Unable to Export Cropped Images at Correct Dimensions in Lightroom Classic

[Guest]

Hello Adobe Community,

I'm encountering a persistent issue in Lightroom Classic where, after cropping an image to a 4:5 aspect ratio, the exported image does not match the expected dimensions. Specifically, when I crop an image to 4:5 and attempt to export it with a width of 1080 pixels and a height of 1350 pixels, Lightroom instead exports the image with dimensions of 1080 x 864 pixels.

What I’ve Tried:

• Setting the crop aspect ratio to 4:5 and ensuring the orientation is correct.
• Using the "Long Edge" export setting at 1350 pixels.
• Manually setting the export dimensions to 1080 pixels (width) and 1350 pixels (height).
• Resetting Lightroom preferences and reinstalling the application

Despite these steps, Lightroom consistently exports the image at 1080 x 864 pixels, which does not match the intended 4:5 aspect ratio. This discrepancy is significant because it disrupts my workflow.

This issue is preventing me from using Lightroom Classic as the final step in my editing process, forcing me to use additional software to resize and crop images correctly, which is time-consuming.

Frustration with Support: I’ve engaged in multiple live chat sessions with Adobe support agents who repeatedly tell me to use Photoshop to export the images instead of fixing the issue within Lightroom. I do not want to use Photoshop for this task, as Lightroom is the software I rely on for my workflow.

Has anyone else experienced this issue, or is there a known workaround that allows Lightroom Classic to export images at the correct dimensions after cropping? I would greatly appreciate any insights or advice.

Thank you for your assistance!

[moved from bugs to discussions according to the community rules - Mod.]

[DdeGannes]

In LrC you can only crop to the dimensions, so in landscape images 4:5 aspect ratio would be in pixels say 5000 Pix width by 4000 Pix hight and a portrait image 4000 Pix width by 5000 pix hight,  Do your crop in Lightroom Classic prior to exporting and when exporting the files choose the option to export setting to indicate the long side and number of pix.

In both modes Landscape would be 5000 pix (width) by 4000 (hight) and Portrait 5000 pix hight by 4000 pix (width). Same aspect ratio.. 

See the screen capture.

[Guest]

Thank you for your response and explanation. I understand the concept of cropping to specific aspect ratios within Lightroom Classic. However, I’m curious why, when using the Crop Overlay and selecting 16:9, I can successfully export images at 2048 x 1152 pixels without any issues. But when I use the Crop Overlay set to 4x5 (or 8x10) and attempt to export at 1080 x 1350 pixels, Lightroom seems to consistently export at 1080 x 864 pixels instead.

Is there something specific about how Lightroom handles the 4:5 aspect ratio during export that differs from 16:9? Or is there a particular setting I might be missing that ensures the 4:5 crop exports correctly at 1080 x 1350 pixels?

I appreciate any further insights you or others in the community might have!

Best regards.

[F. McLion]

Export has no clue of your crop ratio. It simply takes the picture as cropped before and scales according to your settings.

This is what Export sees, here the 8256 x 5504:

[richardplondon · Accepted solution]

if you set 1080 (wide) and 1350 (high), the height is the larger dimension. When your image is in landscape aspect, the 1080 px dimension will therefore govern and you will get a 1080w x 864h output. That is as expected. If (with the same export settings) your image was in portrait aspect then the 1350px dimension would govern and you would fill those requested dimensions.

Your example dimensions stated for 16:9 - 2048 x 1152 - have got a larger dimension for the width and therefore a landscape aspect image would fill the dimensions, while a portrait image would be governed by the smaller height limit for its longer edge, and thus deliver a smaller output than with landscape.

I recommend either: set Longest Edge to 1350px and let the crop aspect ratio take care of the other dimension naturally.

Or set both the width and the height limits to 1350px. 

[Guest]

Hi richardplondon,

Thank you so much for your clear explanation! Your insight about how the image orientation (landscape vs. portrait) affects the export dimensions was exactly what I needed to understand why my images weren’t exporting as expected.

I followed your advice by rotating the crop to portrait mode, and it worked perfectly! The image exported at the correct dimensions of 1080 x 1350 pixels for Instagram, which is exactly what I was aiming for. The suggestion to set the "Longest Edge" to 1350 pixels and let the crop aspect ratio handle the rest was also really helpful.

Thanks again for your help - I really appreciate it!

[richardplondon]

One thing, I believe Instagram may dictate 1080 pixels wide regardless whether the image is landscape or portrait. If that is right, then the 1080px width x 1350px height specification would be exactly suitable. That way a landscape image will export 1080px wide (and less than that tall) while a portrait image will export 1080px wide (and more than that tall).

If the above information is correct then I think you would not want a landscape image 1350px wide x 1080px tall anyway. Not if Instagram is going to automatically downsize that to 1080px wide; since it will likely not do as good a job of that secondary resizing, as if Lightroom had exported straight to that same end result, which Instagram could then display as-is. Whenever we export we must IMO consider the needs of the final result as it will effectively be viewed.