Precise Positioning in Photoshop CS2

This set of steps should work in most versions of photoshop.

Have you ever wanted to position an object in the exact middle of your canvas, or exactly two inches from the top and two inches from the left? And did you think that your only option was to use "Align Layer" or to try dragging the object into place? Well there is an easier way. When you use the "Transform" function on the editing menu you get an options menu that indicates image position, image size and rotation. You can type information in those boxes to make precise changes. You can also use different units of measurement. For example, if you are using an image sized in inches you can still position an object in terms of pixels, or centimeters.

1. Open Your New Canvas.
2. Copy the Image You Want to Paste and Position to the New Canvas.
3. Use Control+T (Edit > Free Transform) to bring up the transform menu.
4. Type in the coordinates where you want to position the image.
5. The x coordinate controls horizontal position, Y coordinate controls vertical position.
To center the image take the pixels wide and divide by 2 - that will be the horizontal position center.
• For example, if your image is 3000 pixels wide type 1500 in the x coordinate box and the image will move to the horizontal center.
• For example, if your image is 3000 pixels high type 1500 in the y coordinate box and the image will move to the vertical center.
7. Clicking the reference point boxes changes what controls the positioning. If you click the upper left corner of the reference point then the upper left corner of the image will be placed at the coordinates you typed.
8. You can change the units used for the positioning just by typing the appropriate abbreviation.
9. For example, to place the image at horizontal 8 inches type "8 in" in the x coordinate box.

Watch a video showing Exact Positioning in PhotoShop