If you photograph cityscapes and architecture, you know the importance of having straight vertical lines in your image. Check out this video guide and learn how to achieve them in post-processing using Adobe Lightroom’s Transform tool.
In this video, Lucy Martin shares everything you need to know about Lightroom’s Transform tool panel in order to fix those sloping buildings in your city pictures. Perhaps more importantly, she also points out how the tools can be used incorrectly and what to avoid doing. For most architectural work, sticking with the semi-automated Guided tab will get the best results.
As Martin points out, for best results you’ll want to shoot your images on location with the Transform tool in mind, as some hefty cropping can occur while fixing the photos. Of course, if you want to go all out to get straight lines with minimal corrections in postproduction, one could choose to buy a tilt-shift lens. However, for many of us, the Transform tool is powerful enough to use with our current lenses.
Are there any lesser known tips and tricks inside the Transform tool that weren’t covered in the video? Let us know how you use it in the comments below.
Great tutorial. I was amazed that the grid overlay was set so you can actually use it(see it). How did you get that grid overlay to set on auto?