Question: Cropping - DPChallenge Forums

04/30/2002 09:37:26 AM · #1

I have played with several different graphics programs trying to find a 'light weight' package that performs cropping in a manner that suits me. Adobe PhotoShop v6 allows the 'constrained aspect ratio' cropping that I really like. When I'm preparing a photo for a challenge, I set this aspect ratio to 640x480 or 480x640 so that my crop from my large image is in proper proportion to the size that I need for my submitted image. I have not found another program that behaves as nicely as Photoshop.

Can anyone offer me any suggestions on a light weight graphics package that makes cropping to a specific shape possible? What I have seen so far is that I can use the marquee select tool in any program to do a crop but I need the crop to be proportional to the 640x480 rectangle size.

Thanks in advance!

BAMartin

Apple iPhone 5

04/30/2002 09:58:45 AM · #2

Jim, I just downloaded PaintStudio Lite from www.tucows.com. Its a freeware application that will do what you are looking for. I have not yet played with it alot, but it looks pretty cool.

Barbara

Olympus 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 M.Zuiko Digital ED

04/30/2002 10:01:32 AM · #3

Thanks! I will check it out...

jonr

Olympus OM-D E-M5

04/30/2002 10:14:13 AM · #4

Originally posted by BAMartin:
Jim, I just downloaded PaintStudio Lite from www.tucows.com. Its a freeware application that will do what you are looking for. I have not yet played with it alot, but it looks pretty cool.

Doest that preserver EXIF data?

04/30/2002 10:21:59 AM · #5

Originally posted by jonr:
Originally posted by BAMartin:
[i]Jim, I just downloaded PaintStudio Lite from www.tucows.com. Its a freeware application that will do what you are looking for. I have not yet played with it alot, but it looks pretty cool.

Doest that preserver EXIF data?
[/i]
I just downloaded 'the gimp' and while it is free and does replicate pretty much every Photoshop function, the crop to constrained aspect ratio isn't as flexible as it is in photoshop. Might have a look at
adding this into the program this weekend, shouldn't be too difficult.

Currently the constrained selection is fixed to a percentage of the
image or a fixed size, rather than a ratio that is maintained.

For EXIF data I usually use 'BreezeBrowser' for the Canon cameras, which
has an 'EXIF copy' function that I use to copy the exif details from the RAW file to the final processed jpeg. saves worrying about tools
losing the info.

04/30/2002 12:09:13 PM · #6

Gordon,

Do you know if Photoshop Elements will do the contstrained aspect ratio crops?

04/30/2002 12:17:06 PM · #7

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Gordon,

Do you know if Photoshop Elements will do the contstrained aspect ratio crops?

No idea, but my 'free' Adobe Photoshop 5.5 Limited Edition version does.
That's the version that usually appears on cover disks, camera freebie CDs etc. I think I got this with a Wacom graphics tablet.

Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di for Nikon

04/30/2002 12:22:43 PM · #8

I wonder how others who don't have the full photoshop are performing correct crops... This can be tedious without the this feature...

Maverick

Nikon D200

04/30/2002 12:30:36 PM · #9

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
I wonder how others who don't have the full photoshop are performing correct crops... This can be tedious without the this feature...

We don't.... (well, I'm only speaking for myself, but I don't crop, can't figure out how to keep the aspect ration on cropped sections without distorting the image)

David Ey

Nikon D80

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

04/30/2002 12:50:49 PM · #10

Originally posted by GordonMcGregor:
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
[i]Gordon,

Do you know if Photoshop Elements will do the contstrained aspect ratio crops?

[/i]

Yes sir, it will.

Kimbly

Canon PowerShot G2

04/30/2002 12:53:35 PM · #11

Originally posted by Maverick:
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
[i]I wonder how others who don't have the full photoshop are performing correct crops... This can be tedious without the this feature...

We don't...
[/i]

Yes we do :-) I haven't really found it that difficult, using Photoshop 5.0 LE (Mac version) - I can't say for certain it doesn't have the crop by fixed aspect ratio as I've never really searched it out, but it isn't readily apparent.

I usually crop down to the general area I want to cover. I know which direction I can afford to lose a little space. I can estimate the ratio usually within 25 pixels or so.

Using Canvas size, get the number of inches (pixels or cm would work too) of the length of the side I don't want to crop of. Divide by the number of 'units' that side is (For a 3x4 picture, I would divide the long side by 4), then multiply by the number of units of the other side (for a 3x4 picture, I would multiply by 3).

Another way to think of it is like the fractions they teach in 7th grade...set x/y = 3/4 and cross-multiply.

Then everything is in the right ratio and you can just go into Image Size and set the longer side to 640, etc.

I'm making it sound more complicated than it actually is. Takes me maybe 2 minutes per picture (as opposed to 30 sec or so if I had fixed-aspect ratio cropping tool).

04/30/2002 12:57:37 PM · #12

I downloaded Adobe's Photoshop Elements... All 90mb of it and it does do the constrained aspect ratio crops...

I'll have to go buy it now... lol

cheers and thanks for the info..

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

04/30/2002 01:02:35 PM · #13

Kimbly

Canon PowerShot G2

04/30/2002 01:12:43 PM · #14

Originally posted by GordonMcGregor:

It could be a whole lot simpler for you :)

Haha. Like I said, the way I've been doing it really isn't too hard, there are a lot of other things I wish I had more than fixed-aspect ratio cropping - like gosh-darned multiple undos! I will have to go home and check this out though. I think oftentimes I just assume PS LE doesn't have the feature I want to use simply for the reason that I want to use it...

* This message has been edited by the author on 4/30/2002 1:13:14 PM.

David Ey

Nikon D80

04/30/2002 01:28:08 PM · #15

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
I downloaded Adobe's Photoshop Elements... All 90mb of it and it does do the constrained aspect ratio crops...

I'll have to go buy it now... lol

cheers and thanks for the info..

good choice

Maverick

Nikon D200

Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di for Nikon

04/30/2002 01:52:23 PM · #16

Originally posted by Kimbly:
Originally posted by Maverick:
[i]Originally posted by jmsetzler:
[i]I wonder how others who don't have the full photoshop are performing correct crops... This can be tedious without the this feature...

We don't...
[/i]

Yes we do :-) I haven't really found it that difficult, using Photoshop 5.0 LE (Mac version) - I can't say for certain it doesn't have the crop by fixed aspect ratio as I've never really searched it out, but it isn't readily apparent.

I usually crop down to the general area I want to cover. I know which direction I can afford to lose a little space. I can estimate the ratio usually within 25 pixels or so.

Using Canvas size, get the number of inches (pixels or cm would work too) of the length of the side I don't want to crop of. Divide by the number of 'units' that side is (For a 3x4 picture, I would divide the long side by 4), then multiply by the number of units of the other side (for a 3x4 picture, I would multiply by 3).

Another way to think of it is like the fractions they teach in 7th grade...set x/y = 3/4 and cross-multiply.

Then everything is in the right ratio and you can just go into Image Size and set the longer side to 640, etc.

I'm making it sound more complicated than it actually is. Takes me maybe 2 minutes per picture (as opposed to 30 sec or so if I had fixed-aspect ratio cropping tool).[/i]

without photoshop it isn't very easy. Anyone know if it is at all possible to do this stuff with photodeluxe 3.0?

04/30/2002 02:02:39 PM · #17

I DO know that photodeluxe won't do it... Photoshop and Photoshop Elements are the only ones I have found that will. Corel PhotoPaint works better than the rest but it only allows you to specify a specific pixel size for the crop. You have to make yourself a chart with variations of 640x480 for reference with this one...