Fixed Aspect Ratio for crop tool 1

[elf21]

I am using the crop tool to crop my photos. I don't know what the final measurements should be but I do know that I'd like for the proportions of the photo to be 4:3. Is it possible to set this in the crop tool options? I know I can enter hard numbers (i.e. pixels, inches) but what I really want is to enter "fixed aspect ratio" similar to the option in the marquee tool.

Thank you.

 

[digitalpencil]

When selecting the crop tool, the options panel updates to contain the following fields; 'width, height, resolution, etc'. Enter 4 into width and 3 into height, start dragging and you'll find you have a fixed aspect ratio of 4:3.
This also works with the marquee tool however, you need to change the 'style' dropdown to 'fixed aspect ratio' first.

Hope this helps,
DigiPencil

 

[elf21]

Of course I'm familiar with the options panel, but that doesn't work the way you desribed. I can't enter a number without specifying a unit of measurement. If I simply type 4, it converts it into 4 inches - and that is not what I want.

 

[RegistrationMark]

fear not the "inches" measure in the height and width.
You can drag out any size you like, and it will be 4:3 proportion
Mark

 

[rickwells]

Hi elf21
I also find this frustrating. Here's my remedy.
Use the rectangular marquee tool and select your pre-determined aspect ratio. Then Use IMAGE>CROP. I have set up an action so that I can crop with a key stroke. Not as versatile as the true crop tool but has it's uses.

 

[Kjonnnn]

4:3 equals to 4x6, 8x12, 16x20

enter those dimensions and you'll be straight...

 

[elf21]

Mark - I tried to ignore the inches, but no luck. My final cropped image was indeed 4in x 3in.

rickwells - I tried your technique. It does the trick! Thank you. I've given you a star. I wonder why Adobe didn't include fixed aspect ratio on the options bar of the crop tool. It's so important to maintain a set ratio when cropping images.

Kjonnnn - 4:3 does not equal 4x6 etc. But even if it would, it wouldn't help me. I don't want to specify a final size for my document but I do want to keep them in a certain proportion - for example I want all my pictures to follow the 4:3 ratio. Sometimes that will be (in pixels) 320x240, other times, 640x480, 800x600 etc. Of course I can enter these numbers, but it's annoying because it always changes. Whereas the ratio I use never changes.

 

[digitalpencil]

What version of pshop are you using? CS2's crop tool works exactly as described, a fixed aspect ratio. Dragging to any size but fixing the ratio to that specified in the width and height fields, perhaps your prefs are intefering with the tool's actions.

 

[blueark]

If your image is 8in x 8in at 300 dpi (2400 pixels wide) and you set up your crop tool at 4x3 inches, leaving the resolution blank, try dragging the crop tool the entire width of your image. When you check the image size, it is indeed 4x3 inches, but the resolution will increase to 600 dpi to compensate, and the width is still 2400 pixels.

If the inches are bothering you, just go back to image size, turn off "Resample Image", and change the resolution back to what it was (300 dpi in this example). However, given that you were talking about pixel dimensions, this probably won't be neccessary.