photoshop rotate layer without rotating background?

[jimmerz76]

back when i used photoshop 5.0 this was as simple as selecting the layer you created that you wanted to rotate and then selecting cw ccw 180 or abatrary and that was all you had to do but for some reason when i choose to rotate the image it rotates all layers. what am i missing? i feel like a retard i used to be so fluant with this program but now i feel like a complete idiot. also what about rotating a selected area on a single layer image?

[Chuck Uebele]

To rotate a layer, press ctrl/cmd-T.  You can then right click to rotate selected degrees or do it manually.

[johninblackhawk]

The only idiots are those who DON'T ask questions! To add to what was said above, make the layer active and then go to Edit>Free Transform. (or cmd/ctrl-T) if you move your cursor outside of the Free Transform box, it'll turn into a double arrow that is curved. Just click and drag until you arrive at the amount of rotation you need. Also, if you hold down the Shift key while rotating, it will rotate in 15 degree increments. If you can't see all of the Free Transform box, press cmd/ctrl 0 (zero) and the image will zoom out enough to see the entire box - then rotate.

[loloc]

I feel the same way!! the simplest tasks, can be so time consuming. on the other hand so many cool new features. 

[jane-e]

@loloc 

You have posted to a thread that is nine years old, so it's not clear what you are referring to. If you have a question about how a feature works, please start a new thread so we can better assist.

You can also read about new features here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/whats-new.html

Jane