Cannot constrain Crop tool

[krgraham]

I cannot get the crop tool to work properly. I set the mode (e.g. to 6x4) but as soon as I drag any of the handles, whether or not holding the shift key, the outline is always unconstrained. There must be a way to lock in the crop ratio but I CANNOT get it to work. I've tried changing the move tool Preferences but this has no effect.

[Madame]

Hi.

 

Try to use the alt (opt) key when the crop tool is selected.

[LilleG]

Thanks, Madame.  I didn't know that either.  

[barninga]

i experimented a little and found that it looks like there are two kinds of constraints in the list and they work differently.

 

the first kind specifies a ratio. in my setup, i have three default values: 1:1, 5:7 and 8:10.

since these are pure ratios, selecting one of them makes AP create the largest crop rectangle whose sides are in that ratio. dragging the handles forces the rectangle to grow or shrink, and the sides size will respect that ratio.

 

the second kind of constraints specifies absolute sizes. in my default setup, i have 6" x 4" and 8.5" x 11".

since these are absolute sizes, selecting one of them makes AP create a crop rectangle that matches those sizes (taking in account the dpi setting of the image, i guess). keeping the ratio between sides if the handles are dragged does not make sense, since this action changes the absolute sizes of the crop and this makes the initial definition unuseful. when selecting an absolute dimension crop, the only action that makes sense is dragging the rectangle around.

maybe, the developers could have disabled the dragging action in these cases, but i guess they didn't for sake of flexibility and usability.

 

if you need to use those dimensions as ratios (6:4, 8.5:11), just set the crop mode to "custom ratio", enter the values into the fields on the right of the dropdown menu and save them as a preset (from the dropdown menu again).

[Glenar]

Thanks, barninga. That was a great answer.

[krgraham]

Thanks, barninga. That was a great answer. Madame also provide help as using the Alt (option) key when dragging on a corner will maintain the ratio if absolute dimensions are specified.

• Like This
  

• Quote
  
• MultiQuote
  
• 
  
   
  
  
  
•