Cropping

Whenever possible, you should try to use the camera to crop your photo, not Photoshop.  Cropping with the camera helps preserve the highest level of detail (since you’re closer to the object) and also saves you time during editing.  However, there are times when you can’t get the right shot without also getting some extra material in your picture.  The crop tool can also be used to straighten your photo.  To access the crop tool, you can select it using the crop button (highlighted in red) on the tool palette.

However, it’s a good idea to do one other thing before cropping your photos, to make sure that you don’t crop outside of the image borders. Go to the “View” menu, select “Snap To” and then “Document Bounds”.  This will make your crop window or selection “stick” to the borders of your photo when you get close to the edge. 

Now you can crop with confidence!

Once you have selected the crop tool, you’ll notice that the Options bar at the top of the screen has changed.  If you don’t see an Options bar, go to the Window menu and select “Options”. 

This bar allows you to select the exact dimensions you want to crop to, and the resolution as well.  Say you want to make all of your photos have a 3:4 dimension ratio – just type in “3 in” for the height and “4 in” for the width, then put in 72 (or your desired resolution) in the resolution box. 

With the crop tool selected, click and drag out a box over your image.  The areas to be cropped will be darkened, but you can adjust your cropping by dragging the border - your cursor will turn into a straight, double-headed arrow when you hover it over the edge of the cropping box. If you want to straighten your photo, hover your cursor over the dotted line along one side – your arrow should turn into a curved double-headed arrow.  Click and drag to rotate the cropping box – the image will “right” itself after you approve the crop. When you’re ready, and then click the crop button again. This will give you a window, asking if you want to crop the image– click “OK” or “Don’t Crop”.

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