Cropping trick.pdf

Well What Do You Know! Cropping Trick

by Al Ward

Action Fx Photoshop Resources

http://actionfx.com

Author, Photoshop for Right Brainers: The Art of Photo Manipulation

Author, ‘ Al Ward's Photoshop Productivity Toolkit’

I had an experience that prompted my sharing this tutorial with you. When you sit in front of Photoshop nearly every day of every week of every month of

the year, it is easy to get tunnel vision, especially when you are used to doing things a certain way. I’m guilty of this, I admit.

Last evening I found myself seriously short on time and furiously working on getting dozens of photos done for my mother... corrections I’d promised

months ago so that she could have these family reunion photos printed and sent as presents for the holidays. Taken in July, I knew I had at least 4 solid

months to get them prepared... no worries. So when she called Monday evening and asked about the photos, and if I could just get them to her via the

fastest possible carrier pigeon, she would have just enough time to barely get them to our extended family in time for the gift opening festivities in their

respective domiciles.

In my best fake calm voice, dripping with assurances, I told her I’d get them to her by weeks end for sure... sooner if the postal service would cut out a few

coffee breaks (just kidding, all you postal workers… my wife is one of your hard working number!). Thus it was that late last evening I found myself staring

at 3 dozen images that needed corrected, resized, saved, burned to disc and dropped in the mail bright and early this morning. Who needs 4 months when

you can do things at the absolute last minute?

Quickly I opened an image and started recording a series of actions while I did my corrections. As most of the images had the same general flaws and

required similar tweaks, the actions would help immensely to speed up the process.

Some cropping had to occur in all the images… the photographer had been generous to leave a very helpful but totally unwanted bright orange date stamp

on all the photos. I could clone these out, but time was limited. I sat there thinking to myself ‘Gee, I wish there were a way to have my crops come out at

the designated size and resolution every time instead of manually adjusting each one’. I selected the Crop tool as I’ve done a million times before, took a

look at the Options Bar as I’ve done a million times before... and slapped myself in the head. The answer was staring me right in the face. You can do

exactly what I wished… and I had absolutely no idea it was there all the time.

Allow me to demonstrate. Here’s one of the photos I was to work on… my son and daughter.

The image size as it was taken and transferred to the computer is as follows:

As I prepare these for print, I want to resize these in such a way that my father will be able to understand as he is doing the final printing. He would take

one look at this and think I was out of my mind… ’45 inches Wide???’ he’d say… with a few colorful expletives thrown in I’m sure. (Dad has always had a

rather interesting vocabulary, especially when excited).

To the Crop Tool. Selecting the Crop Toll also selects the Crop Options, making them available at the top of the screen.

In the options bar I can type in the exact dimensions and final resolution I’d like the cropped area to be. The crop options will automatically change my

cropped image to these new dimensions, keeping everything in perspective as well.

Once those options are set, just draw out your crop area normally. I’m going to change thios from a landscape to a portrait, focusing on the kids. Then I’ll

accept the crop.

So did it work? Let’s check the image size now.

Sweet! That just saved me tons of time one those other images.

The crop tool will draw itself constrained to the height and width you type in.

I’ll run this one more image. Below you see the Ward Family (my hair has grown back… that is what I call my ‘summer doo’). I’ll perform the crop and check

the final Image Size to make sure it worked.

It worked! Now to discuss with the family why little boys should not wear Bug T-Shirts for family photos

Happy Holidays everyone!