72
T
O CREATE WIDE
shots, we’re used to
taking multiple images and
stitching them together, either
manually or using Photoshop’s
Auto-Align capabilities. The
problem is, we’re often left
with very distorted images,
such as the one above. The
center of the frame was much
nearer the camera than the
sides, so the concrete shore
edge appears to bend down
before us.
In the past, this would
have been a difficult problem
to remedy. But the Adaptive
Wide Angle filter makes it
easy to fix.
2
Although the yellow line approximated the curvature of the scene, it wasn’t perfect – and we need to
fix that before we can continue. Grab the center point of the line, and drag it down until it meets the
concrete edge. The image will now reshape itself to make that perfectly straight.
4
Here’s the result of adding all those marker lines, after we click OK and return to Photoshop. The scene
has now been perfectly straightened out, and is far more useable. but there’s just one more thing left
to do. Because of the undistortion, there’s now a lot of white space in the image. How can we deal with
this? Within the Adaptive Wide Angle filter, there’s an option to enlarge the scene to fill the space. But we’ve
got a better method.
IMAGE: LICENSED UNDER CREATIVE COMMONS FROM HOBBES VS BOYLE AT FLICKR
Easy panorama correction
2
Transformation and distortion
SHORTCUTS
MAC WIN BOTH
73
1
Open the image using Filter > Adaptive Wide Angle. We want to make that front edge not only straight,
but exactly horizontal. Click one end of it, then hold S as you click the other end to constrain it to
horizontal. Here’s the result: not a bad guess at the shape of the distortion.
3
Continue to draw in the visible horizontals, such as the tops of the buildings on the left, the bottom
of the waterfront in the center back, and so on – holding S with each line. Also mark the obvious
verticals, if necessary. I’ve exaggerated the lines I’ve drawn so you can see them more clearly.
5
Use the Magic Wand to select the area outside the scene, and use Select > Modify > Expand to make
it 2 pixels larger. Then press S B to open the Fill dialog, and choose Content-Aware. And
here’s the result: all that white filled with a remarkably convincing background. It isn’t perfect, but it’s very
close. It won’t take much to fix those small errors at the edges.
HOT TIP
Panoramic
correction doesn’t
work with all kinds
of distortions: I
tried half a dozen
before I found one
that worked as
well as this. It does
help if you have
a lens profile for
the camera used,
though.
How to Cheat in Photoshop CC
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