Photoshop® CS5 Bible

Chapter 19. Distorting Images Using Transformation Effects, Liquify, and Vanishing Point

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Transformations

• Puppet Warp

• Liquify

• Vanishing Point

Distorting images sounds so traumatic that it's hard at first to think of anything but special effects when you hear it. On the contrary, most image distortions are simple functions such as resizing them or adjusting the perspective to make up for lens distortions. Many of the distortions and transformations available in Photoshop are helpful when creating image composites. Using skew, warp, or vanishing point can change the way you perceive an image and make it blend better with other images.

This is especially true of layers that are not composed of images. Text and other vector layers can be transformed and distorted for the same reasons. You can use vanishing point to place text in perspective on any surface in an image. You can warp and distort shapes to give them the appearance of motion or just to give them the appearance of three dimensions.

The big news in this chapter is the all-new Puppet Warp transformation added to Photoshop CS5. It goes way beyond the standard Warp transformation to give you unprecedented control over specific areas in any image.

Using Transformations

Transforming an image can be anything from rotating it or changing its size to making it completely unrecognizable by warping or skewing the pixels until nothing is where it belongs. Some of these changes are basic fixes—rotating an image that's been captured ...