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S360
S360
Participating Frequently
June 25, 2014
Open for Voting

P: Crop to specific pixel dimensions

  • June 25, 2014
  • 66 replies
  • 4221 views

Its well documented that you cannot crop to specific pixel dimensions and many people have asked this very question. Just google "crop specific dimensions in Lightroom" Heck even someone has built a plug-in to solve the issue.

Do you want this feature? We do.

    66 replies

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    JohanElzenga
    Community Expert
    JohanElzengaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 15, 2022

    Yeah, I'm still puzzled why anyone would want to crop to a specific pixel size, instead of cropping to that particular aspect ratio and then resize to the desired pixel size on export. Cropping to a fixed pixel size means you'll get a fixed crop frame, that you can only move around in the picture. You cannot resize the frame to get a good composition, because resizing the frame would change the number of pixels. But hey, everybody is free to ask.

     

    -- Johan W. Elzenga
    GoldingD
    GoldingD
    Legend
    January 14, 2022

    In my workflow, for when I want to send work to the printers (I use BayPhoto) I crop to the proportion I want, then export to ON1 Resize, where I convert to the exact dimensions I want the photo to be printed at. And I sharpen (only then) specific to the print. The Resize software handles the math to make that photo look fantastic. Note RAW photos, 24 Mega Pixel camera, my typical 16 by 24 inch printed on Metal. I could use the same approach for a publish to web if I wanted. 

     

    Hansjürg
    Hansjürg
    Known Participant
    January 12, 2022

    I would like to have a choice in the custom inputs and not only the aspect ratio.
    A choice for pixels, centimeters and inches would be nice.

     

    GoldingD
    GoldingD
    Legend
    January 12, 2022

    Cropping in LrC is proportional only. To actually obtain specific dimensions, do that upon export.

    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    March 24, 2020


    I would like to crop images to a specific size, for example exactly half the width/height of the original photo (in effect a form of digital zoom). Sliding the edges or corners isn't precise enough for this, especially if I'm doing the same for several photos and need continuity between them. Playing around with the aspect ratio settings is no help.

    What I suggest is:
    • One or two sliders and/or number entry boxes allowing you to set a percentage for width and height.
    • Changes to sliders/number boxes should center on the middle of the current crop area.
    • Changes by sliding crop edges/corners should also change the sliders/number boxes.
    M
    madbrain76
    Known Participant
    July 7, 2018
    Adding myself to this RFE. Simply can't believe that something so basic isn't supported. Even Windows Paint can crop properly at the pixel level.

    https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2510581
    Pentax K-1 II . Panasonic Lumix GX85.i7-5820k OC 4.3 GHz32GB DDR4-26668x1 TB striped SSDnVidia GTX 9602 x 32UHD59-B 32" 4K displays1 x Asus PB238Q HD display10Gbe Ethernet112TB NAS
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    November 29, 2017
    I don't understand why this would be so hard to implement.  It's in Photoshop.  The code is written.  Just modify it to fit Lightroom (or start over--it's not that hard).  Here's why it's important to me.
    I post my photos to Flickr.  I decided that a max size I want up on line is a max pixel dimension of 3500.  When I photograph a bird, I want to crop to get the bird perfectly positioned in the frame (hard to do while shooting the bird on the fly).  So while I crop in Lightroom, I have to go back and forth with the cursor and *try* to get the crop box to be 3500 pixels.  Nearly (or completely?) impossible.  If it comes in at 3546, I'm not going to want an algorithm to reside down to 3500 during the export function.  That would damage the image and for only 46 pixels.  Now I leave it at 3546, but why should I have to?  I can't use the export function *after* my design crop.

    This is frustrating, because I know it's not a big issue to fix.
    johnrellis
    johnrellis
    Legend
    June 11, 2016
    I just released the Any Crop plugin, which lets you define aspect ratios that are very close but not identical to Lightroom's built-in ratios, avoiding the bug described here.   You can specify aspect ratios or exact dimensions in pixels, inches, or centimeters.  Any Crop also provides a number of other crop enhancements users have asked for.
    B
    BillPohlmann
    Participant
    May 1, 2016
    Being able to crop to specific dimensions would allow you to create 100% (1:1) crops at a consistent size for blog or social media posts, whether lens reviews/comparisons, technique articles or just showing off the quality of a shot.  You could just crop to the desired dimensions, say 960x640, then export at full size.
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMember
    Inspiring
    April 27, 2016
    I just made blank templates in Photoshop for each of the sizes I regularly need. While the crop ratio is _still_ snapped to 16:9; it actually exports correctly!

    It's a strange and somewhat silly work-around, but it is surprisingly effective! 🙂
    Thanks for all the help! 
    S360
    S360Author
    Participating Frequently
    April 27, 2016
    yes still a convoluted workaround. 
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