Cropping photos to excact size

[Rune K]

Want to print photos with even borders (not interested in bordesless in this
case). Is it possible to use the crop tool to crop photos to an excact size,
for instance 4x6 inches?

Thx in advance

Rune K

[Stephen C. Smith]

Rune,

Select the crop tool, put the dimensions in the boxes at the top of the window. (Width 6 in, height 4 in.) Leave the resolution box blank. Place your cursor at one corner of the picture and click and drag it toward the opposite corner. Then you can move the area you selected and drag the corners until you have the exact area you want. Then click the checkmark to "commit" the crop. Do a "Save As" to protect your original image.

To have borders, you may have to adjust the size of the image or select a white frame in elements. (I've not yet used frames.)

Steve

[Nancy S]

Roy (Rune),

Depending on what size paper you print this out on, it is often hard to see the true perimeter to cut your bordered image out of larger paper. (with a rotary cutter or paper cutter)

Look in your printer settings and there will probably be a setting for making little corner marks on printout to use as guides when cutting. If not, after you have done above steps...switch the toolbox colors to have black on top.
* Select>All
* create new blank layer above image in Layers Palette
* Edit>Stroke
* set to 'inside', 1 pixel size

You'll have a very thin black line to aid in cutting

[Nancy S]

Roy,

It's preferable to not repost a duplicate question...gets some people very confused, like myself. Folks will see your first post just as easily.

Nancy

[Chuck Snyder]

Nancy, that's a great tip - I can use all the help I can get while cutting,
because my printer paper feeder is out of register ever so slightly so the
edge of the image is not exactly parallel to edge of the paper. Makes
trimming on my old paper cutter a frustrating experience, so I use scissors
most of the time - badly. Thanks for the good idea re the black line!

Chuck

[Nancy S]

Chuck,

You're welcome...scissors <shudder> :)

Nancy

[Steven Reno]

Nancy

Thanks for two great tips. I didn't know how to use the little corners and using backspace to round off the resolution, fantastic!

Steve

[Nancy S]

Steven Reno,

Hey, here you are... haven't heard from you in a few moons. I certainly have made good use of the watercolor backgrounds you were so kind to share with me...thank you again...I'm glad I had something to share with you, you're very welcome.

Nancy

[Nancy S]

Roy,

You're welcome.
I think that will work out well for you. If you are not wanting borders, just modify the steps by initially resizing to desired size, say 4x6. Only fill in one dimension again. You will not have a need to increase the canvas size, obviously. :) There are many ways to accomplish any task in PSE, if you have another question, come back...lots of folks here can help.

note: I always cut my 8.5x11 sheets in half to use for my 5x7s...an economical use of paper.

Nancy

[Patty Clarke]

Chuck,

Scissors and paper cutters can be difficult. One of the "hand's on tools" that's important to me is what's called a "paper trimmer." Here's a link.

<http://crafts.fiskars.com/projects/show_product.html?prod=9580-7097>

Patty

[Chuck Snyder]

Patty, thanks very much! I've seen them in the local art and business
supply stores; may have to give one a try!

Chuck

[Pete D]

Chuck,

> You can't beat the paper trimmers, Chuck! They do a nice job and are easy

to use. That's how I trim my photos. :)

If you really don't have one what you actually need is two! One chop type
cutter and one roller type (Fiskars at Sam's for instance). The roller type
can trim a piece as thin as a hair where the chop type is faster and can
handle many other types of cuts including multiple sheets.

Nice entries on the challenge the past 2 weeks BTW Chuck!

Pete

[Beth Haney]

I actually have one designed for - I think - "scrapbooking." It has a small, replaceable razor blade cartridge in it. You can't do multiple sheets like with a regular paper cutter, but I think it's easier to control than the roller type. For whatever that's worth...

[Leen Koper]

I actually have an 18" (46 cm) roller trimmer with a self sharpening blade. I've been using it now for over 10 years; nevertheless I think I'm gonna sell it, because it is just a few inches too short to cut A3+ paper full length. My advice is to buy a trimmer as large as one can afford.

Nancy S, cutting paper into halves isn't always ecomical. It is strange, but here in the Netherlands 2 sheets of A4 Epson paper (8x12) is a better buy than 1 sheet of A3 paper (12x16).....

Leen