Task 13 How to Use the Vanishing Point Filter

One of the most exciting new tools in Photoshop CS2 is the Vanishing Point filter. The term vanishing point refers to the most distant point in perspective, and perspective is what the Vanishing Point filter is all about. It has several tools that replicate normal tools you'd find in the Photoshop toolbox, only these tools are all perspective-aware.

1. Open Vanishing Point

With your image open, select Filter, Vanishing Point to launch the Vanishing Point window.

2. Create the Editing Plane

Select the Create Plane tool and click in the image area to place four corners that you know are square in relation to each other in the real world (as opposed to in the image). If there aren't four obvious corners, use your best guess. You can adjust these points in the next step.

3. Adjust the Editing Plane

Select the Edit Plane tool and drag the handles on the sides of the editing plane until they cover the area to be edited. Try to reference real-world perspective cues such as corners and edges. If the edges are at a different angle than the lines on the editing plane, drag the corner handles to match the angles.

4. Edit the Image

Select one of the editing tools and notice how it behaves differently from its regular counterpart. Each tool changes to match the relative size of the editing plane. Here I'm using the Stamp toolin the Vanishing Point window, it actually deforms the wood grain to match the perspective of the image.

5. Examine the Image

Click OK to commit your Vanishing Point edits and return to Photoshop's main work area.

6. Reopen Vanishing Point

Launch the Vanishing Point window again, and you'll find that the editing plane you established in the last session is still in place. Photoshop saves the editing plane as part of your image file so that any additional edits you make are based on the same perspective points.

How-To Hints

More on Tools

The toolbox in the Vanishing Point window might look a bit sparse (in addition to the two plane tools, the Marquee, Stamp, Brush, Transform, Eyedropper, Hand, and Zoom tools are the only choices), but that short list is deceptive. The Marquee, Stamp, and Brush tools each has two healing modes, which effectively adds the Healing Brush and Patch tools to your editing arsenal, plus one tool with no other Photoshop equivalent (the healing paintbrush). In addition, the Stamp and Brush tool pointers are much more sophisticated than their Photoshop equivalents, displaying the actual feathering and image data that will be applied instead of just a simple outline or icon.

Perpendicular Planes

If you hold down the Ctrl/ key before dragging a handle with the Edit Plane tool, you can "tear off" a new plane that is perpendicular to the exiting plane. This new plane perspective is great for going around corners or up walls from the floor.