Auto Expand Canvas via Crop Tool in Photoshop

[NoobNobods]

Hello,

Is there a way to expand the canvas using the crop tool without manually dragging the bounding box?

If I use Image > Canvas Size, the document expands with a solid color covering the original cropped pixels.

If I use the Crop Tool and type in a fixed size, it resizes and crops the image again instead of expanding the canvas.

Thanks in advance!

{Thread renamed by moderator}

**EDIT

I have the extension resolved, but now my issue is automating the crop from selection.

I can crop the image from selection with Image > Crop, however this does not preserve the cropped pixels.

When I record using the crop tool, select C will crop to the selection, but does not transfer well into other images.

Instead, the action crops the same dimensions, but from the same center point as the original image the action was recorded in.

Is there an option to apply the crop to selection into the action script?

[Sahil.Chawla]

Hi there,

You can hold the bound box from one of corners and then expand the canvas by dragging it. As shown below:

Regards,
Sahil 

[NoobNobods]

Hi Sahil, thank you for your response.

However, is there a way to type in the extended dimensions instead of dragging the bounding box?

[Nancy OShea]

Let's back up a bit.

1.  What is the original image size and resolution?

2. What is the target size and resolution? 

For best results, they should be the same aspect ratio.   And then you can create a crop preset that does not require dragging the box. .

[NoobNobods]

What I'm trying to achieve:

I have 1,000 retouched product images with a cast shadow.

I'm trying to automate a resize/crop  for the images so they are consistent in size and centering.

My current steps:

- Select Subject

- Expand selection (16 px)

- Crop Tool from selection (to maintain cropped pixels)

- Resize height of image down to 2000 px

This is where I'm trying to extend the canvas to 5000 px by 3500 px (this size may vary with eComm) while keeping the original pixels so the image maintains the cast shadow.

I can achieve this manually, but would like to apply this to an action script to batch the process.