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The crop box
When you initially begin cropping, a crop box overlay appears over the image. Drag the corner points to resize the crop box from each corner, or hold Alt and drag to resize from the centre point. Drag outside the box to rotate the frame, and hold Shift while rotating to snap to 15-degree increments.
Ratios
Along the top of the interface are crucial crop settings that let you set the crop ratio. A 2:3 (6:4) ratio is standard for DSLRs, but you can crop to other ratios like 1:1 (Square), or choose Front Image, which will keep the size and resolution the same as your original image.
Delete Cropp ed Pixels
This checkbox gives you the option to keep your crop non-destructive. When it’s turned off, cropped areas will be deleted for good. But turn it on and the cropped-out areas will still be available to you if you decide to alter the crop later. Note that upon closing you’ll need to save the file as a PSD to retain these cropped-out portions.
Composition overlays
The Crop tool offers a range of overlays that adhere to classic compositional rules like the Rule of Thirds or the Golden Triangle. These help you position the important points on the frame while cropping. Although useful, they can sometimes distract from the image. Choose Auto-Show overlay in the options here and the overlay will only display when you mouse-down on the crop box.
Presets and print resolutions
When you make prints, you should first crop to a specific size and resolution. Choose Width, Height And Resolution in the preset box, then specify the sizes and set the resolution to 300px/in, which is standard for printing. You can also make your own crop presets – simply fill the boxes then choose New Crop Preset. The new preset will appear in the list.
Straighten tool
You can use the Straighten tool while cropping to level out a wonky horizon. Simply grab the tool from the options bar at the top, then drag along a line in the image you know should be perfectly horizontal, like the horizon in a seascape or the top of a building. The crop will adjust accordingly.
Perspective Crop
The Perspective Crop tool is actually a separate tool, but sits alongside the normal Crop tool in the Tools panel. It lets you crop along perspective planes within the image; so, for example, here you can crop into the poster design as if you’d photographed it straight-on. Simply click the four points over the corners, then apply the crop to flatten out the image perspective.