of the Layers you transform.
Most of the time when you scale a Layer, you’ll want to lock the aspect ratio. This will make sure the height and width of the Layer scale proportionately to one another. If you don’t lock the height an width, you’ll notice your Layer will get stretched out along one axis or another, causing a warped appearance that you most likely would want to avoid (It’s especially noticeable when images of people are stretched out, so be careful!)
In addition to scaling, the Transform options also allow for the following:
- Rotate
- Skew
- Distort
- Perspective
- Warp
- Rotate
- Flip
Experiment with each option and see what they can do! As you get into more complex edits, like advanced photo compositing, these Transform options become extremely helpful when trying to get multiple elements to match in size and perspective.
Move & Align
The Move Tool provides a lot of functionality that is closely related to Transform. Aside from allowing you to move a Layer anywhere along the X and Y axes, the Move Tool also provides handy alignment options that can help when trying to place text and logos within an image.
