Correct lens distortion and adjust perspective

Camera lenses can exhibit different types of defects at certain focal lengths, f-stops, and focus distances. You can correct for these apparent lens distortions using the Lens Corrections panel of the Develop module.

Vignetting causes the edges of an image, especially the corners, to be darker than the center. It is particularly noticeable when the photo contains a subject that is supposed to be an even shade or tone, such as the sky in a landscape image.

Barrel distortion causes straight lines to appear to bow outward.

Pincushion distortion causes straight lines to appear to bend inward.

Chromatic aberration appears as a color fringe along the edges of objects. It is caused by the failure of the lens to focus different colors to the same spot.

Original photo with blue/yellow fringing (left), and after fixing chromatic aberration (lower right).

1. In the Lens Corrections panel of the Develop module, click Profile and select Enable Profile Corrections.
2. To change the profile, select a different Make, Model, or Profile.
   Note: Some cameras have only one lens, and some lenses have only one profile.
3. Customize the correction by adjusting the Amount sliders:

   Distortion

   The default value 100 applies 100% of the distortion correction in the profile. Values over 100 apply greater correction to the distortion; values under 100 apply less correction to the distortion.

   C. Aberration

   (Chromatic Aberration) The default value 100 applies 100% of the chromatic aberration correction in the profile. Values over 100 apply greater correction to color fringing; values under 100 apply less correction to color fringing.

   Vignetting

   The default value 100 applies 100% of the vignetting correction in the profile. Values over 100 apply greater correction to vignetting; values under 100 apply less correction to vignetting.

4. (Optional) To apply your changes to the default profile, click Setup and choose Save New Lens Profile Defaults.

Adobe recommends Lens correction and perspective correction Julieanne Kost Perfect your images by reducing lens defects like geometric distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting. Save time by combining crop, straighten, and perspective correction in one operation. Have a tutorial you would like to share?

1. In the Lens Corrections panel, click Manual.
2. Under Transform, adjust any of the following:

   Distortion

   Drag to the right to correct barrel distortion and straighten lines that bend away from the center. Drag to the left to correct pincushion distortion and straighten lines that bend toward the center.

   Vertical

   corrects perspective caused by tilting the camera up or down. Makes vertical lines appear parallel.

   Horizontal

   Corrects perspective caused by angling the camera left or right. Makes horizontal lines parallel.

   Rotate

   Corrects for camera tilt. Uses the center of the orginal, uncropped photo as the axis of rotation.

   Scale

   Adjusts the image scale up or down. Helps to remove empty areas caused by perspective corrections and distortions. Displays areas of the image that extend beyond the crop boundary.

   Constrain crop

   Constrains the crop to the image area so that gray border pixels are not included in the final photo.

3. Under Chromatic Aberration, adjust any of the following:

   Red/Cyan

   Adjusts the size of the red channel relative to the green channel. Compensates for red/cyan color fringing.

   Blue/Yellow

   Adjusts the size of the blue channel relative to the green channel. Compensates for blue/yellow color fringing.

   Zoom in on an area that contains very dark or black detail against a very light or white background. Look for color fringing. To more clearly see the color fringing, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you move a slider to hide any color fringe corrected by the other color slider.

   Defringe

   Choose All Edges to correct color fringing for all edges, including any sharp change in color values. If choosing All Edges results in thin gray lines or other undesired effects, choose Highlight Edges to correct color fringing only in the edges of highlighting where fringing is most likely to occur. Choose Off to turn off defringing.

4. Under Lens Vignetting adjust either or both of the following:

   Amount

   Move the Amount slider to the right (positive values) to lighten the corners of the photo. Move the slider to the left (negative values) to darken the corners of the photo.

   Midpoint

   Drag the Midpoint slider to the left (lower value) to apply the Amount adjustment to a larger area away from the corners. Drag the slider to the right (higher value) to restrict the adjustment to an area closer to the corners.