Move Tool and Bounding Box - Images: Japanese

Hey everyone!

Next, let's try using the 'Move Tool' and the 'Bounding Box'.

Look at the upper-left area of the tool panel on the left. Can you spot the arrow icon shown below?

That's the 'Move Tool'. It's primarily used to reposition images and layers. Click it to select the Move Tool — you'll notice your cursor changes to match the tool's icon.

Now, the Move Tool can be a bit tricky until you get the hang of it.

You might expect to just drag an image directly to move it, but that's not quite how Photoshop works. With the Move Tool selected, you also need to have the target image (layer) selected before dragging.

If you try to use the Move Tool without selecting a layer first, Photoshop will give you an error along the lines of "No layer selected — can't use the Move Tool!" Go ahead and try it — you'll see the message right away.

To select an image (layer), hold 'Ctrl' (or 'command' on macOS) and click the image.

Whether a layer is selected can be confirmed in the 'Layers' panel at the bottom right. Below is an unselected state:

And this is what a selected layer looks like — notice it's highlighted:

You can also select a layer by clicking its entry directly in the Layers panel. The red box in the image below shows the clickable area:

Once a layer is selected, try dragging anywhere in the canvas. The image should move.

You can drag from anywhere in the canvas — there's no rule that says you have to click directly on the image.

If the image doesn't move even though a layer is selected, check whether the selected layer is labeled 'Background'.

In Photoshop, the Background layer cannot be moved. In recent versions of Photoshop CC, you'll get a clear message that the layer is locked, so it should be easy to figure out.

To convert the Background layer to a regular layer, click the lock icon in the Layers panel. The red arrow in the image below shows where it is:

The Move Tool can feel unintuitive at first, so if things aren't working as expected, run through this checklist:

• Is the Move Tool actually selected?
• Is the target layer in a selected state?
• Is the target layer set as the Background?

Checking those three things should resolve most issues.

The 'Layers' mentioned throughout this article will be covered in the next one.

Now let's take a look at the 'Bounding Box'. We covered a way to resize images in a previous article, but the Bounding Box lets you resize, rotate, and distort layers too — which makes it quite handy.

With the Move Tool selected, look at the toolbar area near the top of the screen. You should see an option labeled 'Show Transform Controls'. Check the box to enable it.

Your image should now have a frame around it:

That frame is the 'Bounding Box'. Try hovering your cursor over one of the corner handles and dragging — the image size should change.

If the image goes out of view, try enlarging the Canvas Size to see it again.
For Canvas Size, see this article.

Now try dragging the handle at the middle of one of the side edges instead of the corner. Only the width should change this time.

So the behavior depends on which part of the frame you drag: corners change both width and height, side-center handles change width only, and top/bottom-center handles change height only.

To rotate the image, hover your cursor just outside one of the corner handles. The cursor should change to a curved double arrow. Drag in that state to rotate. Make sure you're outside the frame, not inside.

Now let's try using the 'Shift' key with the Bounding Box. Holding 'Shift' while dragging a corner handle resizes the image while keeping the aspect ratio locked.

Note that the 'Shift' key only works when dragging corners. Dragging the side-center handles while holding 'Shift' does nothing different.

Next, try holding 'Ctrl' (or 'command' on macOS) while dragging. This switches to 'Free Transform' mode. Hold 'Ctrl' or 'command' and drag any corner or side-center handle to freely distort the image:

That covers the Bounding Box. It's a quick and easy way to resize and transform layers, so it's worth getting comfortable with. Remember, the Bounding Box only appears when the Move Tool is selected and 'Show Transform Controls' is checked.

In the next article, we'll cover Layers. Keep it up — see you there!

This article was written by Sakurama.

Author's beloved small mammal

桜舞 春人 Sakurama Haruto A Tokyo-based programmer who has been creating various content since the ISDN era, with a bit of concern about his hair. A true long sleeper who generally feels unwell without at least 10 hours of sleep. His dream is to live a life where he can sleep as much as he wants. Loves games, sports, and music. Please share some hair with him.

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