Crop tool in Affinity photo

[wimbledon boy]

The crop tool does not function at all in Affinity photo. All I get is the corner move move symbol. Does anyone else have this problem?

[MikeTO]

It works fine for me but it works differently from Photoshop if that's what you're used to. Instead of selecting an area and then choosing Crop like in Photoshop you would select the Crop tool, move the selection handles to the desired cropping area, and then click Apply in the Context bar (or press Return). If you don't have the Context Bar open you can still press Return to apply the cropping area.

[Fixx]

Crop tool behaves very similarly in PS and AP. Both start with full area (no crop). In PS you can draw a new crop area, in AP you have to adjust he one you have onscreen. PS adjusts view when adjusting crop, AP stays as it is. PS crop is destructive, in AP you can regain cropped pixels by readjusting the crop later.

I guess there is something else going on if crop tool does not behave as expected.

[wimbledon boy]

Thanks for your assistance but to no avail. The selection handles do not even appear. I would say quite simply it is dysfunctional. When I click on the tool it does not bring up the the appropriate action.

[Dan C]

Hi @wimbledon boy,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums

Can you please provide a screenshot of the results you're seeing when selecting the Crop tool, or preferably a Screen recording showing your open document, the steps you are taking and the results (or lack thereof) that you're seeing when trying to use the crop tool currently?

If you're unsure how to take a screen recording, please check out our FAQ linked below - 

This would certainly help us to better understand the issue you're reporting here. Many thanks in advance!

[PaulEC]

21 hours ago, MikeTO said:

It works fine for me but it works differently from Photoshop if that's what you're used to. Instead of selecting an area and then choosing Crop like in Photoshop you would select the Crop tool, move the selection handles to the desired cropping area, and then click Apply in the Context bar (or press Return).

 

6 hours ago, Fixx said:

Crop tool behaves very similarly in PS and AP. Both start with full area (no crop). In PS you can draw a new crop area, in AP you have to adjust he one you have onscreen.

Actually you can draw a new crop area in APhoto. Just start drawing it within the picture. (You can't start outside the picture.) You can adjust the area you've just drawn, if you need to, using its handles and/or rotate the picture.

[wimbledon boy]

Thanks Dan C I will try a screen shot to begin with. Regards WB

[wimbledon boy]

There is also the tiny corner shift symbol that appears but disappeared when I took the screen shot.

[Dan C]

Many thanks for your screenshot! That's certainly strange as you should be seeing a 'grid' over the image, which you can manipulate to crop the image -

Can you please navigate to Edit > Preferences > Performance and provide a screenshot of your settings here for me?

[Old Bruce]

45 minutes ago, Dan C said:

Many thanks for your screenshot! That's certainly strange as you should be seeing a 'grid' over the image, which you can manipulate to crop the image 

Not if you turn off the overlay for the grid. Check the Context Toolbar for the overlay it is set to None.

[PaulEC]

Even if the overlay is set to "None" you should still see the handles, which are not visible in wimbledon boy's screenshot.

(I suspect the problem may be with the OpenCL setting.)

[Dan C]

22 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

Even if the overlay is set to "None" you should still see the handles, which are not visible in wimbledon boy's screenshot.

Apologies, this is what I was referring to in regards to the 'grid' but I certainly could have worded that better! 

[wimbledon boy]

[wimbledon boy]

Could not get to Performance, your links Edit>Preferences>Performance do not correspond with my computer. I used links Affinity Designer>Preferences and screen shot shows what came up. Many thanks WB

[MEB]

On macOS the Preferences are located in Affinity Photo > Preferences, Performance section/tab.

[Dan C]

2 minutes ago, wimbledon boy said:

Could not get to Performance, your links Edit>Preferences>Performance do not correspond with my computer. I used links Affinity Designer>Preferences and screen shot shows what came up. Many thanks WB

Apologies, I can see you're using Mac and not Windows. You should find this under Affinity Photo > Preferences > Performance.

If you select the 'back arrow' in the top left of the dialog that you've provided a screenshot of, this will return you to 'Preferences' and you should see the 'Performance' option as one of the thumbnails here.

Select Performance and then the option at the bottom of these settings should be for 'Metal' Hardware Acceleration. Untick this option and then restart the app as prompted, then try using the Crop Tool once again. Do you now see the tool handles as expected?

[Fixx]

3 hours ago, PaulEC said:

Actually you can draw a new crop area in APhoto. Just start drawing it within the picture. (You can't start outside the picture.) You can adjust the area you've just drawn, if you need to, using its handles and/or rotate the picture.

OK yes... it is possible. Most of the time I end moving the crop are though, not drawing a new one. I cannot quite pinpoint how to select behaviour.

[wimbledon boy]

On 7/19/2021 at 4:18 PM, Dan C said:

Apologies, I can see you're using Mac and not Windows. You should find this under Affinity Photo > Preferences > Performance.

If you select the 'back arrow' in the top left of the dialog that you've provided a screenshot of, this will return you to 'Preferences' and you should see the 'Performance' option as one of the thumbnails here.

Select Performance and then the option at the bottom of these settings should be for 'Metal' Hardware Acceleration. Untick this option and then restart the app as prompted, then try using the Crop Tool once again. Do you now see the tool handles as expected?

 

[wimbledon boy]

Hi Dan C, sorry for delay in coming back to you, had unfortunate family issue to deal with.

I have followed your guidelines as suggested and I don't see any 'Metal' Hardware Acceleration to untick. I do see the word 'Metal' as in screen shot herewith.   

[dutchshader]

dpi is set to 1 ?

[Dan C]

No problem at all, I certainly understand and many thanks for the screenshot provided!

On 7/21/2021 at 10:59 AM, wimbledon boy said:

I have followed your guidelines as suggested and I don't see any 'Metal' Hardware Acceleration to untick. I do see the word 'Metal' as in screen shot herewith. 

I can see from your screenshot that your Mac does not support Metal Hardware Acceleration, so please don't worry about this.

I believe that dutchshader has pointed to the potential issue here - your image is showing as '1 DPI' in Affinity, which is far too low. With your crop size set to 205px x 90px, the crop 'handles' are actually much, much larger than your image currently - which is why you can't se them.

If you zoom out, you should find the crop handles are visible here. You can also use the 'Reset' option on the context toolbar, to return the crop size to the default size, which should be the same size as your canvas currently.

In regards to the image itself, have you manually set this to 1 DPI, or was this how the image was imported into Affinity? Could you provide a copy of this image here for me?

Many thanks in advance!

[wimbledon boy]

Many thanks once again Dan C 

This image was copied from the internet so that must have been how it downloaded. Having said that all the images I use in Affinity Photo, even those from my photos file I have exactly the same problem, I cannot crop.

Best Regard WB

[Dan C]

No problem at all, many thanks for confirming that for me!

I suspect there may be a setting cached incorrectly, causing all your images to open at 1DPI, therefore I'd like to try resetting your app back to default settings - to see if this resolves the issue once and for all for you

You can reset your app back to its default settings by holding down the CTRL key while launching the app. When the Clear User Data window appears, click Select All and then Clear. The app will now open.

Be aware that resetting your app back to its default settings will lose any custom settings such as keyboard shortcuts and brushes etc.

Please do let me know if this helps!

[wimbledon boy]

Hi Dan C 

Yes that did the trick, sorry to have taken up so much of your time. I guess it serves as a warning to be cautious when downloading photos from the internet, this pic clearly adjusted the settings somehow.

Eternally grateful,

Wimbledon Boy