Task 3 How to Crop an Image

Cropping an image involves cutting an image down to a specific square or rectangular section, excluding all other unwanted areas. You can crop an image to fit a specific dimension or to enhance its composition. Sometimes cropping involves trimming away a little detail around the edges. At other times, cropping can isolate a small component of an image and discard everything else. Cropping an image does not change the resolution or image quality; it only shrinks the canvas size as unwanted areas are eliminated.

1. Open the Image

Select File, Open or click the Go to Bridge button on the Options bar and double-click to open the desired image file.

2. Select the Crop Tool

Select the Crop tool from the toolbox. Click and drag the Crop tool over the image to specify the area to be cropped. A dotted line appears, showing what has been selected.

3. Define the Crop Area

If the Shield check box is selected in the Options bar, the area outside the crop area is covered with a mask color (click the color swatch in the Options bar to change the color). Everything outside the dotted rectangular area will not appear in the finished image area. If the selection is wrong, click the Cancel button (the circle-with-a-slash button) in the Options bar to deselect and then drag again to specify the area.

4. Modify the Crop Area

Notice that the crop area has handles at the corners and on the sides. To modify the crop area by extending a side, drag a side handle. To extend the crop area from two adjoining sides, drag a corner handle. To move the entire crop area, click inside the selected crop area and drag the box to a new position.

5. Rotate the Crop Area

You can even rotate the crop area. To do this, position the cursor outside of a corner handle until it changes to a rotate icon. Click and drag to rotate the crop box.

6. Crop the Image

When the rotated crop selection is where you want it, double-click in the selection to crop the image, press Enter in Windows or Return on the Mac, or click the check mark button in the Options bar.

How-To Hints

Crop Perspective

To create an angled, perspectival crop effect, enable the Perspective check box in the Options bar for the Crop tool. As you move the mouse pointer into the image area, it changes to an arrow icon, indicating that the perspective option is active. You can then click and drag each crop handle independently. As you can guess, this option lets you create crops that aren't rectangular, regardless of whether the crops create accurate perspective.

Crop to Fit

If you want to crop to a specific width/height ratio, you can type the settings on the Options bar before dragging with the Crop tool. As you drag, the Crop tool is constrained to match your settings. To create a freehand crop, leave these setting fields blank or click the Clear button to blank (reset) them.