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54

P: A way to create a custom crop overlay.

Community Beginner ,
Sep 20, 2021 Sep 20, 2021

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I am looking for a way to create a custom crop overlay.  The few that Lightroom offer don't work when trying to do consistant head sizing in the program.  

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

New Here , Feb 17, 2012 Feb 17, 2012
This is a great feature request. We're definitely aware of it. Thanks!

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Engaged ,
Apr 25, 2016 Apr 25, 2016

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There are many types of compositional overlays that aren't included in Lightroom's Crop Tool. I would love to see at least twice as many as there currently are (more diagonals, golden ratios, root 4 rectangle, enclosures, etc...).

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Contributor ,
Jan 25, 2017 Jan 25, 2017

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And, seriously, how hard would it be to give Camera Raw (Bridge) the same cropping choices as are in Lightroom and Photoshop (i.e., Fibonacci, Triangle, Diagonal, etc.)? This disparity in features is inexcusable and embarrassing. Surely the teams communicate?

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LEGEND ,
Jan 24, 2018 Jan 24, 2018

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Not sure if anyone suggested this but what I want is the ability to place individual crops for the different ratios as possibly a layer overlay on the image so that I can suggest different crops based on what a customer might order for a print. Then I would like to be able to produce a JPG using Image Processor and have a selection for which crop overlay it uses to produce the JPG.

I want the crop overlays to remain persistent in the PSD and/or XMP file (I use rarely just use Camera Raw, all my edited images end up as PSDs) so that if someone comes back later to suggest they want a different crop, I simply rerun Image Processor with the crop they requested and Image Processor looks up the correct crop overlay and crops the image.

By doing this, it would never be necessary to actually crop the original image, just suggest where the crop would be. This would guarantee consistent results from the same original image should you have to go back and regenerate a crop later after adding more edits to the PSD.

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LEGEND ,
Jan 24, 2018 Jan 24, 2018

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I don't use Lightroom but I had always assumed that Camera Raw would be used by Lightroom and Bridge/Photoshop. It would be nice if they were combined so that what you get in one, you get in the other because they are the same. I don't see the need for two different versions.

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Guide ,
Sep 20, 2021 Sep 20, 2021

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See the images below. In the Lightroom Classic crop tool, click on Custom, enter the Custom Crop Ratio you want then, back in the Crop Tool, the new Custom Crop Ratio will show up in the list for you to choose.

Sorry about these images, I had to use my iPhone since my snip tool would turn off the list where the custom selection is.

APC_0221.jpgAPC_0222.jpgKA5Q DXCC Honor Roll Plaque-1.jpg

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-8700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 20, 2021 Sep 20, 2021

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I am looking for a crop overlay, not custom aspect ratio.  I crop all my portaits at 5x7.  A custom overlay would adjust with your image as you crop in, the same way the grid or rule of thirds overlays do.  

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Guide ,
Sep 20, 2021 Sep 20, 2021

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@Tanya5E41  I can't quite picture what you are asking for. How would it know where to position it's self? If that is what you are asking for.

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-8700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.

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LEGEND ,
Sep 21, 2021 Sep 21, 2021

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I think the OP wants to have a specific overlay shwon when cropping.  The grid lines shown.

 

 

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LEGEND ,
Sep 21, 2021 Sep 21, 2021

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From a similar posting, but for 1:1, modify for your desired 5:7

 

So, in the screenshot below, I have selected the crop tool, I have not specified a crop ratio. And my default overlay shows up (Thirds)

GoldingD_0-1632246702044.png

 

Now, I can change the overlay, in the below, to Aspect Ratio

GoldingD_2-1632246702955.png

 

select just tour desired ratio

GoldingD_4-1632246703039.png

 

 

 

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 21, 2021 Sep 21, 2021

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What I am looking for has nothing to do with the aspect ratio.  I want a better option to use as a cropping overlay.  Thirds, Grid, Diagnal, Center, Triangle, Golden Ratio, Golden Spiral, and Aspect Ratio are the only current options.  I am trying to just send in a suggestion to Adobe to add a better option for those who would like to create their own custom overlay.  

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New Here ,
Feb 03, 2022 Feb 03, 2022

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Yes!! I need this too for headsizing!  It would be nice to create a custom overlay in Photoshop, and then upload into Lightroom.  Or for lightroom to be able to have custom lines created at specific distances, and/or ovals.  How is this not an option?!

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New Here ,
Mar 20, 2022 Mar 20, 2022

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Wondering this too!!! 

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 22, 2022 Mar 22, 2022

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Correct.  If you've shot hundreds of school portraits and want to make all their heads the same size using the crop tool, lightroom currently does not have an easy overlay that allows for this.  An oval that could surround the face, or better yet, A.I. that detects their eyes and then applies a crop based on that so all faces come out same size.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 22, 2022 Mar 22, 2022

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The nearest function possible in Lightroom-Classic is a 'Layout Image' overlay, but it is not real useful as it disappears when you choose the Crop Tool.

Rob_Cullen_0-1647990635136.png

It is useful when Camera Tethering as you can position the camera view to place and size a 'face' view.

 

 

 

Regards. My System: Lightroom-Classic 13.2 Photoshop 25.5, ACR 16.2, Lightroom 7.2, Lr-iOS 9.0.1, Bridge 14.0.2, Windows-11.

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New Here ,
Oct 28, 2022 Oct 28, 2022

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Hello,
I am a portrait photographer and I often take corporate photos, in this case, I have a large number of photos to crop while keeping a uniform appearance. I would like to have a custom template grid allowing me to crop easily a whole batch of photos

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Community Expert ,
Oct 28, 2022 Oct 28, 2022

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One technique you can use which can be very specific to your need, is a Loupe Overlay image.

 

Make a largely transparent image in PS, of the needed aspect ratio, that includes whatever guideline graphics you want. Then save this out in PNG and load that up within LrC as an overlay. This centres to fill your image. Unfortunately it only updates its scaling when you release the mouse after updating the crop, so this works as a trial-and-error process - as opposed to the standard crop overlay which updates live as you change the crop. And you will need to then toggle this Loupe Overlay off, otherwise the guidleines will show up in the output!

 

For normal crop overlay: besides the standard overlays, you can also choose a grid which is zoomable (for example, you might standardise on a grid scaled to 7 squares wide on the image). Perhaps you can guide your photo composition in that way. But I don't know of any way to use your own custom design of "live" crop overlay.

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New Here ,
Oct 28, 2022 Oct 28, 2022

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I've tried this technique before, but it's not practical, I would just like to benefit from an overlay with a head/eye area to be able to crop in an homogeneous way

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Engaged ,
Feb 12, 2023 Feb 12, 2023

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C'mon Adobe.  Please give us this option.  A custom overlay for those of us doing volume photography is a must.  Give us the option to adjust transparency of that overlay and it will be a huge timesaver for certain workflows.

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Explorer ,
Apr 14, 2023 Apr 14, 2023

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I'm using an app called 'Red Lines Tools' (from the Mac Appstore). It's not working well in Crop-Mode, as the image size varies from image to image with no way to set it consistent. But it's working in full-screen view. So with a lot of going back and forth it's only just usable.
But Lightroom should do better! Please, please provide options to set custom crop overlays! It will be a lot of help for us portrait photographers!

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Contributor ,
May 31, 2023 May 31, 2023

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LrC has a loupe overlay so you can display your own custom image over the top your images. 

 

This is a similar request.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-a-way-to-create-a-custom-crop-overlay/idi-p...

 

However, in 12.3 on macOS whilst you can display the overlay as soon as you enable Crop overlay tool the custom image disappears.

 

The workflow here is trying to crop a sequence of images consistently. So you setup an overlay so you can align things correctly - for example you want a product in the same position between shots. If you are making your own overlay you might also define a bounding box in which you want the object to appear.

 

Ideally the reference overlay you make is targetting the final cropped image. So having the Loupe Overlay sensibly visible when you are doing the crop is important. By sensibly, I mean that the overlay appears relative to the crop rectangle, not the original image. I want to make sure that certain elements in my final crop are aligned perfectly. There are times when you need more accuracy than a coarse grid and if you do have the grid enabled, counting boxes over several images slows you down.

 

Right now it is cumbersome having to switch between tools to check whether you have actually pin pointed the crop properly.

 

 

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Explorer ,
Nov 19, 2023 Nov 19, 2023

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Tanya - I'm looking for the same thing for the exact same reason. Upsetting to see that two years later it still hasn't been added.

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Explorer ,
Mar 19, 2024 Mar 19, 2024

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This is a very good idea, which must be super hard to implement or what are the excuses, why this is not a thing yet? Lightroom and Photoshop, both has different way crop overlay settings. Instagram's peak period is probably over, but if this is implemented in next 5 years, we may still use it. Just imagine this: you are cropping 5:4 and see also 1:1 overlay. Yes, this is possible in LrC, but not possible in Ps. Custom overlays? In this decade? Nah. Btw, idea from May 18, 2011. Shame.

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