I would like to be able to name custom crops in Lightroom. Saving them as ratios is great but one step further would be the ability to give them a relative name for certain projects or uses.Perhaps also not limit me to 5 custom ratios.
The last five custom aspect ratios are listed when cropping, but these drop off the bottom of the list when a new one is created. It would be great to be able to save particular frequently used aspect ratios and name them.
I posted a message about this issue one year ago and the discussion was closed despite the number of "me too". Don't know why. Anyway, I'm somewhat stubborn...
In LR, there's absolutely no possibility to edit the custom cropping ratios. Which is already a problem that should have been fixed since a long time. Now let's assume that the stacking mechanism managing these custom ratios (5 entries max and first in first out management) is corrupted and stuck. What can you do ? If you are a user with no database management skills, nothing. Period.
Strangely enough, these settings are not stored in the preference file where they could at least be manually edited but in the catalog, a SQLite database. If you can deal with an SQLite management tool, you will be able to fix the problem. The relevant information can be found in the table named Adobe_variablesTable, entry named Adobe_customCropAspects.
Maybe it's time for Adobe to make this feature more usable ?
To add yet another frustration: I cannot enter a portrait ratio 3x4 - it will immediately revert it back to 4x3. Very irritating and annoying. I am paying money every month, but then Adobe forces me to use other programs for as simple a task as cropping out a portrait size.
Here is how you can edit the custom crop ratio drop down list in Windows in order to modify or remove ratios or get more than 5 custom ratios. Make a backup of your catalog first.
1. You need an SQLite management tool. I suggest SQLite Expert Personal 5. It's free and very good. You can find it here : http://www.sqliteexpert.com/download.html .
2. After installation, make sure that LR is not running, go to the File menu of SQLite Expert and Open Database...
3. In the Open dialog, select All files in the drop down list at the bottom right of the window. Now navigate to the folder where your catalog is stored and select the corresponding .lrcat file. Click Open.
4. Your catalog will open as an SQLite database, showing tables, columns and values. In the left panel, select the table named Adobe_variablesTable.
5. In the right panel select the Data tab.
6. In the name column, select the Adobe_customCropAspects entry (line 254).
7. In the value column, right-click on the text beginning with "customCropAspects =" and chose Text Editor.
8. The contents looks like this (this is an example with 5 custom ratios) :
customCropAspects = { { h = 1, w = 2, }, { h = 7, w = 9, }, { h = 8, w = 11, }, { h = 9, w = 13, }, { h = 11, w = 19, }, }
Each block like this { h = 11, w = 19, },
corresponds to one custom ratio (don't forget the comma).
Let's assume that you want to replace the 9x13 ratio with 13x21. Easy :
customCropAspects = { { h = 1, w = 2, }, { h = 7, w = 9, }, { h = 8, w = 11, }, { h = 13, w = 21, }, { h = 11, w = 19, }, }
Click on OK after you are done with your changes.
9. Exit SQLite Expert and click on Apply pending changes.
10. Launch LR and check the new ratio value.
11. Note that you can have more than 5 custom ratios with this procedure. You just have to add a new block. For example :
customCropAspects = { { h = 1, w = 2, }, { h = 7, w = 9, }, { h = 8, w = 11, }, { h = 9, w = 13, }, { h = 11, w = 19, }, { h = 13, w = 21, }, }
defines 6 custom ratios. That works perfectly : this generates 6 custom ratios in the drop down list. Which is another evidence that this feature has not been written very seriously.
Many thanks Patrick, very clear instructions. I can see when it would be useful to do this and I'll retain these instructions should I need them.
But I have a large number of crop sizes to keep track of. I need to label each pair and hopefully group them in a folder type structure by company name like the Export module. Without a text label I would not remember which application each dimension belongs to and still need to keep a written list.
I have now tried Any Crop plugin. It does allow me to add and name crops which is good. But I didn't find it that comfortable to use and for some unknown reason the ratios wouldn't hold, even with the crop padlock switched on. I'll wait (and wait and wait) for LR to add an enhancement to their standard crop function.
Even after cropping to the required ratio one still needs to match this with the export command to create the final JPG. I guess it would be too much to ask Adobe to also add an option to automatically pre-select a specific export preset for an image when one has chosen a named crop.
So I guess what I would like to see is a crop dialogue where one creates a named crop ratio, save this in a named folder structure and optionally both sets the crop padlock on and selects a specific export preset when exporting. I'm not sure how this would work on a batch export of mixed export presets so I'll leave that up to the Adobe experts.
Yes - great idea. This was suggested in the first post in this thread - seven years ago. So don't hold your breath. Adobe obviously don't think it's a good idea 😞
Thank you so much, For some reason I had become stuck on achieving it with a custom preset, probably because I was preoccupied with other preset issues.
Let us NAME the aspect ratios already. "folder", "Name" and aspect ratio; "Description"; eg. 1. "Frames", "13x18 cm"; 2. Frames", "13x18 cm with matte", "matte opening 11x15"; 3. Social Media / Facebook, "828 x 315 px ratio", Facebook cover photo; 4. "Frames", "50x70 cm", IKEA #502.688.74 with matte opening 40x50. Matte is asymmetric. Better for portrait orientation etc.
The original message of this thread was posted 7 years ago. Can you believe this ?
Too many fans of Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder at Adobe. In France, "The seven year itch" picture was titled "7 ans de réflexion" (seven years of reflection). Hey guys ! Still watching ?
I posted in the thread on the official support thread (a seemingly logical course of action to me as a customer) and was advised to come here to vote. Sending me to a third-party platform to sign up and post just doesn't seem like an adequate response.
In a more constructive tone, my recommendation would be for a simple Folder > Item : Values system that could be easily integrated with a JSON structure.
I've since achieved this with Sketch, though it would have be better to not have to manage my workflow across two programs.
You can prepare print presets with these formats and print them in .jpg files, why absolutely want to create cropping presets while the printing module can very well do it and at the same time, you will be able to record its "impressions" as collections, it's more practical, it will allow you to find them easily in the catalog LR Classic!
Texte original en français : Vous pouvez préparer des presets d'impression avec ces formats et les imprimer dans des fichiers .jpg, pourquoi vouloir absolument créer des presets de recadrage alors que le module d'impression peut très bien le faire et par la même occasion, vous pourrer enregistrer ses "impressions" comme des collections, c'est plus pratique, ça vous permettra de les retrouver facilement dans le catalogue LR Classic !
Yves Crausaz, Suisse, retraité actif dans le monde de la photo et des arts graphiques.
The Any Crop plugin lets you create named crops. It also lets you prepare multiple crops for a set of photos all at once, in batch, which you can then individually adjust if needed.
I appreciate that this has appeared as an idea before, most recently aboutr 2 years ago but it is such an obvious improvement I make no apologies for renewing it...I would like to be able to name custom crops in Lightroom Dev module. That's it. Easy. Thank you.
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