My Photography Book

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

How To Edit Photos - Cropping For The Perfect Picture

By David Peters


The composition of a photograph can either draw the eye to your work, or fail to get across the desired message to the viewer. Many elements are needed to create a wonderful photograph, but composition is one of the most important. Composition deals with how the various elements of the photograph work together in both placement and interaction to convey what the photographer sees and feels.

Knowing what creates a good composition defines the great photographers from the amateurs. Many factors make up good composition, but cropping is perhaps one of the most important parts.

Photoshop makes it easy to improve the composition of a photograph if you become familiar with the cropping tool. You can quickly and easily cut out parts of the photo that you don't want or that distract from the main subject. Photoshop makes cropping as precise as you need it to be by allowing you to measure areas to be cut.

One of the major advantages of the cropping tools in Photoshop is that correcting mistakes or even starting over after cropping is easy. All you have to do go back to the beginning and try again. You can basically try out with an infinite number of possibilities.

The following are some tips for better cropping.

Consider the Rule of Thirds

One example of the differences between the professional and the novice photographer is in the placement of the subject within the image. The professional seldom centers the subject in the picture, while the amateur almost always does. Place the subject off center for a much more professional and eye-catching result. Imagine lines dividing your image into thirds and crop your picture accordingly so that the subject lies in one of the outer thirds. Make a copy of the original photograph in a separate folder for reference, and then try out cropping your subject using the rule of thirds.

Cropping to Traditional Print Sizes

Standard photo sizes such as 4x6 are easier to frame, so make sure to check the sizing when cropping a photo. Should your image not conform to standard dimensions, simply cut off or add back a little of your photo to meet these sizes. Without this, a photo lab may crop off more than you would want or in the wrong area of the photo to make them print the right size.

Framing an image through your camera can take backseat thanks to the cropping tool available in Photoshop. Any adjustments and editing can be made sitting at your computer. Another nice feature of Photoshop cropping is that no matter the Photoshop Elements version or the Photoshop CS version, the basic steps remain the same.




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