Cropping, Canvas, Image Size

Summary:

With this tutorial you are one step closer on learning how to mask areas of an image. We wanted you to learn how to crop an image or even how to resize the picture. We will walk you through on how to change the canvas size. This is a very nice feature and if you want to expand onto the canvas size (top, bottom, left, right or even the corners) without causing problems with your original image use this tool. Please take a moment and review this quick tutorial because we will be using the features in the next tutorial which talks about masking objects in Photoshop.

Currently we are using Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit and the Photoshop CS4 Extended 64 Bit version.

Knowledge You Need to Know:

If you are unfamiliar with certain areas that are not covered in this tutorial, feel free check out other tutorials on our website. We have many different types of tutorials that can be downloaded (Video, PDF) or viewed online that will train you for free! Once you have the knowledge, feel free to come back and go through this tutorial again.

Preparing For This Tutorial:

You will be using the Sky image which we have used in past tutorials. If you do not have this image, please scroll down to the “Click Picture To Download Supporting Files” and download the image. Please open the image DSC03562 in the Photoshop Program.

Cropping Image:

Please open the Sky photo. We have used this image in previous tutorials, but if you do not have the image, please scroll to the bottom of the post and download the supporting files.

When you crop an image, you are telling Photoshop what portion of the image you want to keep. When you use the crop tool it disregards the image content outside the selection. Please review the Selecting Image Content tutorial to learn more about using the different image selecting tools. In this example, please use the Marquee Tool to select the small cloud in the image. See example below.

Left click the “Image” menu and then Left click the “Crop” command.

Now you will see that it discarded anything outside the selected area. Photoshop Tip – If you cropped the item too far in, then use the undo keyboard shortcut of CTRL-“Z” right after you crop.

Image Size:

*Please use CTRL-“Z” to undo the cropping. We want to change the image size and it is better to show you a larger image then a smaller image that is cropped. The image size allows you to reduce the size of an image. This is very similar to the dialog box on creating a new document. You do NOT need to make a selection to change the image size. Left click the “Image” menu and Left click “Image Size…” command.

You will now see the “Image Size” dialog box. Even though there are more options we could train on, we would like to show you the 3 most important options in this dialog box. **On this example change the Width to: 1500 and you will notice the Height will change to 1125.

	A). Left click in the “Width:” or “Height:” text box and enter a value. By default the Constrain Proportions (B) will be selected, which means once you change either the width or height the other field will automatically change. Change the Width to 1500.
	B). If you would like to adjust both the width and height separately, uncheck the “Constrain Proportions” box.
	C). When you are happy with your changes, Left click the “OK” button. If you would like to back out of the dialog box without saving the changes, Left click the “Cancel” button.

Remember we did not crop anything, so when you Left click the “OK” button from the dialog box, you will notice the image size will be roughly 50% smaller in size.

Canvas Size:

Sometimes you would like to add onto the image size, but you do not want to resize the actual image and you want to have empty space on the Layer. On this example we are going to add empty space to the top of the canvas which will allow us to add to image. Left click the “Image” menu and Left click the “Canvas Size…” command.

Now you will see the following dialog box which tells Photoshop how much canvas you would like to add and what portion you would like to anchor.

	A). Depending on your unit of measurement (B), this will change, but it is the size of the canvas. Left click the text box to change the numeric value.
	B). On this example, make the unit of measurement equal “percent” and change the “Height:” to 110 (Left Click the Height: textbox).
	C). Relative changes the Width and Height values so that, instead of showing the absolute dimensions of the canvas, they show the number of pixels that will be added or cropped away.
	D). The Anchor is area of the image that you want to lock down. On this example we want add to the top of the image, which means we need to anchor the down arrow.
	E). By using the Canvas extension color drop down box you can tell Photoshop what color to use. On this example, Left click the drop down box and select “Black”.
	F). When you are finished, Left click the “OK” button. If you are not happy with the changes, Left click the “Cancel” button.

On this example, you should see a black canvas get added to the image at the top. Please note, it did NOT overlay any of the sky and it only added to the canvas at the top of the image.

1). What step do you need to do before you crop an image?

	A). Use CTRL-“A” to select everything and you will reduce with the crop tool.
	B). You must erase the outside border and that tells Photoshop what to crop.
	C). You must make a selection such as with the marquee tool.
	D). You do not need to do any steps to crop an image.

2). The “Crop” command is located in what menu?

	A). Edit.
	B). You must erase the outside border and that tells Photoshop what to crop.
	C). File.
	D). Crop.

3). If you crop the image too much, what is one option you can do to un-crop the image.

	A). Use CTRL-“Z”.
	B). In the menu of the “Crop” tool, select “Un-crop”.
	C). After you crop, you will notice a trashcan icon in the layers palette, Left click that image and it will undo the crop.
	D). Use the “Navigator” palette and Left click “Undo”.

4). When the “Constrain Proportions” box is checked, what does that do in the Image Size dialog box?

	A). It will lock the colors from changing.
	B). It will allow you adjust both the width and height with different values.
	C). It constrains the dimensions and when you change one value, the other value will change.
	D). It locks the width & height to a preset size.

5). The “Image Size” command is located in what menu?

	A). File.
	B). Image.
	C). Edit.
	D). Images.

6). The “Canvas Size” does what?

	A). It allows you to stretch the image to make it bigger in size.
	B). This is only used when you are creating a New document.
	C). Also known as the “Color Canvas Size” which will allow you to change how many colors are displayed.
	D). It allows you to add to the canvas without changing the current image.

7). The “Canvas Size” is located in what menu?

	A). Image.
	B). Edit.
	C). Canvas.
	D). File.

8). What dropdown box in the Canvas size would you use to change the background color?

	A). Background.
	B). Canvas extension color.
	C). Background Color.
	D). Canvas Color.

9). If you wanted to add to the canvas on the bottom of the image, what anchor arrow would you Left click?

	A). Down Arrow.
	B). Up Arrow.
	C). Bottom Right Arrow.
	D). Bottom Left Arrow.

10). Name one of the unit of measurements in the “Canvas Size” dialog box is?

	A). Each.
	B). Foot.
	C). Meters.
	D). Inches.

Answers: 1). C, 2). B, 3). A, 4). C, 5). B, 6). D, 7). A, 8). B, 9). B, 10). D

Scoring:

0 - 5 = Please review the video tutorial and re-read this document either offline (PDF) or online.

6 – 8 = We would recommend that you print this document off and read it at a later time.

9 – 10 = Congratulations you have passed the quiz. Go ahead and view another tutorial on our site.

We hope you enjoyed this detailed tutorial. Please visit us at: http://www.Photoshopeducation.blogspot.com to expand your knowledge within Adobe Photoshop.

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