Chapter 5 — Resizing and Cropping
Keyboard Shortcuts
Some general Keyboard Shortcuts for Photoshop
Windows
| KEYS | Function | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Control + S | Save! | Save document. Use this often! |
| Control + A | Select ALL | Select everything in the current active layer |
| D | Default colors | Hit the "D" key (just the "D" key by itself) to set the foreground color to Black and the background color to white |
| X | Switch colors | Hit the "X" key (just the "X" key by itself) to make the foreground color the background color (and vice-versa) |
| Control + 0 | Fit document in window | Press the Control key and the Zero key to zoom the document to the largest size that will fit entirely in the current window |
| Control + 1 | Zoom to 100% | Press the Control key and the 1 key to zoom the document to 100% magnification |
| Alt + Mouse Scroll | Zoom | Hold down the Alt key while moving the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in & out |
| Space + Mouse Movement | Move view | Hold down the spacebar while moving the mouse to move around the document view window |
| Control + Z | Undo/Redo | Undo the last action you just performed (and redo it if you change your mind) |
| Control + N | New Image | Open the File New dialog box |
| Control + Alt + i | Image Size | Opens the Image Size dialog so you chan change the size and/or resolution of your image |
Mac
| KEYS | Function | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cmd + S | Save! | Save document. Use this often! |
| Cmd + A | Select ALL | Select everything in the current active layer |
| D | Default colors | Hit the "D" key (just the "D" key by itself) to set the foreground color to Black and the background color to white |
| X | Switch colors | Hit the "X" key (just the "X" key by itself) to make the foreground color the background color (and vice-versa) |
| Cmd + 0 | Fit document in window | Press the Command key and the Zero key to zoom the document to the largest size that will fit entirely in the current window |
| Cmd + 1 | Zoom to 100% | Press the Command key and the 1 key to zoom the document to 100% magnification |
| Option + Mouse Scroll | Zoom | Hold down the Option key while moving the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in & out |
| Space + Mouse Movement | Move view | Hold down the spacebar while moving the mouse to move around the document view window |
| Cmd + Z | Undo/Redo | Undo the last action you just performed (and redo it if you change your mind) |
| Cmd + N | New Image | Open the File New dialog box |
| Cmd + Option + i | Image Size | Opens the Image Size dialog so you chan change the size and/or resolution of your image |
The Cream of the Crop: Cropping Images in Photoshop
Cropping an image, reducing its size by trimming away the edges to a greater or lesser extent, is one of the most common tasks in Photoshop. Not surprisingly, there are several ways to do it. They are:
- Using Image > Canvas Size... and reducing the canvas size
- Making a selection and using Image > Crop
- Using the Crop Tool from the tool bar
You'll find all three useful in various circumstances so we'll have a look at each one and how to use it.
Image > Canvas Size...
This technique is good for when you are fine-tuning your image size to fit specific pixel dimensions. You probably won't use it when making major crops.
From the Image menu choose Canvas Size and you'll be presented with the dialog box shown below.
The upper part of the dialog shows the size of the image as it is now. In the boxes below you can enter the size you want to trim it down to.
In this example the existing image is 2000 x 1335 pixels and it's being trimmed to 1990 x 1300 pixels.
Because the new canvas size is smaller than the existing one (you can also use this tool to add border space around your image) all the arrows in the "Anchor" graphic are pointing inward. When you click OK Photoshop will trim equal amounts of the top and bottom of the image to get 1335 pixels and equal amounts of the left and right to get 1990 pixels.
You can choose to have pixels trimmed off just the top or just the bottom of the image and/or just one side of the image if you want. You achieve this by clicking
in one of the nine subsections of the "Anchor" graphic (default is center) as shown here:
Finally, you can also check the box for the "Relative" option and enter the amount you'd like removed from (or added to) the canvas area. Since we're discussing cropping here, the example below shows how you'd reduce the image: entering negative numbers makes the canvas smaller by the amount shown.
Selection and Image > Crop
For a quick and easy crop that gives you a view of what you're doing while you do it, you can just use the tool of your choice to make a
selection and then choose "Crop" from the Image menu.
You'll almost always use the Rectangular Marquee Tool as shown here,
but even if you draw an irregular, freehand shape with the Lasso Tool it will work — Photoshop will just crop as much as possible while
leaving the entire selected area in the image. Note, however, that using the Rectangular Marquee Tool gives you a display of the size of your
selection while you draw it. This is advantageous if you need to crop to a specific size.
When using this technique you can take advantage of the options available (through the upper, context-sensitive toolbar) to specify the aspect ratio
of your marquee or the dimensions (in pixels, inches or centimeters or as a percentage of the original image).
The Crop Tool
For the utmost in precision and versatility, Photoshop offers a tool specifically for cropping. Accessed through the toolbar it is
(unimaginatively, if quite descriptively) called the Crop Tool.
When you choose the Crop Tool by clicking on its icon in the tool bar Photoshop will immediately show cropping guides around the edges of your image.
You can click on one of the corner or edge anchors and drag to where you want your crop or you can draw a new rectangle from scratch.
Either way, Photoshop will display the size of the dimension(s) your are changing while you do so. When you let up the mouse button after drawing your crop
Photoshop will darken the area outside your selected area to help you visualize what the final result will look like.
Notice those grid lines in the screen grab above? Those are provided (optionally) by the cropping tool. You can choose from several options in the context-sensitive
top toolbar when you have chosen the Crop Tool.
Like the Marquee Tool, the Crop Tool also has options for controling the size/shape of the cropped area. You can fix the aspect ratio or set a specific size. There's one major difference between the Marquee/Crop technique and the Crop Tool when setting a size, though: The Marquee tool will choose the specified number or inches or pixels out of your image at its current size (so you click once and Photoshop grabs the appropriate pixels), but the Crop Tool just fizes the aspect ratio while you choose your crop area — you can make it any size you want — and then resizes the result to your specified dimensions when you complete the crop. Trimming and resizing the result in one step. Very neat!
But there are still more creative options with the Crop Tool. After you've set your crop, put your cursor just outside
one corner of your cropping area and you'll see it change to a curve with an arrowhead at each end. This lets you rotate your
cropped image (and even shows you in degrees how much it's rotated).
While you are using the Drop Tool you'll have three icons available at the right side of the context-sensitive upper toolbar:
The circular arrow and the circle with slash re-set the crop tool to its starting position (no crop, no rotation)
The check mark "commits" the crop.