Participant

Question

Crop Tool Changes ?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
April 21, 2019
10 replies
4918 views

Has the crop tool been modified in the latest version of Photoshop ?

Just downloaded the latest version via CC on my MacBook and noticed the crop tool no appears to have a fancy 2 lined box style, which makes getting precise crops a nightmare compared to the old version.

Anybody else noticed this / know if there's an option to restore it back to the old version ?

Thanks,

Paul.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Jeff Arola

Community Expert

You have a good eye for detail, since it appears that's a change in photoshop cc2018 (photoshop version 20).

Here's a screenshot from photoshop cc 2017 (version 19.1.6) running on Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.6

Photoshop cc 2018 on windows 10 1709 i looked at exhibits the same change, it's just harder to see.

One needs to take a screenshot of the image at 100% view with the crop tool drawn out, then open the screenshot and zoom in.

Semaphoric

Community Expert

Jeff, you saw this under Windows as well? The screen grab I posted was pasted and scaled up 400% using nearest neighbor, PS CC2019 under Windows 10. Also tried CC2018 with same results.

Jeff Arola

Community Expert

Looks like the outer White Line (border) aligns with guides.

Screenshot from photoshop cc 2019 (20.0.4) running macOS Mojave 10.14.4

Looks the same in Normal or Classic mode.

eugene525

Inspiring

It seems like Adobe is changing things simply to show they are changing things. The crop tool has been wacked in some ways. In Photoshop CS6 and before, the anchors overlapped slightly into the image so you knew where they were. Of course, it's obvious where the corner anchors might be but you have to poke around blindly to find the center anchors, left/right, top/bottom. If you have a full image up and select the crop tool, click on the image, the anchors are there but BEYOND the edges of the image, so, therefore, invisible. What's the goal of that?

Also, the tools in the menu, in general, aren't that obvious as to what they do? Why did the eraser change to the latest icon? It doesn't resemble an eraser. The wand tool doesn't resemble anything. They are like those annoying icons on clothing from Europe. Does anyone really know which symbol means Don't Use Bleach? If feels like the cheap version of Photoshop now. Was it really broken?

Conrad_C

Community Expert

eugene525 wrote
It seems like Adobe is changing things simply to show they are changing things...Why did the eraser change to the latest icon? It doesn't resemble an eraser...If feels like the cheap version of Photoshop now. Was it really broken?

I think the reason they changed things was that the old way of drawing bounding boxes across the program was rapidly breaking down as screens went to higher resolutions. The old Crop tool boundary, and many other selection indicator lines in the program including bounding boxes and paths, used to be one pixel wide. As we started using screens at HiDPI/Retina resolutions (200 ppi and up), that one-pixel wide line was getting thinner and harder to see on busy backgrounds. I think there were complaints on the forums about this.

The new borders are multiple pixels wide, use a combination of black and white, and provide thicker handles. That creates a better figure/ground visibility on various backgrounds on higher resolution displays. But if you don't think the solution was the right one, you have every right to let Adobe know what a better solution would be. (The difference with the Photoshop Feedback site I linked to there, is that specific ideas can be voted on by users, and Adobe engineers tend to respond there, not here on the user-to-user forum.)

Below is a comparison of the crop rectangle UIs in Photoshop CS6 (left) and CC 2019 (right) on a 227 ppi display. The CS6 version, which looked more or less OK on a legacy 90-120 ppi screen, is harder to work with on a HiDPI/Retina display. The CC 2019 version has better contrast and larger, more visible handles that are easier to grab. Also, you can compare the eraser tools. The current Eraser icon resembles the traditional two-tone ink+pencil eraser.

How about the old icon? In the Photoshop CS6 screen shot above, it looks more like a stick of butter than an eraser. I guess that's why they updated it; a simple 3D rectangle could be anything from a brick to a bar of soap. And to address your question about how to tell what these icons mean, that's probably why they enlarged and animated the tool tips, so if you want to know what a tool icon means, just hover the pointer over it.

Semaphoric

Community Expert

I wonder if it's a Mac thing. On my Windows 10 system, it's just a single line:

barbara_a7746676

Community Expert

The crop tool appears to be cropping to the inner line.

If you turn on the cap lock key you will get a precision cursor that looks like a cross hair. That would help to position the crop tool exactly where you want.

P

pauls17401630Author

Participant

There's a couple of screenshots in my earlier post. When you draw the crop you'll get the usual marquee / marching ants. Once you let go of the mouse prior to committing you get what I posted in my previous post - black crop border with a white outline. Quite sure it used to be just the black border ? Seeing just the black border in the 2017 version here at work.

P

pauls17401630Author

Participant

Still appears to be doing the same on a tool / complete application reset. On version 20.0.4 here.

Norman Sanders

Legend

Post as screen shot so that we all can see the effect you described and confirm whether it appears as soon as you draw the crop, before you commit.

Barb Binder

Community Expert

Hi Paul:

As a heads up, you can also crop by drawing a rectangle with the Rectangle Marquee tool, then select Image > Crop. If you don’t need the other controls in the Crop Options bar, this might be a viable alternative.

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training

barbara_a7746676

Community Expert

The crop tool looks exactly the same to me.

Can you post a screen capture of what yours looks like?

Norman Sanders

Legend

Choose the Crop tool. In the Options bar is a gear. Click on it and in the drop-down menu choose Use Classic Mode.

Is that the old mode you are looking for? If not, check the other controls in the menu.

P

pauls17401630Author

Participant

I don't think it's that by the looks of it. Looks like they've added a 1 pixel border to the crop tool, which just seems bizarre for something that's meant to be a precise tool.

Norman Sanders

Legend

Try resetting the Crop Tool. Right click on the Crop. symbol at the top far left on the Options bar and choose Reset tool.

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