The Crop Tool has several functions

Using the Crop Tool

The Crop Tool has several uses:

� to remove unwanted parts of an image;
� to rotate an image;
� and to expand the canvas area.

A simple crop

With a new image, one of the first things we are all likely to do is remove an unwanted rebate, and we did that with the alarm clock image.

The image used in this Photo shop tutorial is number 09.jpg in the Samples-Starting folder. It can be downloaded by clicking here or you can use one of your own images.

To summarize the procedure:

Select the Crop Tool.
Position the cursor in a top corner and drag it diagonally across the image.
Drag one of the small square handles on one of the sides into the picture to crop out the unwanted edge.
All four sides can be treated individually.
To adjust a vertical and horizontal side at the same time, move a corner handle into the picture.
Moving a corner handle into the picture while holding Shift will keep the cropping in proportion.
To adjust two opposite sides in equally, hold Alt and move one of the side handles into the picture.
Press Enter / Return to apply the crop.

Rotate

how to use adobe photoshop tools To enable us to rotate the image with the Crop Tool we first need to expand the area around the image.

Drag the bottom right corner of the image frame down and to the right to increase the grey area around the image
Select the Crop Tool from the toolbox.
Pressing C is a shortcut to this.
Drag the cursor across the image as before.
Place the cursor beside the image and it changes into a double curved arrow symbol.
Dragging the cursor will rotate the image.
The image will rotate in the preview to show you how it will look.
A very high resolution image will take some moments if the computer is not too powerful.

Expanding the canvas size

The whole image can be made bigger with the Crop Tool.

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Have the toolbox colours for foreground and background set to default, with black over white. Use the letters D and X to achieve this.
Drag the bottom right corner of the image border down and to the right to put more grey area around the image.
Drag the Crop Tool across the whole image.
The image is surrounded by what is known as the bounding box.
Place the cursor on the bottom right corner angle and drag it down and to
the right.
The four sides can be moved out individually if required.
To increase the canvas area symmetrically around the image hold Shift + Alt as you drag out a corner handle.
Press Enter / Return.
The new extra area will take on the colour of the background colour square in the toolbox, which in this case will be white.
This is the situation when the image is flattened and locked.
For the new area to be clear, the image must be unlocked and changed to a normal layer.
The flattend image will be called Background in the Layers palette.
To unlock it, hold Alt and double-click on the Background name in the Layers palette.
Now drag the bottom right corner down and out as before.
Drag the Crop Tool across the whole image and while holding Shift + Alt move the bottom right corner handle of the crop bounding box down and to the right.
Press Enter or Return.
The new area around the image is clear.
With a new layer placed under the image,
it can be filled with another image or colour.

Shortcuts and special tricks abound in Photoshop. Many aren't even in the standard manual or seem hidden among masses of dry text. For instance, there is a simple and quick way to straighten a horizon or building. Photoshop In A Day is full of such extras.

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