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How to crop in PSE2020 the way that I did with PSE10?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
December 9, 2019
6 replies
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Hi, I recently upgraded computers and am new to Win10 and photoshop elements 2020. I normally crop hundreds of photos daily for ebay and have hit a brick wall when I installed PSE2020 because it doesn't allow the method that I used in PSE10.

The goal is to take a large photo and crop it to 1000x1000 using only the product (subject) of the photo.

In PSE10 I would open the photo to be cropped and make a new blank file 1000x1000. I would then drag the photo to be cropped onto the 1000x1000 file. The product photo is always much larger than the new file and partially covers it. I then quickly and deftly grab the corner of the photo and make it manageably smaller. I position it within the 1000x1000 boundary and crop it. That usually takes mere seconds as I am very used to that routine.

The problem comes in with photoshop elements 2020:

When I open the photo and make a new blank 1000x1000 file, when I drag the photo onto the new blank file it snaps to fit and renders my usual method unworkable. Sure, there are ways to get around it but it takes ten times as long to do. With hundreds of photos it would take a full day instead of half an hour.

I'm hoping there is a way to be able to drag the photo over the new blank file and keep if from snapping to fit? or a way to make the file revert to full size and bigger than the 1000x1000 blank file? In other words, make the program act the same way it does in PSE10. I suspect that there isn't and that the behaviour is by design.

It is a struggle getting used to the new Windows 10 and the problem with the new photoshop makes me miss my old ten year-old system! I tried to figure this out on my own and spent a total of 3 hours trying to figure this out before posting here.

Can anyone help?

Thanks!

How to

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99jon

Legend

The method outlined in my first answer always works for me. There is no extra work for placing compared with opening. The placed image is not being downsized. In fact a smart object can be re-sized as many times as you like without loss of quality. If you hold down shift while dragging and positioning outside the canvas the proportions of the original image are maintained. After clicking the checkmark you will have an image exactly 1000 x 1000. For eBay or web usage generally a resolution of 72 will suffice. Or use File >> Save for web where you can confirm the dimensions before saving. I never use 100% quality as 60% (jpeg high) will give an excellent quality and ensure fast page loading on the web.

S

Sio2gaAuthor

Participating Frequently

That method works but its more steps. I edit hundreds of photos per day so the time adds up.

A second scenario is that often I do crop images such as coins or coins in holders in shapes that are custom on not square. It's really convenient to just drag them onto a 1000x1000 canvas to show both sides.

I also sell crystals specimens, and sometimes I will drag cropped 4 images (often of different sizes) onto the canvas.

Using the File+Place method, I would have to save the images to the folder instead of simply dragging the altered files directly.

So as far as you know, there isn't a way to make the layer that is dragged onto the canvas automatically appear to scale instead of snapping to fit? Or any way to make it go to scale once it has been dragged onto the canvas?

Anyone?

MichelBParis

Legend

Or any way to make it go to scale once it has been dragged onto the canvas?

You don't have the move tool selected? That's necessary to move and resize.

The huge advantage of dragging from the photo bin and showing a 'fit in' preview is that you don't have to bother with the final resolution nor about the relative size of the dropped asset.

If the dropped file has not enough resolution, if will appear smaller and won't fit. You are warned.

If the dropped file has too much resolution (very frequent today in your use case) you'll always have the corner anker points reachable. Otherwise, for instance placing, the corners of the dropped image will be way outside of the floating image, requiring using the scrollwheel to see them.

Also have a look at my other suggestion above, using the organizer and the ACR module.

Phinny

Legend

If you have 10 minutes to spare, this basic crop tool training video should help a great deal.

99jon

Legend

Go to:

Edit >> Preferences >> General

Uncheck the box “Enable crop pre-selection”

You should then be able to set you exact dimensions and drag-out the crop. Then drag/move from the centre to position the crop outline, for best composition.

S

Sio2gaAuthor

Participating Frequently

I've done that just now. when i select crop, no crop box appears that is 1000x1000. I have to make a box myself and that takes time to size it to fit the object. Then when I save the image I have to enter 1000x1000 as the size. That's a lot of steps to accomplish the task.

What I really need to do is figure out how to make a blank file that is 1000x1000 and be able to drag a large photo on top of that without the image snapping to fit inside it.

or alternatively, make the image pop back out to regular size over the 1000x1000 blank file.

I can't see any way to do it.

With PSE10 I can crop and resize images in about 4 seconds. I can knock out a couple hundred images in a few minutes using pse10. I really need to figure out how to make PSE2020 work. It may be that the program just wont allow me to do what I want it to do and that I need to revert to the dinosaur or possibly shell out monthly fees for PS CC?

What I really need to do is figure out how to make a blank file that is 1000x1000 and be able to drag a large photo on top of that without the image snapping to fit inside it. The 1000x1000 blank file acts like a reverse cookie cutter in that I can resize and center the upper image inside the bounds of the lower canvas.

MichelBParis

Legend

To be efficient, first create your 'custom' canvas. File >> new, dimensions 1000 x 1000 px. Save it for further use.

Recent PSE versions work with smart layers, which allows placing images over the canvas by simple drag and drop from the photo bin.

- Work with your preferences for 'allowing floating documents in expert mode'.

- open your custom canvas file and with the mouse wheel make the image smaller to allow resizing the dropped images from the photo bin (showing the rectangle in 'fit in' size) and resizing by stretching the corner points.

You may have about 50 files open and collapsed in the photo bin.

For each file:

- drag it to the canvas

- adjust position and size from the corner points to show the correct square crop.

- flatten image

- save image

- go to your history palette and restore the canvas to the initial open, so that it's ready for the next image.

- close the source image from the photo bin.

You can't use easily batch procedures because you have to adjust the crop manually for the best look.

What I would try, using two batch processes while manually adjusting:

1 - I would use the organizer to export the by batches of 50 files.

2 - I would open those 50 files with 'Edit in ACR' at the same time.

3 - The ACR crop tool lets you set your crop ratio to 1 x 1 (long press on the crop tool)

4 - You select all and apply the tool (it shows all files cropped in the film strip on the left)

5 - Many files won't need any adjustments, the crop tool lets you adjust individual files more rapidly than any other solution in the PSE editor.

6 - Select all

7 - clic 'Done'

You'll need to use another batch process to resize to 1000 x 1000 pixels from the editor 'process multiple files' ~~or from the 'export' function of the organizer~~. There are useful options for renaming, sharpening, adding text. Note that using an external program to batch resize (Faststone...) between cropping batches is not possible because only PSE takes the raw edits into account.

That takes time, so, you can also consider performing several batches of 50 files before running the resize at the end of the session.

The above workflow is much less tiring than using the editor only.

Edit:

field test for editing 100 images with the organizer/ACR/process multiple files on a modest specs PC.

- less than 1 minute to export

- Several minutes for a batch of 50 files to open in ACR (I even managed a test with 100... not recommended unless you have plenty of RAM and a powerful computer.)

- Editing manually individually. Fifteen images/minute is ok for cropping. I consider that for ebay, it's worth adding individual edits like tones, vibrance, clarity, sharpening... Let's say 10 minutes.

- Process multiple files will depend on your hardware. 12 minutes for me.

Note: the last batch must be done from the editor, process multiple files; exporting with resizing from the organizer ignores the custom individual crop and applies the default centered crop (30 seconds max for the 100 files!)

99jon

Legend

Or similar to Phinny’s suggestion just use the crop tool and set your dimensions and resolution in the options bar - see image below.

S

Sio2gaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi, I had already played around with the crop tool for a couple of hours without figuring out how to get it to do what I want. In theory, I'm thinking that this should place a suggested crop of 1000 x 1000 when i enter that. However, I can't get it to work for me. It seems to be wanting to make a crop according to the image contents and not what I want: just a simple 1000 x 1000 crop square to position where I want it.

On the "use photo ratio", how can i toggle to where it uses pixesl instead of inches? i've looked but don't see a way.

I click crop and then entered 14 inches (1008 pixels) but it's not putting a simple square crop. The picture I am working with is a coin in a rectangle-shaped certified holder. That doesn't lend itself to a square shape but that is what I have to do for ebay. The suggested crop is trying to follow the shape of the rectangle.

What am I missing for it to just put a 1000x1000 crop tool? Keep in mind that I've never used any marquee tools or anything and the 2020 version is much different than the one from 2010. Thanks for any help!

99jon

Legend

After creating your 1000 x 1000 canvas use the menu:

File >> Place

Navigate to the image you wish to add.

It will get placed as a smart object and you can drag the corners/sides to fit.

Dragging outside of the canvas will let you show the exact portion required.

Click the checkmark when done and re-save as required.

S

Sio2gaAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi, Thanks for the suggestion. I tried that, and when it placed the image it was reduced down in size and appeared on the canvas fitting it exactly. That method took even longer than simply dragging the photo from "open photos" as I had to navigate to a folder and pick an image.

What I am trying to do is drag or place a photo over the blank file and have it so that the actual (large) size is represented. In other words, I want the added top image to be full size and not the same size as the canvas.

The benefit to that is that I know the limits of what will naturally fit in the 1000x1000 size without being blurry.

the way things are with PSE2020, when I drag or place the image onto the 1000x1000 canvas the image fits the canvas exactly. Sure, I can grab a corner and resize the photo, but I would have to look to see what size the image is to start with so that I would know the limits of what the image is so that I don't over-expand it. That means looking every single time.

If I could figure out how to add the image so that it appears on the canvase full size I would have it made.

PSE10 adds the image to the canvas full size. It doesn't cover the canvas centered but instead a corner is visible so that I can drag it it down until it just perfectly fits.

I may not be explaining it well, but if anyone is familiar with how PSE10 is , I want to duplicate that function of adding an image onto a canvas that is smaller and without the image being downsized to fit it.

I may have to try going back to PSE10 if I can get it to work on Win10. The downside to that is that PSE10 has a maximum of 2GB ram and I sure would like to use the 64GB RAM that my system has. I dont think PSE10 uses the graphics card in the same way either, so I'm really hoping to get a solution to my problem using the 2020 version.

Phinny

Legend

How about trying this. Make your desired fixed ratio selection using the rectangular marquee tool. Select Crop. Proceed to Image >> Resize >> Image Size and enter pixel width and height dimensions (1,000 x 1,000). Yes?