A microscope image formation model based on scalar diffraction and Fourier optics has been developed, which takes a slant angle between the optical axis and the observed surface into account. The theoretical investigations of the imaging of line structures using this model show that reflection type microscopes are much stronger influenced by the slant angle than transmission type microscopes. In addition, the slant angle changes the image contrast and the image shape of a line structure, especially its edge. The larger the slant angle, the stronger the decrease of the image contrast, and the less steep the edge slope in both types of microscopes. Furthermore, the larger the numerical aperture of the objective, the less the effect of the slant angle on the line image shape.