How to Make Lines Straighter in Photoshop

Perspective is an important part of any design. But what if your lines are appearing crooked or slightly off? Is there an easy way to make lines straighter in Photoshop, or does this take more advanced editing?

The are several different ways to make a line straighter in Photoshop, depending on the type of line you’re working with:

  • Perspective Warp
  • Measure Tool
  • Line Tool
  • Brush Tool
  • Pen Tool

Whether you’re working with an architectural photo or a geometric design, making straight lines is often a key part of creating a finished product. Keep reading to learn how to make lines straighter in Photoshop, so that you can get it right every time.

How to Straighten a Line in Photoshop

While getting your lines straight is a key skill that every designer will have to work with at some point, how you do this often depends on the type of media you are working with.

For example, let’s say you have a beautiful skyline shot but the buildings seem like they are somewhat tipping to one side. The method you use to straighten these lines is not going to be the same as you would use if you were working on a graphic design such as a logo.

However, both methods are important to know, and they start with the same basic steps.

Analyze Straight Lines Using Guides

Before you get started on straightening your lines, you’ll want to see exactly how straight they are. One way to do this is by using guides.

A guide, or guideline, is a vertical or horizontal line that spans the entire canvas. It is not a permanent part of your board and can be added or removed without impacting the overall look of your design. Essentially, these guidelines can act as a mathematical gridline, helping you to align layers and elements within the design. These are also helpful for creating straight lines.

To create a guideline:

  1. Make sure your rulers are showing at the top and left of your canvas.
  2. Rulers can be quickly turned off or on by pressing Command/CTRL + R. This can also be done from the view dropdown menu at the top of the screen.
  3. Click and hold anywhere on the ruler and drag your mouse towards the center of the screen.
  4. You should see a thin blue line appear. This is the guideline.
  5. Position the line wherever you would like it, then release your mouse.

Now, let’s see how to make straighter lines using perspective warp.

Make Lines Straighter In Photos With Perspective Warp

If you have a photo with a lot of straight lines, it’s important to make sure all of those lines are equally straight or it could throw off the perspective of the photo. This is generally seen in photos with many buildings or flat surfaces. One simple way to achieve this is to use perspective warp.

Follow these steps:

  1. Hit the Command/CTRL + T
  2. Right-click anywhere on the photo.
  3. Once the dialogue box appears, select Perspective from the menu.
  4. You will see several pins appear around the edges of your image. As you move these, you should notice the perspective of the photo warping.
  5. Simply adjust these moveable pins until the lines are where you want them without distorting the rest of the photo.

Now, let’s see how to straighten lines in PhotoShop using the measure tool.

Straighten Lines with the Measure Tool

Another option for straightening lines in architectural photos is to use the measure tool. This tool allows you to calculate the distance between two points in an image.

To do this:

  1. Select the measure tool from the tool palette
  2. Click and drag along the edge that should be straight
  3. This will display measurements of the line you’ve just drawn. Look for the “A” measurement in the bar to find the angle of the line
  4. Now you can rotate the canvas using this angle measurement.
  5. Simply select Rotate Canvas from the Image menu
  6. Click Arbitrary.

You may have to crop the image a bit afterward to remove any white canvas areas, but know your image should be straight in perspective.

Making Straight Lines With the Line Tool

If you’re working on graphic designs, creating straight lines is going to look a bit different, but it’s just as important. Let’s say you’re creating a design for a t-shirt. Before uploading your design in a mockup site like Placeit, you’ll want to make sure all the lines are as straight as possible.

The easiest way to make a straight line in Photoshop is with the line tool. Simply grab the line tool from the tool bar, hold shift, and click on the canva and drag to create your line. That’s it. This can also be done with other drawing tools such as the brush tool, pen tool, and pencil tool.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, you now have several methods for creating straighter lines in your tool box. Remember that a slightly crooked or slated line can alter the entire perspective of your design. Always check straight lines with a grid and make sure to straighten them out before finishing your design.