Photoshop - Crop to aspect ratio?

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if there's a way to use the PS crop tool to crop a photo using the photo's original aspect ratio?

I don't want a 4x6 or any measurable values, I just want to crop using the photos original ratio.

I've found "ways" to accomplish this but I'm wondering if there's a simple way to do it using the crop tool... maybe a preset value I don't know about?

Thanks for the help!

Joe

[MT Stringer]

Joe, I looked at the file info for one of my pics. It says the pixel dimensions for x and y are 2592 x 3888 and resolution of 350 ppi.

I put those figures in the crop tool boxes as 2592px and 3888px with the resolution of 350 ppi.

When I drag the crop tool across the image it covers it completely, or I can adjust it to crop just what is needed but at the same ratio.

This is with Photoshop Elements.
Hope this helps.
Mike

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Hey Mike,

Thanks for responding. The PS Crop tool has something called "Front Image" which does what you are talking about automatically (it calculates the image dimensions and resolution and plugs the values in).

The problem I have with that is it keeps those dimensions after the crop, so if I crop out just a small part of the image, it res's it back up to the original values and I don't that result, I want a 100% crop, not a res-up.

Thanks!

Joe

Originally Posted by MT Stringer

Joe, I looked at the file info for one of my pics. It says the pixel dimensions for x and y are 2592 x 3888 and resolution of 350 ppi.

I put those figures in the crop tool boxes as 2592px and 3888px with the resolution of 350 ppi.

When I drag the crop tool across the image it covers it completely, or I can adjust it to crop just what is needed but at the same ratio.

This is with Photoshop Elements.
Hope this helps.
Mike

[bondarnes]

Joe, have you tried it with the ppi box blank? That's how crop and I save all my files.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

Joe, have you tried it with the ppi box blank? That's how crop and I save all my files.

If I understand you correctly, yes I've tried it with the ppi with no value.

My results are the same dimensions as the original image but with a lower ppi value:

original = 12x9 at 300ppi
crop = 12x9 at 230ppi

I'd rather have it at 6x4.5 at 300ppi...

Joe

[ramblinray]

I think you want the original 2 to 3 aspect ratio, correct? If you hit the clear button in the crop bar, you will be able to input whatever aspect ratio values you want. Don't use the drop down menu for the dimensions as it gives a resolution that resamples the image. You want to crop without resampling. So long as the resolution field is empty, you get a crop of the image without resampling. It shouldn't make a difference what dimension values you use, so long as they reflect the aspect ration you desire.

The front image button uses another image as the basis for dropping your active image. I don't think you want to use that feature in this case.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Hi Ray,

Hmmm... My experience says differently. If I leave the Resolution field blank, that is the value that gets changed, not the image dimensions (and that's not what I'm looking for)

And yeah, I always crop with the crop values blank (unless I want a 4x6 or specific value).

What I do now is to select the entire image, hold down the SHIFT key and resize to what I want. This restricts the crop to the original ratio without affecting the resolution value.

So basically, I'm a lazy slug who is tired of doing it this way and just wants to drag a crop where I need it, double click, save and move on. Just this little shortcut will save me a lot of time.

Joe

Originally Posted by ramblinray

I think you want the original 2 to 3 aspect ratio, correct? If you hit the clear button in the crop bar, you will be able to input whatever aspect ratio values you want. Don't use the drop down menu for the dimensions as it gives a resolution that resamples the image. You want to crop without resampling. So long as the resolution field is empty, you get a crop of the image without resampling. It shouldn't make a difference what dimension values you use, so long as they reflect the aspect ration you desire.

The front image button uses another image as the basis for dropping your active image. I don't think you want to use that feature in this case.

[ramblinray]

That's the problem with cropping. Something has to give. You either have to resample to get the resolution back after cropping or you have to live with the reduced resolution when you upsize the picture you just cropped. You could skip using the shift key, maybe, is you use a graphics tablet with shift crop defined as one of your tablet buttons. If you use the resampling method, it uses whatever method you have defined in the General preferences.

[mmuhlenkamp]

I don't think you can make it to where it automatically detects the proportion of the photo, it would be nice though. You can set a preset though for what you use most often that could speed your process a bit.

Hmm...Lightroom keeps proportions, I'm not sure why Photoshop doesn't.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by ramblinray

That's the problem with cropping. Something has to give. You either have to resample to get the resolution back after cropping or you have to live with the reduced resolution when you upsize the picture you just cropped. You could skip using the shift key, maybe, is you use a graphics tablet with shift crop defined as one of your tablet buttons. If you use the resampling method, it uses whatever method you have defined in the General preferences.

Hey Ray,

I'm absolutely willing to live with reduced resolution as far as my ppi stays the same. If I need to res it back up, I have plugins and actions that do great jobs at that.

I don't understand why Photoshop can't crop using ratios.

Joe

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by mmuhlenkamp

I don't think you can make it to where it automatically detects the proportion of the photo, it would be nice though. You can set a preset though for what you use most often that could speed your process a bit.

Hmm...Lightroom keeps proportions, I'm not sure why Photoshop doesn't.

I wish I could do presets, that'd be a snap. Unfortunately presets will res the crop back up to the original dimensions (or sacrafice ppi). I'm looking for a ratio that keeps the crop at 100% while maintaining the original ppi value.

Joe

[ramblinray]

When you say "keeps the crop at 100%", do you mean it keeps the crop at the actual size in relation to the original? That meaning a reduced size as compared to the original but keeping the resolution at the original ppi value.

[Joe_Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by ramblinray

When you say "keeps the crop at 100%", do you mean it keeps the crop at the actual size in relation to the original? That meaning a reduced size as compared to the original but keeping the resolution at the original ppi value.

Yes, that's exactly correct!

My communications skills bite.

Joe

[ramblinray]

I don't know your workflow so this is a shot in the dark. If your images open in Camera Raw, you can set an aspect ratio with the crop tool there. Hold the mouse key down while selecting the crop tool and a ratio drop down menu will appear. Once set, it appears to stay that way until you change it. The resolution is that of the original image with only the image size changed. Maybe CS4 made this change for PS so you wouldn't have to use Camera Raw to do the crop and maintain ppi.

[aerosolcheese]

I think I understand what you are trying to do... forgive me if I am wrong here... You can do this two ways.

first with the Marquee tool, select it, then in the menu bar, change style from "normal" to "fixed ratio" and insert your aspect ratio. Then, you can select what you want to crop, then go to IMAGE->> CROP.

A faster way to do this is to use the crop tool, and select the entire image. Then hold down shift while you adjust the image to where you want to crop.