Straighten a slanted photo

Published: December 20, 2005

Sometimes, when you take a photo, objects that are normally horizontal—such as the horizon on a sunrise, sunset, or a bridge—does not come out as horizontal and appears slanted to one side. If so, don't erase that photo just yet. By using Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006, you can quickly straighten these digital photos.

Here are some before and after photos that were straightened using Digital Image Suite 2006. The lines in the images below illustrate the slant in the photo before and after straightening.

Slanted photo of a lighthouse Straightened photo of a lighthouse

Slanted photo of a bridge and a waterfall Straightened photo of a bridge and a waterfall

Slanted photo of a horizon and a sunset Straightened photo of a horizon and a sunset

Note

Before you edit your digital photos, it's a good idea to make a copy of the original image and make your edits to that copy. This way you'll have preserved the original image in case you need to go back to it.

To straighten a photo

1.	In Digital Image Suite 2006 Editor, on the File menu, click Open.
2.	In the File Browser dialog box, locate and select the photo that you want to straighten, and then click OK.
3.	In the Common Tasks list, click the Format menu arrow, and then click Straighten Picture.
4.	Next, click one end of the line in the photo that is not straight. Then, click the other end of the same line that is not straight. The straightened photo displays in Digital Image Suite 2006.
5.	In the Straighten Picture menu, make sure that the Auto Crop check box is selected, and then click Done. The photo is then automatically straightened. When a photo is very slanted, more of the straightened photo will be cropped compared to that where a photo is not very slanted and little straightening needs to be done. The straightened photo displays in Digital Image Suite 2006.
6.	On the File menu, click Save to save your straightened photo.

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