Image crop/resize (and a reccomendation request)

[RobC]

My google foo is weak :shake:

I want to crop a picture but keep the original size, is that cropping or resizing and more importantly how the foofin' hell do I do it

Also any reccomendations for a good idiot proof cs4 photoshop 'how to' book? I know there's loads on Youtube but I really want a book. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but the 'dummies guide' is a little too simple for me.

Thanks in advance

 

[Harlequin565]

I'm guessing you're in CS4 here?

On CS3 (which I assume is the same) you're trying to crop and resize.

-Open image
-Click Image - Image Size
-Make a note of the dimensions
-Close the box
-Click on the 5th box down on the toolbar on the left of the screen. It looks like a square with overshot corners and a line through it.
-Hold the left mouse button down and drag, creating a square. You can then mess about with the edges of the square to get your crop right.
-When you're done, hit the "tick" mark at the top of the screen.
-Click "Image" then "Image size" again
-Re enter the original dimensions you noted down.

The only problem you have now is that you'll be "upscaling" your cropped picture to the original size. This will result in photoshop having to insert pixels to "pad" the image back to the original size. It might not look great, depending on how small your crop was, and how much detail there was in the original file. You might want to check the "resample image" box and select Bicubic Smoother to see if that improves things.

I use Martin Evening's books (search Amazon/eBay) but others also reccommend Scott Kelby. Both (apparently) have different styles of writing.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers is my handbook.

Hope this helps!

-H

 

[RobC]

Brilliant, thanks very, very much.

 

[cyclone]

If you want to upsample on a regular basis, you may want to look at genuine fractals

link

I don't use it myself so can't vouch for its performance, but I've only heard good things about it.

 

[Craikeybaby]

Genuine Fractals is ace, my Dad uses it for all resizing and sharpening. The only reason I don't have a copy is that I don't use PS.