I would love to be able to set "crop" presets. I am a notoriously crooked shooter, and if I could have a preset that corrected my natural tendency for crooked images it would be awesome!
And this is the problem we face with forums. A very simple feature request soon becomes overwhelmed with people dreamlisting and Adobe goes off, scratching their heads and having meetings about how they can write an algorithm that can read the minds of every user and automatically correct wonky camera work whilst taking deliberate Dutch tilts into account and six years later the simple addition of a checkbox in a develop preset to do what can already be done with a menu item remains unimplemented.
The original post and the thrust of my response relate to the addition of a Crop Value(s) to the Develop preset.
There is a separate discussion percolating in places within this thread regarding the Most Recently Used Aspect Ratio list located in the Crop Tool panel Aspect Ratio pulldown. Discussions regarding that separate issue set are unrelated to this original request.
"Additions to" - and the "labeling of" - MRU Aspect Ratios probably belong in a separate thread.
Thanks Rikk, for refocussing (not a feature request) this thread. It's really appreciated.
I propose a simple "develop preset from current settings" or "update with current settings". This would actually solve a few problems people have raised. For me it would mean I can roll aspect ratio into my current develop preset as applied on import but it would also allow people to apply a name to certain aspect ratios, such as "My Client's Web Banner" etc. where now we can only identify them by "4x3" or "175x6". It should also solve many of your reservations regarding how the crop is applied across various RAW image sizes etc.
Saving crop ratios is already available and bulk applying them in the Library module is already working a treat without getting too complex or over-thought. If I could just save my current crop settings into a preset and apply it on import, that would save me hours. No, not every image is going to crop perfectly and will need adjustment. Happens to me every day. But, for the 75% of images that do fit, it's a time saving.
It may not fix everyone's problem or address their wishlist but it should be pretty simple to implement and give you time to address the more complex ideas being proposed, without a lot of noise from guys like me.
98% of my work requires me to send photos cropped in 4:3 aspect ratio.
My current workflow consists of importing images with my specific preset, then:
select all click "r" click "aspect" scroll to "4:3" click "sync..." click "synchronise" click enter unselect all
I can't see why the 'aspect ratio' setting cannot be included with the develop presets so that it can be applied on import.
Considering how pathetically slow Lightroom has become, (at least on a 2016 MBP 15" with SSD half full and 16GB of RAM, with all tricks and suggestions under the sun to speed it up clicked on and off).... if I can save the above 8 steps, 10-12 times a day, it would help to ease my frustration.
I understand that this trivial feature is irrelevant to most non working and amateur photographer, which I also suspect are the majority of Lightroom users these days, and probably the target market....
You can also select all in Library mode and select 4:3 from the dropdown menu in Quick Develop. A bit faster than what you're doing but still a pain in the butt compared to what we're asking for.
I need to know my pixel count. How hard would it be to have a little value ladder come up that tells you the size of your crop? Accurate pixel measurements of crops!
I need accuracy not aspect ratio. Aspect ratio's significance is a relic of the past for me when it comes to cropping photos. Aspect ratio is a worry for video production in my world. I don't often develop timelapse movies from lightroom, so aspect ratio isn't much of an issue for me.
As it is, I have to manually crop, view the dimensions in windows explorer, delete the file and re-crop until the pixel dimensions are perfect. It's a pain in the rear and it takes a long time. I'm pretty sure LR could add dimensions of crop.
I don't develop in a dark room and I don't sell prints. My photos end up on tablets, cell phones, websites, and programming installations. Every photo has its place, and each dimension should be custom. 3:2 1:1 are meaningless. I need 455px by 869 px or whatever it is for the current installation
The Crop Preset is saved on a very large image 50 MP and then applied to a small image? The Crop Preset is saved on a Landscape orientation image and then applied to a Portrait image?
I see a lot of people clamoring for the feature but little in specifically how they want it to work. If I have a 3:2 landscape original and build a crop preset that crops 5:4 (with the crop also in a landscape orientation) - save it as a preset and then apply it to a 4:3 aspect ratio image which is in Portrait orientation - what should happen?
Does the Crop Preset save only Aspect Ratio? Does it shift orientation as the image shifts orientation? (Landscape/Portrait) Start at the Top Left Corner (of the image? of the crop?) Center the crop to the image? Fill the crop to frame if the image's pixel dimensions fail to match? :.............."
I would expect size of actual crop in pixels X and pixels Y would work forever regardless of aspect or anything else. There is no reason why this isn't already a feature and why I cannot save my exact pixel dimensions of my crop,( if your devteam cannot figure out how to maintain the crop's position as a preset, you should at least be able to hold onto the pixel dimensions as a preset).
I'm coming at this from a creative coding place. I need to precisely know the pixel dimensions as images have homes in installations with specific pixel dimensions.
Specifically I want it to work by giving a realtime readout of crop dimensions in pixels as I press and hold the cursor during a crop.
I also want the crop dimensions in pixels to be remembered by lightroom, and I want to save it as a preset.
I know the pixel dimensions of my deliverables and they're stored in my export presets. I'm not sure how I could compose for pixel dimensions in the camera. Crop factor; easy. I can shoot 36MP, 24MP or 16MP, on full frame, DX or on video and I always know my crop ratio. I know (and have my cameras marked up for) the crop ratio(s) that fit my export file dimensions so it's just a matter of exporting in the various sizes.
I can't give my clients RAW files anyway and, even if I were to shoot JPEGs (when hell freezes over) any grading I've done would be lost if I simply copied those files, so the export process is mandatory. Crop ratio in, pixel dimensions out.
We need the ability to better control "which boxes are checked" with presets of checked boxes. Presets would be like "Crop" and "Lighting". Similar to the Adjustment Brush presets pulldown, you could quickly switch to a set of checkboxes after saving it with a name.
The way it currently works expects us to constantly recheck the huge list of boxes in those "Settings" lists, which is ergonomically dangerous. Tasks like that hurt my wrist, and I don't think it's good for anyone.
We should be able to control those Settings checkboxes with the keyboard! "Choose a preset" keystroke (down key), then down key and enter to pick the one you want.
AND add the actual crop to the list of options for presets, of course that too!
We need the crop tool in all such lists of Settings. Having Crop available in the Sync tool, but not the develop presets is confusing to users, those lists should always match!
Having the lists match (and thus crop present in the Develop Presets) is extra important because currently the lists of checkboxes are shared between the Sync, Develop Preset AND Copy Settings windows. When you change the setting in any window, it applies to all the others EXCEPT for the Crop box, which is ignored completely while in the Develop Preset window.
Cropping is not very fast on my MacBook, so being able to automate it and avoid the crop view is important. Adobe please fix this and improve the Copy Settings system in other ways while you're at it!
"I need to use the predefined cropping parameter of the development module to automate cropping at import (as is possible with the "copy / paste" see attached picture).Is it possible to implement this parameter
Another voice, calling in the void for this feature. I can define a "user crop preset" in Photoshop; please let me also do it in Lightroom. Why are the two panels (shown above) different?
In the "Crop & Straighten Panel", we should be able to apply specific dimensions or percentages as well as aspect ratios.
Come on Adobe, don't be afraid to answer your users. We are actually on your side. We want to let everyone know how cool our product of choice really is.
There is no reason why preset settings and copy paste settings should be different.
There is not 1 engineer at adobe who thinks that this should be useful? just turn it on please.
Yes, and while we are all holding are collective breaths waiting for Adobe to provide a simple solution to an easy-to-address problem, could I also request an on-screen aspect ratio indicator. Sometimes I will crop a picture to specific content and arrive at an unusual aspect ratio, e.g. 1.97:1. This would be very useful when creating the same aspect ratio on other pictures that I want to display as a series.
"This would be very useful when creating the same aspect ratio on other pictures that I want to display as a series."
Very much agreed that displaying the custom aspect ratio as you adjust the crop could be helpful.
The closest you can come with built-in features is to do add Cropped Dimensions to View > Loupe Info using View > View Options. This shows the cropped pixel dimensions, which can be entered as Custom crop dimensions in the Crop tool. Unfortunately, the Cropped Dimensions are only updated after you close the Crop tool, which seems like a strange oversight.
Also, you can copy your custom crop from the first photo to the other photos in the series using Settings > Copy/Paste Settings.
I have a Canon 5Ds 50mp full frame camera. I have a Sigma 10-20 lens designed for a crop camera. When placed on my 5Ds at 10mm the outside is highly vignetted. If I remember to set the crop aspect ratio to 1:1.6 before I shoot, LR imports the file and crops it automatically to the proper area in the center of the image that is truly 10mm wide (the whole vignetted image is actually there). I end up with a 20mp image taken from the center in the 3:2 ratio. I just want to save that center crop for when I don't set it in the camera first. Seems to me the only time such a crop preset makes sense is to crop the FULL size image down to the preset values (exact pixel count and ratio). But others might think differently. I can use Autosync in the develop module where crop is applied to all I have selected, so I have a relatively easy work around. I was just surprised that I could SAVE the exact crop settings in develop, but can make that SAVE that as a preset.
Saving my "develop settings" as a preset is what I was trying to do and found it it wasn't possible. Seemed strange since I could save the develop setting.
Patrick, your use case makes perfect sense and is simple: Make the preset behave just as if you had used Copy/Paste Settings or Sync. That's a simple behavior that non-advanced users can understand, and which I think Adobe should implement.
(My Any Crop plugin, targeted to advanced users, addresses many different use cases, including exact-pixel crops, but at the expense of a much more complicated user interface.)
In my case, I'm digitising old slides by tethering my camera. With my homemade jig my slides are in a predictable position in the frame - a roughly 4x5 ratio image in the center, with rotation. I've got a develop preset for the slides - but have to manually apply the crop later. The frame is in one of two possible positions (I'm shooting stereo slides), so ideally I'd have a develop preset for left and right sides that I'd pick before shooting.
I can sync crops later - but whilst shooting tethered and trying to pick the best focused image, it would be much more helpful if it was applied along with my other default settings.
In your case. you can do this now. If you are shooting Tethered, you can crop the first one and then choose the "Same as Previous" option in the tether bar and it will apply those changes for the remainder of the session.
Sadly because I'm shooting in two positions, every few frames I need to change to the alternate crop and rotation - with 'same as previous' I'd still need to manually copy an existing crop quite frequently - which is a pain.
I'm somewhat confused why I can copy a crop and apply to many images, but not do the same for presets.
91
Replies
AdChoices
