Straighten crooked scans easily

[AppleCider]

It happens to all of us...the heartbreak of an otherwise good scan, but it's at an angle. Sure, you can rescan, but why, when you can do this:

1. Select the Measure tool (it looks like a tiny ruler)

2. Either: drag the tool along the top edge of the scan; follow the angle! Or: find an area in the image that should be perfectly horizontal and drag the measure tool across that.

3. Note the angle in the Options bar. You don't really have to do this, because....

4. Photoshop does it for you! Now, with the Measure tool still active, go to Image > Rotate Canvas. Choose Arbitrary. In the dialog box, the angle is already filled in for you, along with whether it should be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. Click Okay.

5. The image is perfectly straight, but you'll have some extraneous space now; go to Image > Trim. Done.

[theKeeper]

Yup, that's a nice tip Julie.
And one not many people know about yet.

Good stuff.

[sfm]

hey Cool Julie! and I am not going to tell how I was doing it ha ha ha
neat tip there thanks
sfm

[Lynny]

I knew this one, it's the way we straighten up crooked horizons on photos...

Lynny

Yes, that has always been a great trick.

What I would like to add; it's important to take the right shot (when it comes to colour, light, focus, etc) when you push the button on the camera. Every adjustment in photoshop always does some harm to the original, even a slight rotation like this.

Just my $0.02

[Geoff]

yeah awesome tip Julie

[wbiss]

;) Yep, great tip Julie!

[Nuke_m]

find an area in the image that should be perfectly horizontal and drag the measure tool across that.

Drag a guide down

[Splash]

Drag a guide down

..no, that's not correct...you need to use the measure tool otherwise the rotation trick won't work..