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gibsonion
gibsonion
Known Participant
December 4, 2018
Answered

Disabling Snapping for Perspective/Free Transforming?

  • December 4, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 8279 views

I've been using Photoshop for a long time, but since this latest update of Photoshop it seems that they've added snapping to the perspective/skew/free transform i.e.when you hold Ctrl or Alt while dragging the corners of a layer.

Maybe it was there before, but now it's been activated by default and for this one particular tool it's a real pain in the ass to work with, as it's typically something where each pixel makes a difference. In most cases I like snapping, but for this tool it hinders more than it helps IMO.


I've just tested and found that even after disabling snapping completely it's still doing it. So does anyone know how this feature can be turned off?

Cheers

    Correct answer c.pfaffenbichler

    Pressing ctrl simultaneously with the other qualifiers should disable it.

    But you may have to also press shift to get the behaviour you previously had without shift.

    3 replies

    S
    SundayGladiator
    Legend
    June 12, 2025

    Found this thread, after a late night hour of dealing with Transform>Skew continually 'snapping' to an invisible point, driving me batty. And yes - View>Snap and View>Snap To both unchecked and set to None. Still snapping like a snapping turtle. 

    The solution is helpful to use 'Free Transform' instead. But for Mac users - DO THIS – hold the 'Command' key while pulling on the corners to get the skew effect. Voila.

    PS 26.7.0.

    M
    monelleny
    Participating Frequently
    December 8, 2023

    This is an extremely annoying feature of Skew.  Shift and/or Ctrl do not work for me.  What does work is skewing in only one direction at a time.  If you try to drag something up and to the right, you will get the snapping.  But if you drag it up first, let go of your mouse, and then drag it to the right, it seems to work just fine.

      c.pfaffenbichler
      Community Expert
      c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 9, 2023

      Please elaborate and post screenshots to illustrate. 

      Why are you using Skew instead of Free Transform? 

      M
      monelleny
      Participating Frequently
      December 9, 2023

      I am not sure why I am being criticized, as I was really happy to share the simple solution I came up with.  Skew is one of the choices in Free Transform.  Free Transform by itself does not do what Skew does.  However, one could use Distort to do the same thing.  A screen shot is not the appropriate way to show all this, you would have to use a video.

        c.pfaffenbichler
        Community Expert
        c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        December 4, 2018

        Pressing ctrl simultaneously with the other qualifiers should disable it.

        But you may have to also press shift to get the behaviour you previously had without shift.

        gibsonion
        gibsonionAuthor
        Known Participant
        December 5, 2018

        Thank you for your reply, but it doesn't work. Shift does allow for some slightly less restricted movement, but it's still snapping to certain positions.

        Update: Okay scratch that, the type of layer I tested it with was the issue. I tried another layer and it worked without snapping when holding shift. I get it now it's the legacy control system change, I think I'll be making the switch back, I kinda think it's the other programs that need to change, set in my way I guess, see that's how little I thought snapping made sense when warping perspectives, in 10+ years of using the program I've never even tried, or knew it was an option,

        Thank you for your help.

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