Camera raw crop query

Question

Hi. I have been using camera raw/photoshop for quite a while and feel silly asking this question, but here goes:

I normally crop in photoshop, not camera raw. However, in camera raw (using latest version 14) there seems no way to crop to a specific height/width in inches/cm/pixels etc. For example, if I choose 1x1 in the drop down menu and then open in Photoshop and select image size, it is indeed in 1x1 but how are the dimensions in pixels or inches that are displayed determined?

My second query is the "constrain to image" checkbox in acr. When I crop it doesn't seem to make a difference whether it's checked or not. How does this work please? Cheers.

Lumigraphics · Accepted Answer

You can certainly crop to a specific size. The highlighted info will update as you move the crop rectangle.

Rob_Cullen · Answer

Simply put- Think of Camera Raw only as a virtual editor. It does not make changes to the original file. It only records the edits you make as 'directions' in a text file (XMP). ACR does not 'understand' what pixels are, so cannot change an original file pixel dimensions by a crop.

Pixel dimensions only come into 'play' when you Export a derivative file (with Custom dimensions) from Lightroom, or [Open] an RGB (pixel) version in a Photoshop document where you can [Resize] and Save..

So Pixel dimensions are determined in the Export, or a Resize in Photoshop.

"Constrain to Image" is useful when you Rotate a Crop in ACR or use Transform functions that create empty (white) space where no image data exists. "Constrain to Image" then 'pulls in' the crop boundaries to only show visible areas of the original image (and not the clear space).

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