Photoshop Undressed! Finding the exact centre of a photo
One question that often gets asked is how do I find the exact centre (or center) of a photo in Photoshop. As always, the answer is there are several ways to accomplish almost any task in Photoshop.
METHOD #1
You can use the Free Transform command but this requires the Background layer to be changed to a “normal” layer if that is the only layer in your photo. To do this, take the following steps:
1. With your document open (Duh!), Alt/Option+double-click on the Background layer (holding down Alt/Opt hides the New Layer dialog, which you don’t need to see).
2. Press Ctrl/Command+I to view Rulers if they aren’t already in view.
3. Press Ctrl/Command+T or choose Edit > Free Transform to invoke transform mode.
3. Drag in a new guide from the horizontal Ruler and let it snap to the centre and then let go.
4. Drag in a new guide from the vertical Ruler and let it snap to the centre and let go (see Fig 1).
Fig 1. Business Design Centre
:: Copyright © 2008, Shangara Singh :: MPX Stock Images
5. Press Esc and then choose Layer > New > Background from Layer or you can choose Flatten Image from the Layers palette menu to return the image to previous state.
That’s it! Oh, OK…I did say several ways. Here’s another method, or two, or three:
METHOD #2
Because the guides snap to the centre by default, you can take advantage by dragging in a horizontal guide from the Ruler and letting go when you feel it snap and then dragging in a vertical guide and letting go when you feel it snap. Where the two guides overlap, that is the centre of your photo.
METHOD #3
Set Rulers to show percentage marks (right-click on Ruler and select option) and then drag horizontal and vertical guides to the 50% mark and let go when you feel them snap.
METHOD #4
You can use the same technique to find the centre of a segment of your photo:
1. Make sure Rulers (I) are showing and then create a selection with the Rectangular Marquee tool (M).
2. Either choose Transform Selection from the context menu (right-click) or press Ctrl/Command+T.
3. Drag in a horizontal then a vertical guide till it snaps to the centre.
4. Press Esc to exit transform mode once you have pegged the centre.
5. Press Ctrl/Command+D to deactivate the selection or click anywhere in the photo while tool is selected.
METHOD #5
Last but not least:
1. Choose View > New Guide.
2. Type 50% and click OK.
3. Choose the menu item again and select Horizontal if Vertical was selected previously, type 50% and click OK.
Where the two guides cross is the centre of your photo (Duh!).
If you need to find the centre frequently, create an action, assign a shortcut key and next time just press the shortcut key.
If you have several layers with objects of varying size, create a new layer, Select > All (Ctrl/Command+A) and then drag in new guides as above but you are probably better off using method #5.
That really is it!
Copyright © 2008, Shangara Singh.
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