Why does cropping now actually crop my image instead of letting me adjust the cropping box?

[michelle.dunn]

Hi,

All of a sudden (in the past two days) cropping now actually crops my original image rather than letting me adjust where I want the cropping box to go. WTH?? What do I do to get it back to allowing me to decide where I want the cropping box to go? Please help as this is going to make me crazy.

This is my first time posting here so not sure what other info I need to give... MBP Big Sur 11.5.2, it was all working totally fine until maybe yesterday (September 25) when I first noticed it happening. I don't think I changed or toggled anything, I pretty much use it all day every day for really basic things like cropping photos and sizing for social media.

Thanks,

Michelle.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

First off: Please post screenshots (and meaningful ones at that, so they should include ALL pertinent Panels etc.)

Please read this (in particular the section titled "Supply pertinent information for more timely and effective answers”):

https://community.adobe.com/t5/using-the-community/community-how-to-guide-tips-amp-best-practices/td...

Have you reset the Tool itself yet? 

What have you done for all-purpose trouble-shooting so far? 

Restoring Preferences after making sure all customized presets like Actions, Patterns, Brushes etc. have been saved might be a good starting point:

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/preferences.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/basic-trouble-shooting-steps.html

[jane-e]

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@michelle.dunn wrote:

... cropping now actually crops my original image rather than letting me adjust where I want the cropping box to go.

Hi Michelle,

In addition to what @c.pfaffenbichler said:

• If you make a selection, then go to Image menu > Crop, then the crop is immediate as you describe.
• If you use the Crop tool "C", you should be able to adjust the crop edges (using the constraints you have set in the options bar) before you accept the crop. 

Please clarify so we can better assist.

~ Jane

[michelle.dunn]

Hello Jane, thank you for your reply. I've taken some screenshots which will hopefully help illustrate what I'm talking about. 

From what I can tell, the "difference" seems to be that rather than moving the cropping box on top of the image as was the case previously, it now seems that as soon as I "click" on the box at all to move it across the image, it crops to the box, and then moves the IMAGE behind or inside of the cropping box. I'm still able to adjust the cropping box dimensions by coming in from the corners, but I can't position the box where I want it on the surface of the image rather now I am moving the image around instead. I hope this makes sense.

It's for sure not something I adjusted so I am quite hesitant to just reset tools or settings, as I have had major issues in the past with losing presets and tool settings upon doing things at the recommendation of Adobe tech support even with them logged into my computer. If this is an update in a new version for example, there's nothing I can do about it I'm sure, I just wish it was not the case. 

Screenshots: I've picked an image that will hopefully show where the cropping box is. It's set to crop to instagram 5x7 so 1008px720px. I open an image, select the cropping tool, which brings up the cropping windowpane on the surface of my image. I can still adjust the size of the cropping box using the corners. But as soon as I "touch" or click as though I was going to move the cropping box around with my mouse/cursor, it completes the crop (I believe it defaults to the middle/centre of the image) and the only thing I can do is move the image around inside of the cropping box. I'm just finding it challenging to train my brain to do the opposite of what I have been doing for so long, also, honestly I just prefer being able to see the entire image and figure out exactly where I want the cropping box to be.

Thank you for your help.

Michelle.

[gener7]

Just my guess, but sounds like the crop shield is 100% (Opaque). Go under Settings and see what you have: