Daft Question about cropping

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mrphilk

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Name
Phil
Edit My Images
Yes
When cropping images for photobucket/flickr etc what size would you crop them to?

At the moment Im doing it to 6 x 4 (ish depending on image) just wondered what you guys do or if it even matters :-)
 
Do you mean what ratio? or what actual size?

For TP.. the limit is 800 pixels on the longest edge.

If you worry about image theft and thieves re-printing, then do it smaller.
 
I meant the ratio, 6in x 4in

Im very new to this. Im not too worred about theft my pics arnt that good yet :-)

Just wondered about detail loss or if I wanted to resize later but then again I always save a copy of the original so I guess it wouldnt matter.
 
To be honest I think you are confusing 'cropping' and 'resizing'.

Cropping really is cutting the edges (or more) of an image to get the composition just right. When cropping you may want to stick to a specific ratio (out of most SLRs it is 2x3 ratio), such as 2x3, 7x5, square or a pano. You will also crop slightly if trying to straighten an image to get the horizon straight for example.

Once you get the composition as you want via a crop you then need to think about the size of the image. As Trev says above resizing to say 800 pixels longest edge, 72dpi, before upload to Flickr, Photobucket, TP etc will hopefully deter image theft. For printing you may want a bigger image size and higher DPI, depending on the size of the print...
 
Freester said:
To be honest I think you are confusing 'cropping' and 'resizing'.

Cropping really is cutting the edges (or more) of an image to get the composition just right. When cropping you may want to stick to a specific ratio (out of most SLRs it is 2x3 ratio), such as 2x3, 7x5, square or a pano. You will also crop slightly if trying to straighten an image to get the horizon straight for example.

Once you get the composition as you want via a crop you then need to think about the size of the image. As Trev says above resizing to say 800 pixels longest edge, 72dpi, before upload to Flickr, Photobucket, TP etc will hopefully deter image theft. For printing you may want a bigger image size and higher DPI, depending on the size of the print...
Click to expand...

Thats far better put :thumbs:
Nice post!
 
I just read your reply.

In answer to what I do. Normally I crop 6x4 unless it is a pano. Sometime for portraits it's easier to get frames and mounts that are 7x5. But sometimes I just crop without any ratio to get the composition correct.
 
um, Im a bit confused.

I know you can resize your images but, I thought using the ratio with the crop tool did both at once. Am I doing it wrong or am I ok to carry on and what are the drawbacks with what I am doing?
 
Ok.

Using the crop tool at the same time you don't really get much control over the image size.

I would recommend using the Marquee tool to crop the image to the composition you want. Then save this image - this is the full size, full resolution 'original'.

Then use Image->Resize to get the pixels etc. When you resize save as a new image. Don't overwrite the original as otherwise you won't be able to get
the full res original back very easily.
 
Unless I need to crop, I usually don't, I just resize to 600px on the longest side (the limit on another forum I post on) then save as and reduce the quality until the file size is under 100kB
 
OK.

There are probably quicker keyboard shortcuts...

Select the marquee tool. Along the top you will have options for the ratio, or unrestricted. Click and drag to mark the selection. Then image->crop.
 
Freester said:
OK.

There are probably quicker keyboard shortcuts...

Select the marquee tool. Along the top you will have options for the ratio, or unrestricted. Click and drag to mark the selection. Then image->crop.
Click to expand...

Interesting....
You don't find the crop tool better as you can adjust the crop before cropping?
 
If I am honest I usually crop in Lightroom anyhow.

What I found with the crop tool in PSE was I had no control over the output resolution. Sometimes it would just resize it so the number of pixels became a factor of the crop size.

So I gave up and used the marquee tool after reading it was better in a book.

Maybe there is more control in PS full blown?
 
In PSE, unless you alter the resolution in the boxes, you simply crop the image, dropping the pixels outside the crop and keeping those within it. Of course, you can set the parameters and resolution you want while in the crop - quite handy for a quick and dirty resize.
 
ok so I think ill carry on with the crop tool as its what im used to (no offence :-) ). So my final (i think) question is what resolution should I crop to?

At the moment its set to 300 pixels per inch, as thats what a friend suggested.

If I leave it empty will it keep the current resolution?
 
Depends very much on the end use. If you're posting 6x4 images at 300ppi, anyone who can see them can get reasonable 9x6 prints with very little effort and even bigger if they know how and can be bothered.

For screen use, 72ppi should be ok. 300ppi is what's usually quoted as ideal for printing - way OTT for screen use!
 
mrphilk said:
ok so I think ill carry on with the crop tool as its what im used to (no offence :-) ).
Click to expand...

No offence taken. :)

There is usually more than one way to skin a cat in Photoshop. It helps that you know there are different ways to do things in case the other way is better for you. You may prefer the alternative in the future :thumbs:
 
Freester said:
No offence taken. :)

There is usually more than one way to skin a cat in Photoshop. It helps that you know there are different ways to do things in case the other way is better for you. You may prefer the alternative in the future :thumbs:
Click to expand...


Your right there :-)

At the moment learning how to do these things seems to be the easy bit, its the remembering that im having trouble with lol.

Got my head around things a bit more though thanks to all of your tips. Now before Im posting I add a frame, crop to suite then resize to 800px :-)

Thanks again!
 
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