Crop tool
The Crop tool can be very handy, perhaps to remove unwanted distractions in your photo, or simply resize an image.
<- The Crop tool looks like the tool I have selected in the image on the left, that is because I do have the Crop tool selected!
Selecting then resizing the crop
One thing I found tricky when I first started my photoshop ninja training was perfectly cropping an image with the first click. I find it much easier to control if you make a small square..
..Like this
Initial selection |
And then simply click and drag the box to the size you want (the crop is only applied once you press Enter)
Crop dragged into correct position |
Crop applied |
What to crop
There are many different reasons to crop a photograph, the one I have found to be the most common reason is to get rid of distractions and place more emphasis on the subject, another just as valid of a reason if not more so is to make an image the correct size for printing, I'll cover that at a later date.