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Question

Merging cropped images in Lightroom 6

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
April 26, 2019
3 replies
1602 views

Hello - I run Lightroom 6.14 on my desktop. I have a RAW file from which I would like to cut out the middle portion. Is there a way to do this in Lightroom 6?

I have created a virtual image of the photo and have cropped left and right sections into separate RAW files - one is the original file the other is a virtual copy of it.

I have then tried to merge the 2 cropped files using Panorama but of course, the original content (pre-cropped) still being there,I get the original photo back.

Thank you for your help.

This topic has been closed for replies.

J

Jao vdL

Community Expert

Lightroom 6 is very anal about the image sizes of the images you try to merge. If they do not appear to be from the same camera, focal length etc. because they were cropped, exported and reimported, it will refuse to merge them. You need an outside panorama processor. Photoshop will do this easily but if you are running LR 6 you probably don't have that. In that case use any of the many panorama stitching pieces of software available. A free and open source one is called hugin (hugin.sourceforge.net). Steep learning curve but very powerful.

Todd Shaner

Legend

As already mentioned these two image files are disassociated from each other and probably don't have matching areas that ANY panorama application will be able to merge. The simplest solution is to "join" the two images horizontally. An easy to use free application I find useful is XnViewMP. https://www.xnview.com/en/xnviewmp/#downloads

Export the two files to JPEG or TIFF file format. From inside XnViewMP select the two image files and go to menu Create> Join images. Make adjustments if necessary, click OK, go to File>Save As and enter the filename and folder location.

If this doesn't produce the results you're looking for please post screenshots of the original and cropped R&L images.

jpc777Author

Participating Frequently

Thank you Jao vdL and Todd Shanner for recommending alternative solutions.

Jao - Indeed I do not have Photoshop. I have downloaded hugin and I can see that it is a powerful program. I rarely use the basic panomara function in LR but hugin opens up the possibility to do a lot in this space.

Todd - I have downloaded XnViewMP and have started to play around with it.

Again, thank you both.

Just Shoot Me

Legend

You can't do what you are trying to do with LR.

You need to do that in a program like Photoshop. First have 2 actual, physical, copied of that image file, with different file names for each. Crop each the way you want then combine those 2 files into one New image file.

You can't use a virtual copy. You may be able do to it in LR using the pano function but only with 2 different physical files.

jpc777Author

Participating Frequently

Hello davidg36166309 and Just Shoot Me. I've tried stitching two separate copies of the (cropped) images but the Panoramic function will still process the images as if they had not been cropped. Thank you for your replies, at least I now know there is no way to do this in Lightroom 6.

Just Shoot Me

Legend

jpc777 wrote
Hello davidg36166309 and Just Shoot Me. I've tried stitching two separate copies of the (cropped) images but the Panoramic function will still process the images as if they had not been cropped. Thank you for your replies, at least I now know there is no way to do this in Lightroom 6.

You need to EXPORT the Cropped version to another File. Making Completely New Files for each Half, and or whatever is left of the image after cropping, and then try using the pano function to join those 2 new files together.

Once you crop a file and then Export, and do NOT select Original, the cropped out section will be removed from that new file. Select TIFF as the file format you want to export to. Not original or DNG.

GoldingD

Legend

Try exporting your crops, then merging the exports.

jpc777Author

Participating Frequently

Hello - I had actually tried that earlier and it failed. I export both cropped images as JPG. I then import them back and when I try to merge them, the Panorama dialog box says "Unable to merge the photos. Please cancel and review your selection." I suspect the reason for this is that I am trying to merge JPG files? Perhaps this is not something I can do in Lightroom 6.14?

GoldingD

Legend

Ah, yes, my bad, pano, yep that would not work in lightroom, the frames would not have commonality to stitch together. You will need to do this on Photoshop,

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