Photographers find it quite tricky to shoot buildings. Being tall, buildings are difficult to be framed in a perfect manner. You need to get far away from them to accommodate them into the frame, but this is not always possible when you are shooting in cities. The lack of space is evident in the cities and you tend to tilt the camera upward. This results in perspective distortions of buildings and thus makes city scenes difficult to be captured. Such a situation calls for image perspective correction.
The images get distorted in case you are tilting down a wide-angle lens. Tilt-shift lens are used by architectural photographers to avoid this distortion. Distortions arising from these aspects can greatly affect the image you are capturing. You need to buy specialist lenses for these purposes, which are quite expensive.
Until the inception of Photoshop, this was the only remedy to prevent perspective distortions, but now, you have a number of tricks to avert these problems. So, here are certain methodologies to deal with these distortions before you decide to outsource perspective correction.
1. Dealing with distortion
Distortion refers to the situation when the straight lines in the picture are curved in a specific direction, diverge or converge. If the focal plane of your camera is pointed downward or upward, it may result in distortions. Apart from perspective distortion which arises from this process, barrel distortion is also common and depends on the nature of lens. It makes the subject inflated in the centre like a barrel. The top and bottom areas are narrower. You can fix these distortions through Photoshop.
2. How to eliminate distortion in camera?
Maintain a 90-degree angle with the subject and focal plane in order to prevent distortions. You should not tilt the camera. This is applicable in landscape photography, but when you are shooting buildings, it may prove to be difficult. This distortion can be fixed by Photoshop. In case of barrel distortion, you need to zoom the lens. However, if you are not able to zoom the lenses while shooting, you can get the necessary assistance from Photoshop. There are enough options for lens distortion correction in Photoshop.
3. How to fix distortion in Photoshop
You can fix both these types of distortions through Photoshop. The Adaptive Wide Angle Tool can help you out and it is easy to use. However, you need to practise a bit initially. The photos look realistic after they are edited if you do the correction properly. A typical real estate photo editing outsourcing company is too particular about this.
4. Adaptive Wide Angle tool
You can find this tool under the filter menu in Photoshop. You can open the image to be edited for image distortion correction and click on ‘Filter’ and then choose the ‘Adaptive Wide Angle’ option to edit the photo. It may be necessary for you to scale the image to view it completely. On the right side, you will find the ‘Correction’ box. There, you will find a dropdown box with a number of options like fisheye, perspective, etc. You need to leave it to the ‘Auto’ option and make the necessary vertical and horizontal changes in the photo to yield the right looks.
After this, you will have to identify the walls of the building in the photograph that are diverging or converging. You will come across some constraint tools on the left hand side of the dialog box. The Contrast tool comes at the top, which is of immense help in certain cases. You need to select that option and move the mouse on one of the vertical lines. Here, you need to draw a line down the wall in the building. You just need to drag the line down, starting from the top of the building. Draw a straight, vertical line along a vertical wall. When you finish drawing the line, click at that point and you will find Photoshop drawing a line exactly along the one you have drawn. Thus, you can fix barrel distortion through Photoshop. However, the line will be skewed.
There will be a square at the bottom of the line. You need to right click on this square. Three options will appear before you. These are Horizontal. Arbitrary and Vertical. You can correct the line in these three ways. In case the wall is vertical, you need to click on ‘Vertical’. The wall will be positioned in an upright position by the software. However, this move may distort the other lines in the image. You will find another incorrect vertical line and edit the same. For the next three or four vertical lines, you need to repeat this process. This will help you to edit the lines in the entire building. After this is done, you need to choose a horizontal line in the photo and repeat the same process with these lines as you did to the vertical lines. Having done, you should click on the ‘Horizontal’ option that appears in the pop up box.
In order to ensure that you are accurate with the selection while drawing the line, you can opt for the 100% zoom window that you will find on the right hand side. As you can zoom it into the image, it turns out to be very useful. You can also drag down the line simultaneously. This will ensure that the starting and finishing points in the building are correct.
When you straighten quite a few skewed verticals and one or two horizontal lines, the image will appear almost perfect. After you have finished with this image editing process, you need to click on the ‘Ok’ option. The image will be opened by Photoshop. You will be able to edit remaining part of the image and align all the lines in a straight manner.
For the latest Photoshop CC users, a new tool called ‘Guided Upright’ may prove to be useful. If you want to use it, you can find it in the ‘Camera RAW’ option. Get the latest version of the software to use the tool. This is what companies offering perspective correction services always do for assuring maximum results for their customers.
If you want to correct the flaws in images, Photoshop is the perfect remedy. It can help you to eliminate both types of distortions. The buildings will appear realistic when you incorporate the right tool to edit the photos.
If you are looking for real estate image editing services or anything similar, surfeits of service providers are available. There is always an option to outsource your requirements.
The images get distorted in case you are tilting down a wide-angle lens. Tilt-shift lens are used by architectural photographers to avoid this distortion. Distortions arising from these aspects can greatly affect the image you are capturing. You need to buy specialist lenses for these purposes, which are quite expensive.
Until the inception of Photoshop, this was the only remedy to prevent perspective distortions, but now, you have a number of tricks to avert these problems. So, here are certain methodologies to deal with these distortions before you decide to outsource perspective correction.
1. Dealing with distortion
Distortion refers to the situation when the straight lines in the picture are curved in a specific direction, diverge or converge. If the focal plane of your camera is pointed downward or upward, it may result in distortions. Apart from perspective distortion which arises from this process, barrel distortion is also common and depends on the nature of lens. It makes the subject inflated in the centre like a barrel. The top and bottom areas are narrower. You can fix these distortions through Photoshop.
2. How to eliminate distortion in camera?
Maintain a 90-degree angle with the subject and focal plane in order to prevent distortions. You should not tilt the camera. This is applicable in landscape photography, but when you are shooting buildings, it may prove to be difficult. This distortion can be fixed by Photoshop. In case of barrel distortion, you need to zoom the lens. However, if you are not able to zoom the lenses while shooting, you can get the necessary assistance from Photoshop. There are enough options for lens distortion correction in Photoshop.
3. How to fix distortion in Photoshop
You can fix both these types of distortions through Photoshop. The Adaptive Wide Angle Tool can help you out and it is easy to use. However, you need to practise a bit initially. The photos look realistic after they are edited if you do the correction properly. A typical real estate photo editing outsourcing company is too particular about this.
4. Adaptive Wide Angle tool
You can find this tool under the filter menu in Photoshop. You can open the image to be edited for image distortion correction and click on ‘Filter’ and then choose the ‘Adaptive Wide Angle’ option to edit the photo. It may be necessary for you to scale the image to view it completely. On the right side, you will find the ‘Correction’ box. There, you will find a dropdown box with a number of options like fisheye, perspective, etc. You need to leave it to the ‘Auto’ option and make the necessary vertical and horizontal changes in the photo to yield the right looks.
After this, you will have to identify the walls of the building in the photograph that are diverging or converging. You will come across some constraint tools on the left hand side of the dialog box. The Contrast tool comes at the top, which is of immense help in certain cases. You need to select that option and move the mouse on one of the vertical lines. Here, you need to draw a line down the wall in the building. You just need to drag the line down, starting from the top of the building. Draw a straight, vertical line along a vertical wall. When you finish drawing the line, click at that point and you will find Photoshop drawing a line exactly along the one you have drawn. Thus, you can fix barrel distortion through Photoshop. However, the line will be skewed.
There will be a square at the bottom of the line. You need to right click on this square. Three options will appear before you. These are Horizontal. Arbitrary and Vertical. You can correct the line in these three ways. In case the wall is vertical, you need to click on ‘Vertical’. The wall will be positioned in an upright position by the software. However, this move may distort the other lines in the image. You will find another incorrect vertical line and edit the same. For the next three or four vertical lines, you need to repeat this process. This will help you to edit the lines in the entire building. After this is done, you need to choose a horizontal line in the photo and repeat the same process with these lines as you did to the vertical lines. Having done, you should click on the ‘Horizontal’ option that appears in the pop up box.
In order to ensure that you are accurate with the selection while drawing the line, you can opt for the 100% zoom window that you will find on the right hand side. As you can zoom it into the image, it turns out to be very useful. You can also drag down the line simultaneously. This will ensure that the starting and finishing points in the building are correct.
When you straighten quite a few skewed verticals and one or two horizontal lines, the image will appear almost perfect. After you have finished with this image editing process, you need to click on the ‘Ok’ option. The image will be opened by Photoshop. You will be able to edit remaining part of the image and align all the lines in a straight manner.
For the latest Photoshop CC users, a new tool called ‘Guided Upright’ may prove to be useful. If you want to use it, you can find it in the ‘Camera RAW’ option. Get the latest version of the software to use the tool. This is what companies offering perspective correction services always do for assuring maximum results for their customers.
If you want to correct the flaws in images, Photoshop is the perfect remedy. It can help you to eliminate both types of distortions. The buildings will appear realistic when you incorporate the right tool to edit the photos.
If you are looking for real estate image editing services or anything similar, surfeits of service providers are available. There is always an option to outsource your requirements.