diff --git a/pretty.c b/pretty.c
index 4f33b09a25..1c67b23968 100644
--- a/pretty.c
+++ b/pretty.c
@@ -1022,9 +1022,15 @@ static size_t parse_padding_placeholder(struct strbuf *sb,
 		int width;
 		if (!end || end == start)
 			return 0;
-		width = strtoul(start, &next, 10);
+		width = strtol(start, &next, 10);
 		if (next == start || width == 0)
 			return 0;
+		if (width < 0) {
+			if (to_column)
+				width += term_columns();
+			if (width < 0)
+				return 0;
+		}
 		c->padding = to_column ? -width : width;
 		c->flush_type = flush_type;
 
diff --git a/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh b/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
index d75cdbbf9c..d9f62425b0 100755
--- a/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
+++ b/t/t4205-log-pretty-formats.sh
@@ -176,6 +176,17 @@ EOF
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'left alignment formatting at the nth column' '
+	COLUMNS=50 git log --pretty="tformat:%h %<|(-10)%s" >actual &&
+	qz_to_tab_space <<EOF >expected &&
+$head1 message two                    Z
+$head2 message one                    Z
+$head3 add bar                        Z
+$head4 $(commit_msg)            Z
+EOF
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'left alignment formatting at the nth column. i18n.logOutputEncoding' '
 	git -c i18n.logOutputEncoding=$test_encoding log --pretty="tformat:%h %<|(40)%s" >actual &&
 	qz_to_tab_space <<EOF | iconv -f utf-8 -t $test_encoding >expected &&
@@ -308,6 +319,17 @@ EOF
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'right alignment formatting at the nth column' '
+	COLUMNS=50 git log --pretty="tformat:%h %>|(-10)%s" >actual &&
+	qz_to_tab_space <<EOF >expected &&
+$head1                      message two
+$head2                      message one
+$head3                          add bar
+$head4              $(commit_msg)
+EOF
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'right alignment formatting at the nth column. i18n.logOutputEncoding' '
 	git -c i18n.logOutputEncoding=$test_encoding log --pretty="tformat:%h %>|(40)%s" >actual &&
 	qz_to_tab_space <<EOF | iconv -f utf-8 -t $test_encoding >expected &&
@@ -397,6 +419,17 @@ EOF
 	test_cmp expected actual
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'center alignment formatting at the nth column' '
+	COLUMNS=70 git log --pretty="tformat:%h %><|(-30)%s" >actual &&
+	qz_to_tab_space <<EOF >expected &&
+$head1           message two          Z
+$head2           message one          Z
+$head3             add bar            Z
+$head4       $(commit_msg)      Z
+EOF
+	test_cmp expected actual
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'center alignment formatting at the nth column. i18n.logOutputEncoding' '
 	git -c i18n.logOutputEncoding=$test_encoding log --pretty="tformat:%h %><|(40)%s" >actual &&
 	qz_to_tab_space <<EOF | iconv -f utf-8 -t $test_encoding >expected &&