Fix “Perspective Distortions” With The Automatic Upright Filter in Photoshop
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The Automatic Upright button in Camera Raw is the fastest way to fix perspective distortion in Photoshop, and it takes one click.
Point a camera up at a building and the walls lean inward. The verticals converge, and the building looks like it is falling backward.
Upright lives in the Geometry panel of the Camera Raw Filter. It finds the leaning lines and straightens them.
This tip is for anyone who shoots buildings, interiors, or street scenes.
It works in Photoshop 2020 with the redesigned Camera Raw 12.3, or the latest version.
Key Takeaways
- Upright moved. It now lives in the Geometry panel of Camera Raw, not the top left of the window.
- The Auto button gives the best result in most cases. Try it before you draw guides by hand.
- The Guided tool needs two lines along edges that should be parallel. Two verticals straighten a building.
- Convert the layer to a Smart Object first, so you can reopen the filter and change the correction.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Step 1: Convert the Layer to a Smart Object
- Step 2: Open the Geometry Panel
- Step 3: Draw Guided Lines to Fix Perspective
- Step 4: Fix Perspective Distortion in Photoshop With Auto Upright
- Step 5: Reopen Camera Raw to Adjust the Fix
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Fix Perspective With One Click
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- Where Upright lives in the Camera Raw Filter
- How to straighten a building with the Guided tool or with one click
- How to reopen the filter and change the correction later
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2020 or the latest version
- A photo of a building or any scene with leaning vertical lines
Practice Files
Download the building photo used in this tutorial and follow along step by step.
Step 1: Convert the Layer to a Smart Object
Right-click the layer in the Layers panel and choose Convert to Smart Object.
A Smart Object is a container that holds one or more layers. It allows you to apply editable adjustments, distortions, filters, and transformations.
That is why this step comes first. Without it, the filter bakes the correction into the pixels.
Step 2: Open the Geometry Panel
Go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter.
In older versions of Camera Raw, Upright sat in the top left of the window. It now has its own panel, Geometry, in the column on the right.
Click Geometry to open it.
Tip: Press ShiftT (Windows) or ShiftT (macOS) to jump straight to the Geometry panel.
Step 3: Draw Guided Lines to Fix Perspective
The Guided tool, the button on the far right of the Upright row, lets you tell Camera Raw which lines should be straight.
Click it, then click and drag along any vertical or horizontal line in the image. In the video, the two lines follow the vertical edges of the building.
As soon as you draw the second line, Photoshop straightens the building. The example photo has no horizontal lines worth fixing, so two verticals give the final result.
Note: Upright straightens the whole photo. To change the angle of one object inside a scene, use Perspective Warp in Photoshop instead.
Step 4: Fix Perspective Distortion in Photoshop With Auto Upright
Drawing guides works, but there is an even faster way. Click the Auto button in the Upright row and Photoshop does the whole correction for you.
This is Automatic Upright. It reads the lines in the photo, works out which ones should be vertical, and straightens them. In most cases it gives the best result of all the Upright options.
To compare, click the Before and After icon below the image. Press OK when you are done.
That is the whole trick to fix perspective distortion in Photoshop: one Smart Object, one filter, one click.
Step 5: Reopen Camera Raw to Adjust the Fix
Because you started with a Smart Object, the filter is not locked in. Look under the layer in the Layers panel and you will see a Camera Raw Filter label.
Double-click it to bring Camera Raw back up with every setting in place. Change the correction, draw new guides, or switch from Guided to Auto, then press OK again.
The same door opens for every other tool in the filter, including Camera Raw masks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Open the Camera Raw Filter and click Geometry in the panel column on the right. The Upright buttons sit at the top of that panel.
Automatic Upright reads the lines in a photo and straightens the ones that should be vertical. It fixes the leaning walls you get when you tilt the camera up at a building.
A Smart Object keeps the filter editable. Double-click the Camera Raw Filter label under the layer and the dialog reopens with every setting in place.
Click the Guided icon at the far right of the Upright row, then click and drag along a line that should be straight. Draw a second line along a parallel edge, and Camera Raw straightens the photo.
Fix Perspective With One Click
Convert to a Smart Object, open the Camera Raw Filter, go to Geometry, and click Auto. That is all it takes to fix perspective distortion in Photoshop.
When Auto misses, draw the lines with the Guided tool. And because the filter sits on a Smart Object, you can always change your mind.
Watch the 90-second video above to see it in real time.
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Next, learn how to target adjustments with Range Masks in Camera Raw.
Related Links
Final Image
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Compelling ! Thanks
You’re welcome, Harry!
Excellent tutorial. It even answered a question of how to use Adobe Camera Raw when transferring a file from Lightroom.
Thank you one of the best tips yet, and as usual you explained it simple and easy to use
You’re welcome, Larry!
Great tip…Enjoy your videos