How to Use Adaptive Wide Angle Filter in Photoshop

In this video we will be learning how to use the Adaptive Wide Angle Filter in Adobe Photoshop, which is a great tool to correct distortions that are caused when you are using a wide angle lens.

These distortions appear mainly on things that are supposed to be straight, like buildings and the horizon. Using this filter, you will be able to straighten out things with just a few clicks.

For instance, in the shot shown in this video, I had used the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. This filter will recognize this lens and the tool will work in accordance with the distortion that this particular lens causes.

Here is the video:

This video is from our Photoshop for Beginners course, which has 20 videos and 4.5 hours of content. You can access the full course via Udemy, using the link below:

Photoshop for Beginners course

Video Summary

This video by Creative Pad Media demonstrates how to correct lens distortion in photos using the Adaptive Wide Angle Filter in Photoshop.

Key Takeaways:

  • Identifying the Problem: Wide-angle lenses (like an 11-16mm) often cause “barrel distortion,” making straight lines like buildings appear curved or tilted at the edges of the frame [00:24].
  • Applying the Filter: To fix this, navigate to the Filter menu and select Adaptive Wide Angle [00:50].
  • Straightening Lines: * Draw a line along an edge that should be straight [01:33].
    • Right-click the line and select Vertical (for buildings) or Horizontal to snap the image into alignment [01:53].
  • Intelligent Correction: The tool identifies the lens used (via metadata) and automatically adjusts the constraint lines to match the specific distortion of that lens [02:54].
  • Handling Empty Edges: Correcting distortion creates transparent “gaps” around the edges of the photo [04:44].
    • Cropping: You can simply crop the image, though this loses some of the scene [04:54].
    • Content-Aware Fill: Alternatively, select the empty areas and use Edit > Fill > Content-Aware to digitally “stitch” back the missing pixels, preserving the original width of the shot [06:02].

About the Author

portrait photographer for portfolio shoot in pune

Hi there, I'm Kush Sharma, the founder of Creative Pad Media, an organization dedicated to simplifying photography, videography and editing education.

We have over 50 online courses that cover various genres in photography & videography, catering to both beginners as well as professionals. These courses are available via Udemy.com. Our courses have been downloaded in over 180 countries.

I hope to see you inside a course very soon!

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