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Cropping in photoshop 5

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Roxicodone

Technical User
May 27, 2007
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I need someone to explain in easy language how to use photoshop to crop a photo, what are the steps please?
 
...open an image, press the 'C' key, drag an area to crop, adjust area with the handles if required, then double click the cropped area to commit the cropping function...

...you can constrain the crop area by dragging a handle and using a combination of 'shift', 'alt/option' or both keys at the same time...

...if not happy with it, crop it further or press command/apple 'Z' to undo and start again...

...choose 'file > save as' to save a copy so you have the original image stored for further use if required...

TIP: To extend the canvas area with a background color to create a border you can drag the crop area outside the image area into the grey surround, double click the crop area and you will have a border based upon the background color in the tool bar (white is the default).

If you want the border transparent instead, duplicate the background layer (command/apple 'J'), delete the background layer, drag out the crop area into the surround and double click to commit the function.

Andrew
 
...also you can use the history palette (window > history) to step backwards or use the shortcut 'command + alt/option 'Z'. This steps backward one step at a time...

Andrew
 
...you can also type in width and height values in the top tool bar when you have the crop tool selected, drag an area out and commit the function...

...this will adjust the size as requested and recalculate the resolution so long as you leave the resolution field (in the top tool bar) blank (no values)...

Andrew
 
Or just make a selection with the rectangular marquee tool and go to image -> crop.

You can constrain the aspect ratio etc. like you normally do with the rectangular marquee tool.
 
A few more tips that come to mind:

Rotation
With the crop area selected, hover the mouse near a handle to rotate the crop area. Useful for straightening out photos.

Perspective
If the photo needs even more dramatic cropping, click 'Perspective' in the tool options bar. This allows you to move each corner completely independently of the others. In conservative practice, this can straighten out a photo with far more control than rotation. In extreme practice, you can get some pretty dramatic distortions in your photos.

Trim
If your background is a uniform colour, instead of using the crop tool, go to Image > Trim... instead. This can be a very handy way of cropping down to the actual subject matter, and is very useful when used in actions.
 
To add to blueark's rotation example I like to do the following:

Lets say before cropping, you want to straighten a tilted head or tilted horizon, you can try this:

Choose the measure tool (ruler), it's on the same tool set as the eyedropper.

Click and pull the cursor thru the persons eyes on the tilted head or across the tilted horizon.

Image > rotate canvas > Arbitrary and choose either Clockwise or Counter Clockwise.

Now with the picture "straightened" go ahead with any of the Crop examples above.
 
Yes, that's a neat little trick that many people overlook (*). It's amazing how much difference a straight horizon can make to a picture -- even half a degree out can make it look unprofessional. I used to do a lot of real estate brochures, and getting a good straight line made a property look much better.

You could also check out the Filter > Distort > Lens Correction filter. It contains a straighten tool that does exactly the same thing, but in one step.
 
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