I am using Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 and my question involves a basic function that is possibly the same in the full versions of Photoshop, so I am hoping someone can help.
It’s kind of hard to describe (which is why I wasn’t able to Google for an answer very well). Here goes…
When you select an object (layer) and rotate it, the ‘selection box’ and resize borders temporarily rotate with the layer, allowing you to resize the layer along the original X and Y dimensions of the layer. But once you select a different layer to work on, the selection box of that first layer resets itself so that its axes are vertical and horizontal again, even though the layer itself is still rotated.
For example, if I use the text tool and type in a word or phrase, it is created by default in a horizontal orientation. I can click and drag to resize the word either horizontally by grabbing one of the side borders, or vertically by grabbing the top or bottom border (or diagonally using the corner of the selection box, but let’s ignore that for the moment).
Now if I rotate the word by, say, 30 degrees, then the word’s X and Y axes are no longer horizontal and vertical, but I can still temporarily resize the word either directly along its length (the word’s X axis), or by changing the letter height (the word’s Y axis) while leaving the length unchanged.
However, if I select a different layer and then later come back to this text layer, the selection box for the text layer will have reset itself so that its resize axes are vertical and horizontal again. The text image itself hasn’t rotated, but the selection box has. This causes some difficulty because I can no longer easily resize the text layer along only its ‘natural’ dimensions (word length or letter height).
Does this make sense to anyone and does anyone know of a way to keep the selection/resize box from resetting to the default vertical and horizontal axes?
I know what you’re talking about, but I don’t have a solution. IIRC, a free transform, when completed, resets orientation.
However, in the full Photoshop, you can artificially scale text on the vertical and/or horizontal axis (in the character palette) before and after it’s been transformed .
I’m not sure what the ‘elegent’ solution is. But the workaround is to select the layer, bring a ruler over to it, rotate it so it’s level with the ruler. Hit enter, reselect it, then resize and rotate it back to where you want it.
I’m really not sure if there is an elegent solution to this.
The similar problem I’ve always encountered is that if you make any adjustment to the color (ie color, contrast, brightness, saturation, hue etc etc etc) and then do it again, the sliders have reset to zero, so there’s no easy way to go back to where you started. Or to readjust based on the original image, you can only adjust based on the current one.
If you don’t mind, (let me know either way) I’ll post this on a photography/photo editing board I read.
Or let me know and I’ll PM you the info and you can ask them yourself.
I just posted it, but it’s a much slower board (post wise) then this one. So I’ll check in on it, but give it somewhere between a few minutes and a few days for an answer.
The solution I use in this senario would be to convert your layer to a “smart object” under the flyout menu for that layer, before you do any transformations. Then it behaves how you are describing you want it to: It keeps the rotation degree information intact, and does not reset to zero when you finish the transformation.
HOWEVER: I only use the full version of PhotoShop. I’m not sure if smart objects are available in Elements.