Cropping.

canon400dcanon400d Banned Posts: 2,826 Major grins
edited October 23, 2013 in Technique
In the past I have done very little cropping of images. I was wondering which is the best way to crop an image. I shoot raw and should I do the crop in ACR or in photoshop - navigate tool. Also is it best to crop before making any post processing.
I have found if I do the crop in ACR and then move on to photoshop and save as a Jpeg. If I want to put the same raw file into ACR to do it again for some reason I find that the image displayed shows as being cropped. I should have said I use CS5.
Cheers
Bob

Comments

  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited October 20, 2013
    My hat is off to you, Bob, your images are always framed just the way you want them to be, straight out of the camera!?

    For myself at least, I find I can improve my images composition a little bit or even a lot, by careful study and judicious cropping after the fact. I wish I could say that my eye is so circumspect I never need to crop, but that would not be accurate. Not even close. Sad to say.

    If I understand you correctly, you are asking whether to crop early in your workflow, or waiting until the very end. Correct me if I am wrong, here, Bob

    I crop fairly early, as I don't want to wait for processing larger files, than necessary. But then, I do most of my editing in Lightroom, so the original RAW file is always available and unchanged by my metadata editing commands. I can make virtual Raw copies for as many image editing workflows as needed.

    I do not think there is any compelling reason to defer cropping until late in your workflow. I use CS5 too, when I need layers and selections.

    If you try to re-open an edited, cropped jpg image in ACR, it will indeed, show you the cropped version only, as the jpg is a baked in editing change to your original RAW file. That is the beauty of meta data editing in Lightroom...
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • puzzledpaulpuzzledpaul Registered Users Posts: 1,621 Major grins
    edited October 21, 2013
    I follow a similar approach to that taken by pf, Bob ... although using different software.
    Shoot raw, mess about in DPP, including cropping, then final tweaks etc in PS if needed / as necessary. Doing it early obviously saves messing around with more pixels than necessary, but as I'm only using 10Mp cams - not such a problem as others :)

    Re cropping - I'll do as I see fit for the image ... and since using a cheapo HD camcorder last year, I've found that I quite like the 16:9 ratio for the sort of pics that appeal to me.
    Whilst I try (and occasionally get close) to fill a frame in a particular way, they invariably need some cropping - even if only to 'level up' a horizon - but it's also an invaluable tool for getting rid of evidence of man's disregard for nature - in the way of plastic bags / crisp packets / bottles etc that sometimes 'get in the way' :(

    pp
    Website

    Flickr
  • canon400dcanon400d Banned Posts: 2,826 Major grins
    edited October 21, 2013
    puzzledpaul wrote: »
    I follow a similar approach to that taken by pf, Bob ... although using different software.
    Shoot raw, mess about in DPP, including cropping, then final tweaks etc in PS if needed / as necessary. Doing it early obviously saves messing around with more pixels than necessary, but as I'm only using 10Mp cams - not such a problem as others :)

    Re cropping - I'll do as I see fit for the image ... and since using a cheapo HD camcorder last year, I've found that I quite like the 16:9 ratio for the sort of pics that appeal to me.
    Whilst I try (and occasionally get close) to fill a frame in a particular way, they invariably need some cropping - even if only to 'level up' a horizon - but it's also an invaluable tool for getting rid of evidence of man's disregard for nature - in the way of plastic bags / crisp packets / bottles etc that sometimes 'get in the way' :(

    pp

    Thanks once again Pathfinder and Paul as that is another query solved. I honestly don't know how I would have coped without Dgrin as I have had so many queries solved which I truly appreciate.
    Thanks again.
    Bob.
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited October 22, 2013
    One of the first things I would do is adjust perspective and level the horizon.

    Then perhaps play with the composition and cropping. Once I have the composition I want I will see how close it is to a standard aspect ratio or size. If I will be using in print I will try my best to crop to a standard size. If the image is really good and just won't work at a standard size, I will cut a custom mat for it.

    If it's only for web or electronic view I won't care about aspect / size issues.

    I consider 2X3, 4X5, 1X2, 1X3 to be standard.

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited October 23, 2013
    Good points, Sam.

    I was thinking of cropping with regard to composition, and did not reference cropping for leveling of horizons, nor did I mention standard, versus custom cropping. All good things to consider.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • canon400dcanon400d Banned Posts: 2,826 Major grins
    edited October 25, 2013
    pathfinder wrote: »
    Good points, Sam.

    I was thinking of cropping with regard to composition, and did not reference cropping for leveling of horizons, nor did I mention standard, versus custom cropping. All good things to consider.

    Noted and appreciated Sam and Pathfinder.
    Bob
Sign In or Register to comment.