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Post by cats4jan on Jul 11, 2022 14:55:03 GMT
You are getting the advice you need regarding the crop tool - but I would like to go off on a tangent.
Instead of the crop tool, how about clipping.
Create a block the size you want for your finished photo (don't forget resolution) and clip your photo to the block. This method allows a wider ability to see what portion of the photo you wish to save. You clip the two and then move the photo around - using the move tool - and resizing if you wish -- and when you see in your clip exactly what you want your finished crop to look like - merge down.
If anyone has a reason why this is not a good idea - such as diminishing the quality of the photo - please advise.
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Post by Sepiana on Jul 11, 2022 15:27:19 GMT
Are you actually entering the " in" part? I was adding the "in" for sure at the start. However, recall leaving it off and it worked okay, i.e. automatically inserted inches. (Because the default units are inches perhaps?) Clive, xairbusdriver made an excellent point. You need to enter "in" in the W & H box. If you don't, Elements will automatically enter "px" (the default). |
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Post by Tpgettys on Jul 11, 2022 20:47:31 GMT
xairbusdriver made an excellent point. You need to enter "in" in the W & H box. If you don't, Elements will automatically enter "px" (the default).
Hi Clive,
My experience is that with the Crop Tool, the units (almost *) do not matter. The items in the drop-down menu just to the right of the tool choices allows you to select the crop aspect ratio. Even though the default units are inches, you can change the units to cm, px, mm, etc. and the behavior of the tool will not change as long as they are the same in both the W and H boxes!
You can drag out any size crop that you like. The crop region will have the aspect ratio you selected; the size is up to you.
(* If the units in the W box are different than those in the H box the Crop type will change to Custom, and the relative ratios of the units selected will be taken into account.)
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pontiac1940
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 12, 2022 5:07:13 GMT
Thanks to all. BTW, the "Use Photo Ratio" being forced on me (even though it had been reset any times) seems to have disappeared. It was not anything in particular I did based on your advice. This whole subject came up (I've have been using PSE for 20 years and using the crop tool for all those years) because it was acting up particularly the most annoying "Use Photo Ratio" always happening. But that seems okay now. However, it still does odd things ... like this. No biggie just annoying. Thanks again, Clive  |
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Post by Tpgettys on Jul 12, 2022 5:20:29 GMT
That IS annoying! Especially since PSE knows exactly what value it is objecting to, but doesn't say. The W value? The H value? something else??? Either software engineers shouldn't be allowed to write error messages, or they should hire better quality engineers! (Oh, did a pet-peeve just slip out?!)
Anyway, what were you doing that provoked that error message? Was there no error message until you clicked in the image (intending to draw out the crop area I presume) but I want to make sure.
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pontiac1940
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Posts: 6,372
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 12, 2022 5:41:51 GMT
Thanks Tom. The "invalid numeric entry" appears when I set the cursor in the H box ... after entering "2048 px" in the W box. Get this, this INE error just showed up again tonight after being well behaved for a couple of weeks. Perhaps a flock of birds flew by. 😊 Or possibly my electrodynamic personality messing with the zeros and ones. 😉☺
Despite my general cranky demeanor, I appreciate all of your suggestions. 👍👍 Thanks.
I'll muddle along.
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Post by Tpgettys on Jul 12, 2022 18:31:05 GMT
Perhaps a flock of birds flew by. 😊 Or possibly my electrodynamic personality messing with the zeros and ones. 😉
I hate it when that happens...
Unfortunately I have been unable to recreate that behavior Clive. After entering 2048 px in the W box, if I just hover the cursor over the H box I get a popup help prompt. Does the error message only occur when you actually click in the H box?
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pontiac1940
CE Members
Posts: 6,372
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 12, 2022 19:06:39 GMT
Unfortunately I have been unable to recreate that behavior Clive. Thanks To. And this morning, neither can I. Thanks for trying. Clive |
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Post by Sepiana on Jul 12, 2022 19:50:20 GMT
The "invalid numeric entry" appears when I set the cursor in the H box ... after entering "2048 px" in the W box. Clive, I believe you are using PSE 2021; I also have this version. This is what happened. The moment I entered 2048px in the W box, this error message popped up and pixels in the W box changed to inches. I did a tool resetting. No error message. I was able to proceed cropping as I wanted (2048px x 2000px). |
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Post by Tpgettys on Jul 12, 2022 20:33:30 GMT
Thanks To. And this morning, neither can I. Thanks for trying. Sure thing Clive, and I'm glad that gremlin has seemingly fled! Perhaps a moot point now, but there is one other cropping technique I wanted to share. The Crop Tool (usually!) does what it is designed to do, but I have found that the Crop Suggestions cause the performance of PSE to really bog down so I tend to avoid it. Instead, cropping can be easily done using the Marquee Tool. Here's how: - Open your image and select the Rectangular Marquee Tool
- Click & Drag to select the region you want (you can fine-tune the position after drawing by click & drag)
- Click Image in the main menu, then Crop
- Done!
If you want the crop to have a specific aspect ratio, do this: - Open your image and select the Rectangular Marquee Tool
- From the Aspect tool option select Fixed Ratio
- Fill in the familiar W and H boxes (no confusing units as with the Crop Tool!)
- Click & Drag to select the region you want
- Click Image in the main menu, then Crop
- Done!
If you know the exact size you want, choose Fixed Size from the Aspect tool option.
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pontiac1940
CE Members
Posts: 6,372
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 12, 2022 22:29:25 GMT
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pontiac1940
CE Members
Posts: 6,372
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 13, 2022 4:42:00 GMT
Thanks Sepiana. I reset the crop tool as well. Ugh. Odd. BTW, I can work around this by doing it a couple of times. Just annoying is all. I will post again responding to Tom's suggestions.  |
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pontiac1940
CE Members
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Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 13, 2022 4:44:32 GMT
If you want the crop to have a specific aspect ratio, do this: Thanks. I often use the free-form marquee. I like to crop some images to suit the photo/image vs some prescribed aspect. However, I like your second method and it works fine. Thanks for everyone's suggestions. Clive |
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Post by peterinwa on Oct 24, 2022 22:20:13 GMT
Thank you Sepiana for your instructions. Reset Tool only helped temporarily, and I have a Mac where I can't "right-click on the desktop shortcut and select "Run as administrator". But "Reset Preferences on next launch" did the trick, though you get to it in a different way on a Mac. Now it's staying on Custom and retaining my W and H parameters, just like it did in the past. Thanks again! |
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Post by Sepiana on Oct 25, 2022 0:14:20 GMT
Thank you Sepiana for your instructions. "Reset Preferences on next launch" did the trick, though you get to it in a different way on a Mac. Now it's staying on Custom and retaining my W and H parameters, just like it did in the past. Thanks again! Hi Peter, you are most welcome! Good news indeed. And welcome aboard! Glad to have you here with us. |
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