Scale and rotate type

Last updated on Oct 10, 2026

Learn how to use Character panel controls and transform commands to adjust type proportions and orientation in Adobe Photoshop on desktop.

Adjusting type scale and rotation helps you fit text into layouts, create visual hierarchy, or match specific design requirements without creating new type layers. Using a true condensed or expanded font produces better results than scaling, which distorts letterforms. Use scaling only when a purpose-built font variant isn't available.

Adjust horizontal or vertical scale

Select the characters you want to scale using the Horizontal Type tool

or Vertical Type tool . If you don't select text, scaling applies to new text you create.

Select Window > Character to open the Character panel.

Enter a percentage value in the Vertical Scale field or Horizontal Scale field.

Press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS) to save the values.

Values more than 100% expand the type in that direction, and values less than 100% condense it.

Rotate a type layer

Select the type layer in the Layers panel.

Select Edit > Free Transform or press Ctrl + T (Windows) or Command + T (macOS).

Position your cursor outside a corner handle until the cursor changes to a curved double-arrow, then drag to rotate the type.

Press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS) to apply the rotation.

For paragraph type, you can also select the bounding box and use a handle to rotate the type manually. For more control over transforms, adjust scale, rotation, and perspective.

Rotate characters in vertical type

Select the vertical type characters you want to rotate.

Open the Character panel menu and select Standard Vertical Roman Alignment. A check mark indicates the option is active.

Double-byte characters (full-width characters available in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fonts) cannot be rotated. Any double-byte characters in your selection remain unchanged.

Change type layer orientation

Select the type layer in the Layers panel.

Select Type tool, then the text orientation button in the options bar. You can also select Layer > Type > Horizontal or Layer > Type > Vertical or Change Text Orientation from the Character panel menu.

The type layer switches between horizontal (flowing left to right) and vertical (flowing top to bottom) orientation.

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