Congratulations Paul-Dan Dragoman, March 2025 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Kitchen".Paul-Dan Dragoman - Entry 1036 Kristine Kohl - Entry 1037 Peter Wingfield - Entry 1044
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Does your photo have excess borders or unwanted sections on the sides that you want to crop out? And are you having difficulty when using the photoshop app? Well, worry not; in this article, I will give you an overview of how to crop an image in photoshop.
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Cropping is the process of removing unwanted portions of an image or photo. Cropping improves framing or composition, draws a viewer's eye to the image subject, or changes the size or aspect ratio.
Now that you already know what cropping is, let me dive into how to crop an image in photoshop.
Most versions of the photoshop apps work more or less the same, and so for this, I will use the latest version of Photoshop as an example, Photoshop 2021. Photoshop comes with inbuilt tools to help with various editing tasks such as cropping. For this, I use a tool called the crop tool.
As stated above, in photoshop, you can use a crop tool. So, how do I maneuver to the crop tool?
The crop tool is found in the Photoshop toolbar area.Int is the one that looks like a square with extended lines on the upper left and lower right corners. You can also select the crop tool from your keyboard by pressing the letter C.
To reset the crop tool to its default settings:
The crop box is the area enclosed by the four crop lines. It shows what is kept and what will be deleted during the cropping process. The area within the lines is maintained, and the area outside the lines is deleted.
After you've selected the crop tool, Photoshop draws a crop box around the picture. If you have used this before, photoshop will still save your previous settings here. You can reuse the same settings if you want to, also worry not if you're going to use new settings.
Resetting the crop tool does not reset the cropping border. From the toolbar, choose another tool, after which you select the crop tool to reset the crop border. After this, the cropping border will surround the entire image.
Another way to reset the crop border without canceling the crop altogether:
Clicking this will reset the crop box.
If you look at the top, bottom, left, and right of your photo, as well as all the corners, you will notice small crop handles.
To cancel a crop without applying it, click the cancel button in the options bar. This looks like a crossed-out circle.
Aspect ratio is the ratio of width to height in an image. This helps to maintain a specific size for your image. This can be helpful when creating edits for images like portraits, Instagram photos, TikTok photos, where a particular aspect ratio is best.
Now that you understand the aspect ratio, how do I set this in photoshop? Can Photoshop allow you to adjust the ratio if you don't want to use the same aspect ratio as the original image? You can set this using the list of options in the drop down list in the toolbar when you select the crop tool.
At the top of your list, you have the W x H x Resolution and Ratio options. Clicking on the ratio option allows you to create a crop using your own ratio values. The W x H x Resolution option allows you to type in your desired width, height and resolution values to create a crop.
Once you choose this option, three boxes will appear on the right where you can key in your values. If you want to maintain the same aspect ratio, you only need to enter your desired resolution.
Photoshop has a lot of options that can change to suit your needs. One option is the aspect ratio, which lets you switch between portrait and landscape without doing any math or calculations by changing just two values in settings.
You can manually enter the ratio you want if it isn’t in the preset list. Click inside the two text boxes on the right-hand of the drop down menu and type in your desired ratios.
For example; if you want 3.5 * 8.5 as your aspect ratios:
If you intend to use the custom preset you used more frequently, you can save it as a new custom preset.
So now, the next time you need to use this preset, go ahead and choose it from the preset list.
By default, Photoshop allows us to freely resize the crop border without regard to the aspect ratio. To maintain the aspect ratio of your photo:
After entering the specific aspect ratio, you may go back and freely resize the crop border. After doing so, clear the aspect ratio by:
With the crop tool selected, click and drag inside the crop area to reposition the image. Click and drag the handles around the corners or edges of the crop box and then use your mouse to reposition the image crop. The crop box size will not change,Instead, the image will move around inside it.
When you click on the photo outside the crop border, the crop area changes to a detailed grid, allowing you to rotate the image right or left using a pointer. This in turn allows you to straighten an image while cropping.
After you are satisfied with the size and position of the crop box:
You can also crop an image using the W x H x Resolution option from the drop down menu and then define the crop area by entering the width and height values in the first two boxes. Although the default units are in pixels, you can change the units of measurement to inches or centimeters.
On top of defining the crop area, enter the resolution of your image to the third box in pixels per inch and then apply the crop. You can apply the W x H x Resolution option on the first ratio crop, since it will retain the aspect ratio and then resize the crop area to the width, height and resolution you entered.
It is good to confirm if our changes have been saved. To check the size and resolution of your cropped image;
You can now save your work if satisfied and leave the application. However, if not, you can undo everything and start over.
To undo your applied crop on the image:
Here is a link to a video lesson, "Cropping Images," that will show how to use the crop tool to crop images in Photoshop.
Using the regular crop tool to crop an image makes your edits destructive, which means that you are applying permanent changes on the original image and there is generally no way of retrieving the lost details.
Non-destructive cropping means you are applying the changes without manipulating the pixels, giving you a chance to go back to the original file if need be. You can use the following steps to apply a non-destructive crop on an image:
Typically, an image opens in Photoshop as a background layer. To convert it to a smart object, right-click on the outside of the image layer thumbnail to open a drop down menu.
Select Convert to Smart Object, and a new icon will pop up on the lower right corner indicating that your image layer has been converted successfully. Alternatively, click on the image layer to highlight it and then choose Convert to Smart Filters from the filters menu.
Double-click on the converted layer so that it opens on a new tab. This allows you to crop the image using the above procedure. Generally, Smart Objects are like a container holding your image to protect it. That means the edits made on it are committed to the container and not the image itself.
When you crop to do away with any unwanted details, you are essentially cropping this container and leaving the image inside it with all its details untouched. As a result, you can use the Move tool to restore the image itself by repositioning it inside the crop.
Navigate to the tools palette on the left of the screen and choose the Move Tool. Select the Smart Object by clicking on it and an outline will appear around the photo extending beyond the cropped area. Click and drag your photo to reposition it in the crop.
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