Warp images, shapes, and paths

Select a layer or an area in the image you want to warp.  

After making a selection, do one of the following:

• Choose Edit > Transform > Warp or 

• Press Control + T (Win) / Command + T (Mac), then click the Switch Between Free Transform And Warp Modes button  in the options bar.

Click the gear icon in the Options bar to see additional visual  Guide options. With Photoshop 22.4.1 (May 2021 release), the visual guides have returned better than ever with additional Guide options.

When using the control points to distort an item, you can also choose View > Extras to show or hide the warp mesh and control points.

To warp your selection using a warp preset, choose a warp style from the Warp pop‑up menu in the options bar.

To create a custom warp mesh, choose a grid size from the Grid pop-up menu in the options bar.

• Select a grid size - Default (1x1), 3x3, 4x4, or 5x5.
  
• Select Custom and then specify the numbers of Columns and Rows in the Custom Grid Size dialog.

To add more control grid lines to the warp mesh, choose an option to split the warp.

1. Do any of the following:
   1. In the options bar, click any of the Split buttons.
   2. Choose Edit > Transform > Split Warp Horizontally, Split Warp Vertically, or Split Warp Crosswise. 
2. Move the pointer within the mesh area and click where you place additional control grid lines. As you move the pointer, over the warp mesh, you’ll see the split lines track the pointer. When you click, additional control points are added to the warp mesh.

To learn more about split warp options, see Split Warp.

• To manipulate the shape, drag the control points, a segment of the bounding box or mesh, or an area within the mesh. When adjusting a curve, use the control point handles. This is similar to adjusting the handles in the curved segment of a vector graphic.
  
• Click on a grid line to activate control points for editing the warp. Click on an anchor point (at the intersection of the grid lines) lets you edit the control points surrounding that anchor. Drag the control points to warp the image.
• To select multiple points, Shift+click on the anchor points or click-and-drag the pointer over the points while holding down the Shift key. A rectangle appears around the selected points if two or more points are selected. 
• To deselect multiple points, Shift+click on the active anchor points or click-and-drag the pointer over the active points while holding down the Shift key. The rectangle surrounding the selected points automatically resizes as points are selected or deselected. 
• To delete a selected grid line (control points along the line are visible), press Delete or choose Edit > Transform > Remove Warp Split. 
• To delete both the horizontal and vertical grid lines passing through an anchor point, click the anchor point, then press Delete or choose Edit > Transform > Remove Warp Split.  

• To change the orientation of a warp style that you chose from the Warp menu, click the Change The Warp Orientation button  in the options bar.
• To change the reference point, click a square on the Reference point locator  in the options bar.
• To specify the amount of warp using numeric values, enter the values in the Bend (set bend), X (set horizontal distortion), and Y (set vertical distortion) text boxes in the options bar. You can’t enter numeric values if you have chosen None or Custom from the Warp Style pop‑up menu.

• Press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS), or click the Commit button  in the options bar.

• To cancel the transformation, press Esc or click the Cancel button  in the options bar.

When you warp a bitmap image (versus a shape or path), the image becomes slightly less sharp each time you commit a transformation; therefore, performing multiple commands before applying the cumulative transformation is preferable to applying each transformation separately.

Select a layer or region in the image you want to warp. 

Choose Edit > Transform > Warp from the menu bar or press Command+T (Mac) or Control+T (Win). 

Click the Free Transform / Warp Modes button in the options bar. 

Go to the Warp dropdown menu in the options bar and select the bottom icon: Cylinder.

Click & drag the on-screen controls to shape-adjust the warp:

• Corner controls: use the bottom/left and top/right resizing controls to freely transform the entire selection.
• Corner controls + shift constrain proportions. 
• Curvature controls:
  • Top-center changes the arc of the upper and lower boundaries in unison.
  • Bottom-center adjusts the lower boundary line arch only.
• Control the Perspective by moving the center control point to the right and left. 

In the Layers panel, select the layer or mask you want to transform.

Choose Edit > Puppet Warp.

In the options bar, adjust the following mesh settings:

Determines the overall elasticity of the mesh.

Determines the spacing of mesh points. More Points increases precision but requires more processing time; Fewer Points does the opposite.

Expands or contracts the outer edge of the mesh.

Deselect to show only adjustment pins, providing a clearer preview of your transformations.

In the image window, click to add pins to areas you want to transform and areas you want to anchor in place.

To reposition or remove pins, do any of the following:

• Drag pins to warp the mesh.

• To reveal a mesh area you’ve overlapped with another, click the Pin Depth buttons   in the options bar.

• To remove selected pins, press Delete. To remove other individual pins, place the cursor directly over them, and press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS); when the scissors icon  appears, click.

• Click the Remove All Pins button  in the options bar.

To rotate the mesh around a pin, select it, and then do either of the following:

• To rotate the mesh a fixed number of degrees, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and position the cursor near to, but not over the pins. When a circle appears, drag to visually rotate the mesh.

• To rotate the mesh automatically based on the selected Mode option, choose Auto from the Rotate menu in the options bar.  

When your transformation is complete, press Enter or Return.