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Select an item to transform – Adobe Photoshop CS3 User Manual

Page 221

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PHOTOSHOP CS3

User Guide

214

Distort

Stretches an item in all directions.

Perspective

Applies one-point perspective to an item.

Warp

Manipulates the shape of an item.

Flip

Flips the selection vertically or horizontally.

Select an item to transform

Do one of the following:

To transform an entire layer, make the layer active, and make sure nothing is selected.

Important: You cannot transform the background layer. To transform it, first convert it to a regular layer.

To transform part of a layer, select the layer in the Layers palette, and then select part of the image on that layer.

To transform multiple layers, do either of the following in the Layers palette: link the layers together, or select
multiple layers by Ctrl-clicking (Windows) or Command-clicking (Mac OS) more than one layer. In the Layers
palette, you can also Shift-click to select continguous layers.

To transform a layer mask or a vector mask, unlink the mask and select the mask thumbnail in the Layers palette.

To transform a path or vector shape, use the Path Selection tool

to select the entire path or the Direct Selection

tool

to select part of the path. If you select one or more points on a path, only those path segments connected

to the points are transformed.

To transform a selection border, make or load a selection. Then choose Select > Transform Selection.

To transform an alpha channel, select the channel in the Channels palette.

See also

“Link and unlink layers” on page 284

“Select a path” on page 372

Set or move the reference point for a transformation

All transformations are performed around a fixed point called the reference point. By default, this point is at the
center of the item you are transforming. However, you can change the reference point or move the center point to a
different location using the reference point locator in the options bar.

1

Choose a transformation command. A bounding box appears in the image.

2

Do one of the following:

In the options bar, click a square on the reference point locator

. Each square represents a point on the

bounding box. For example, to move the reference point to the upper left corner of the bounding box, click the
top left square on the reference point locator.

In the transform bounding box that appears in the image, drag the reference point

. The reference point can be

outside the item you want to transform.

Scale, rotate, skew, distort, apply perspective, or warp

1

Select what you want to transform.

2

Choose Edit > Transform > Scale, Rotate, Skew, Distort, Perspective, or Warp.