Rotating the Image - Getting Your Horizon Level.

Sometimes it is necessary to rotate the whole image; very often this because the horizon is not level. When cropping you can rotate at the same time and by using a grid this can be achieved. But this is not especially easy. There is an easy way using the Rotate Image command with no guess work involved at all. This method makes use of the inbuilt horizon (or vertical) of Photoshop. There is no need to use the grid available.
From the toolbox go to the eyedropper and hold the cursor there for a short time until the menu flies out. At the bottom of this menu there is an icon of a small ruler called the Measure Tool. Click on this.
Now move the cursor over your image. It has become a cross hair. Position this over one end of your horizon and left click and hold. Move mouse or pen across horizon to another point as far as you can. Let go with the left click on the mouse. You will now have a line drawn on your picture. This is only temporary.
Now select Image > Rotate Canvas > Arbitrary you will see a little box which will show you an angle and a spot in either the Clockwise or the Anticlockwise circle. If you press the OK box your horizon will become horizontal.
All the above, of course, applies equally to correcting Verticals.
Now you will see that you need to crop to square up your picture since it is crooked. Cropping will remove the corners and so you will lose a part of your image. Decisions will need to made about this by you now.
        Briefly to Crop. Select Crop by pressing C. Put cursor on image; left click; hold and drag across; adjust this selection using the handles; press Enter or the OK key to finish.
 

Another Method of Cleaning Your Image

Recently we learned of another method of cleaning an image NOT using cloning.

[See the Cloning Method here]
Cloning is still useful for times when you need to add extra parts to a picture for instance.
The method uses the History Brush which is situated on the Toolbox of Photoshop below the ordinary paint
brush. You can get to this using the shortcut Y.

Start by Opening your image.
Select Hand and enlarge to Actual Pixels i.e. 100%.
Select the Filter menu.
Find the Noise section and under this select 'Dust and Scratches'.
The Dialogue box for this filter has a control called Radius.
Click the cursor over the worst of the dust.
Adjust the Radius so that biggest particle of dust or scratch just vanishes. Press OK.
Your Image will now look very blurred but dust free. The blurred look is why this filter is of little use on its
own.
Now click open the History file. The list here should have two entries; viz. Open and Dust & Scratches.
Click on the small black triangle at the top of the History Palette. This opens another box at the bottom of
which is History Options. Select this and yet another box is revealed. Here tick the box to enable Non
Linear History. Click OK.
Now click on the Open section of the History palette so that it colours.
Select the History Brush. Next to the Brush symbol at the top of your screen is a box labelled Mode. Click
on the small triangle and select one of Lighten (for light areas) Darken (for dark areas) or Luminosity (best
for scratch marks). You will soon find which is best by experience.
Now back to the History palette. Using the cursor touch the square opposite Dust & Scratches. An Icon
will be left there, but the Open section will still be coloured.
Adjust the size of the brush in the usual way or by using the shortcut of the [ or ] bracket symbols.
Your image should at this time look as it did when you first opened it, i.e. With dust and scratches and much
sharper than when the Dust & Scratches Filter had been used.
You now paint over the dust and miraculously it will disappear.
 

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