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Adobe® Photoshop® CC® Bootcamp

Lesson 17 of 118

Cropping for Composition in ACR

Adobe® Photoshop® CC® Bootcamp

Lesson 17 of 118

Lesson Info

Cropping for Composition in ACR

So if we open up our first example image here. And this image is already kinda pre-staged, and pre-baked for us to have all of the settings already set for us, so now we're just really just talking about cropping for this instance. And cropping entails not just the constraints of the image, but also cropping is also related to the straightening of that image too. So we have to keep that in mind, that when we straighten our image, we're actually cropping things as well. So the crop tools that you're gonna find in Adobe Camera Raw are essentially gonna be your straighten tool and then your crop tool. And just like every tool in Photoshop, if you ever see a little drop down little angle there, that little triangle underneath that crop tool, that means there's more information there for you. So if you click and hold on that, this is gonna give you a bunch of different things that you can use when you're cropping your image. So you have the ability to show your overlay, you have the ability...

to set a custom crop, or if you're doing a one to one, a square crop, or a two to three, or a three to four, or if maybe you have a print size, a very specific print size that you know you're gonna print to, you can use this custom button and you can change this to a a crop ratio of something like 20 by let's say, 24. Press okay. And that is gonna set you up with a crop that is set up to 20 by 24. Notice how when I clicked and dragged here, if I click and drag from the top, it's constraining that to a 20 by 24 crop. So that's helping me out when it comes to the print process of how I would crop this for print in Adobe Camera Raw. But if I click and hold on here, and let's just make this normal. Normal will allow us to not constrain it at all, and not have anything that's going to affect the size of the crop. So now if I click and hold here, I now get a free form crop where I can crop wherever I want, and not concern myself too much with the constrained property there. So if I go ahead and click and hold on here, and so we see the show overlay, and we turn that off, that's gonna turn on and off the rule of thirds overlay that you get inside there. Because the rule of thirds is the one overlay they do give you here, I would just go ahead and keep it on, 'cause it does help when you're making your adjustments. The next thing is the crop as the straighten tool, in cropping. So if we click on the straightening tool I can see that back here that this is probably the straight part of my landscape, so I'll click right here, and over to here, and that will straighten my image. But you notice just how when I hopped into cropping, what happened when I hopped into cropping? It made a little overlay outside of the border of my image that's gray. And that gray space is telling me what's gonna be pulled out, cropped out, and not exist anymore. So if I commit to this, Adobe Camera Raw is gonna throw that information out. Not throw it out. It's gonna be there still. So if I press enter, and then go into the crop tool again, it's gonna show me exactly what it did. So it doesn't throw it out, it's temporary. And it's actually saved within your xmp sidecar file. That little sidecar file that you get in Camera Raw. So that data is still saved, it's not deleting it, it's not getting rid of it, it's still being saved right there within your xmp documentation for that file. But, we lose that outer area in the image. And as it stands now, Adobe Camera Raw doesn't allow you to go outside of the confounds of this crop, unlike Photoshop, which does, we'll talk about the benefits of Photoshop cropping in a minute. So if it tried to pull this up and make it give me a little bit more, it won't do it, because it's staying within the confines of the image, it doesn't wanna give me anything outside of it, because if Camera Raw did that, it'd be giving me data that doesn't exist outside the image. Camera Raw doesn't know how to handle that. So it just says, this is what you get. This is the crop that you get. So if I press enter, and I commit to this, that's the crop that I'm gonna have for this photograph. It won't forever be that way, 'cause I can always go back in here and I can change this crop to a one to one, or whatever crop that I would see fit. That's actually a pretty good one to one right there, look at that. So I press okay, and that would be where I would leave it with that. But, Photoshop has a lot more capabilities for cropping than Adobe Camera Raw does. So, typically if I'm gonna do something in Adobe Camera Raw it might be just straightening the image, and doing a very mild straighten. But there are times when I straighten that image and it's cutting off really important data. And if that's the case, I'm gonna do that in Photoshop because I have some fill tools that can fill in some of the area around it, so that if I am cropping out and I do have some transparency on the outside, I can fill in those areas. Where you cannot do that in Adobe Camera Raw. So that's the basics of cropping in Adobe Camera Raw.

Class Description

Adobe® Photoshop® CC® is a valuable tool for photographers, but it can also be intimidating. In this all-inclusive 20 lesson course, you’ll go from opening the program for the first time to creating images that really stand out. Join Blake Rudis, Photoshop® expert and founder of f64 Academy, as he shows you how to maximize your use of Photoshop®. Topics covered will include:

Week 1
• Class Introduction & Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw, Setup Interface, Cropping and Layers
Week 2
• Layer Tools, Masks, Selections, Clean-Up Tools and Shapes & Text
Week 3
• Smart Objects , Transforming, Actions, Filters and Editing Video
Week 4
• Custom Creative Effects, Natural Retouching, Portrait Workflow, Landscape Workflow, and Composite Workflow

Don’t let the many aspects of Photoshop® prevent you from maximizing your use of this amazing app. Blake will help you develop the confidence to use your imagination and create the images that you will be proud to share with your clients.

Software Used: Adobe® Photoshop® CC® 2018

Lessons

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Reviews

a Creativelive Student

Amazing course, but don't be fooled into thinking this is a beginner's course for photographers. The problem isn't Blake's explanations; they're top. The problem is the vast scope of this course and the order in which the topics are presented. Take layers for example. When I was first learning Photoshop (back when we learned from books), I found I learned little or nothing from, for example, books that covered layers before they covered how to improve/process photographs. These books taught me how to organize, move, and link layers before they showed me what a layer was actually for. Those books tended to teach me everything there is to know about layers (types of layers, how to organize them, how to move them, how to move them two at a time, how to move them two at a time even if there are other layers between the two you're interested in, useful troubleshooting tips, etc. ) all before I even know (from a photographer's point of view) what it is the things actually do. The examples of organizing, linking, and moving mean everything for graphic designers from Day One, but for photographers not so much. Blake does the same thing as those books. Topics he covers extremely early demand a lot of theoretical imagination for a photographer who doesn't already know quite a bit about what he is talking about. Learning about abstract things first and concrete things later only makes PS that much harder to understand. If you AREN'T a beginner, however, this course is amazing. I thought it would be like an Army Bootcamp, taking you from zero and building you into a fit, competent Photoshop grunt. Now I think it's more like Army Bootcamp for high school varsity jocks. It isn't going to take you from the beginning, but the amount you'll get out of it is nonetheless more than your brain can imagine. I've been using PS for years to improve my photographs, and even to create the odd artistic composite or two. The amount I've learned in the first week is amazing, and every day I learn something -- more like many things -- which I immediately implement to improve my productivity and/or widen the horizons of what I can achieve. If you ARE a photographer who's a Photoshop beginner, I'd take very seriously the advice Blake gives in the introduction: Watch one lesson, and practice the skills and principles you learn in that one lesson for two weeks. THEN watch the next lesson. You can't do that of course without buying the course, so it's up to you to decide whether you'd like to learn Photoshop and master Photoshop all from the same course. Learning it first and mastering it later will cost more money, but I think you'll understand everything better and have a much more enjoyable ride in the process. As for me? I'm going to have to find the money to buy this course. There is simply way too much content in each lesson for me to try to take on all at once, but on the other hand I don't want to miss anything at all that he has to share.

Esther Gambrell

WOW!!! I've been purchasing CL classes for several years now and have watched HOURS of "How-To Photoshop" classes, but this is the first one I've actually purchased because of the AWESOME BONUS content!!! SERIOUSLY??!!?!? A PLUG-IN??? But not only that, Blake is SO easy to understand, and he breaks down concepts in different ways to connect with different people's learning styles. I REALLY appreciated this approach because I am a LEFT-BRAINED creative that has an engineering background, so I really connected to what Blake was saying. THANK YOU FOR THAT! There are TONS of Photoshop courses out there, but I found this one to be the most helpful in they way Blake teaches concepts so that you know WHY you're doing what your doing. I feel like he taught me how to fish with Photoshop to feed me for a lifetime instead of just giving me a fish to feed me for one day. This is the BEST overall PS course out there!!! Thank you!!!!

Sonya Messier

I'm been using Bridge, Adobe Raw and Photoshop for 12 years. I thought I knew those programs until I started to follow Blake and do this Photoshop CC Bootcamp. This course is AMAZING. I love the way Blake teach, brakes down concepts and tools... excellent teaching qualities! I'm half way in this course and I change all my workflow already. Much better results and better use of what Adobe offer me. This course is an investment! When I will be done, I will listen it again. Great job and congratulations on your success Blake!

1,500+ classes ranging from fundamentals to advanced techniques.

Adobe® Photoshop® CC® Bootcamp

Cropping for Composition in ACR

Class Description

Lessons

a Creativelive Student

Esther Gambrell

Sonya Messier