Cropping in Affinity photo

[Septimus]

I am trying to crop to a specific dimension - say 6 x 4 - When I select that in the presets in the mode menu it opens a crop box with that ratio but as soon as I try to resize it to cover the area I require it becomes free moving and the width and height no longer keep their ratio. How do I prevent this happening?

 

I've just tried all the presets and the ones with the ratio 1:1 5:7 8:10 work OK but those marked  - " - pixels - A4 dont constrain the ratio.

[Alfred]

The supplied presets include 6" x 4", not 6:4. In other words, when you choose what you've referred to as the '6 x 4' preset you get absolute dimensions which can be changed. If you want a fixed ratio of 6 by 4, set the cropping mode to 'Custom Ratio' and type 6 and 4 into the boxes; you can then use the 'Add Preset' option in the Mode dropdown list to save the new custom ratio.

[Septimus]

Thank you. Yes that works. I cant quite see the point of those presets that do not maintain their ratios though

[Alfred]

I can't quite see the point of choosing a 6" x 4" preset if you don't want the end result to be 6" x 4". ;)

[Septimus]

Thats the point I do want it to be 6 x 4 but if you try to change its location within the image the ratios are not constrained

[Septimus]

I'm attaching a couple of screen grabs which perhaps will help explain it. The first shows the image for cropping and I clicked on the A4 preset. You will see that the crop area is way larger than the image. I then grab a corner to resize it and as you can see I can change the shape to a square.

 

I was going to attach screen grabs but cant see how. Is there no way to attach images to these posts?

[R C-R]

If you grab a corner & drag it the crop size will change because that is what you are telling it to do. If you want for example a 6" by 4" crop do not drag a corner; instead drag from inside the crop box to move it to wherever in the image you want the 6" by 4" crop to occur.

 

Screen shots can be attached by using the "More Reply Options" button. You must first choose a file & then attach it to your post.

[Septimus]

See attached. In a4crop1 I have just opened the A4 crop setting. It is too large for the photo. If I want an A4 ratio how do I put the mask inside the photo? If I hold a corner to move it the ratio is not constrained (see A4crop2) If I put the cursor inside the crop box it just moves the whole crop but doesn't resize it. It remains too big

[Alfred]

A4 is 297mm x 210mm, so you need to use a custom ratio of 297:210.

[Septimus]

Yes i realise that now. After resolving my problem I just asked what the point of those presets was if they didn't hold there ratios.

[Alfred]

But they aren't meant to hold their ratios, they're meant to be a particular size (which, as R C-R has pointed out, they will retain if you drag from inside the crop box to move them).

[JimmyJack]

It's worth mentioning...

 

If you enter specific Absolute Dimensions and then switch to Custom Ratio the proportions will stick and you can adjust the frame as you like. (of course you will have to resize after)

[3DKiwi]

Have to say that after upgrading from Photoplus X6 to Affinity Photo I'm very disappointed with cropping. I too don't like how if you select a 4" x 6" crop preset then drag on the corner to resize how the aspect ratio is not maintained as it is in Photoplus X6. The workaround is to create your own 4 x 6 preset. That works and I can live with it. What I find incredibly bad is how if i want to crop 100 photos every new photo I've got to go back to the crop menu to select the aspect ratio. With Photoplus X6 it uses the last selected crop ratio. This makes editing photos so much quicker.

[WriterDeb]

It IS a problem that holding the Shift key does not maintain proportions. I have found the combo that does the constraint but I keep forgetting the combo and it's not found under Help. Shift is a standard.

It IS an issue that when you set a proportion to be maintained, we cannot adjust within the image. When an image is 1800px and I need 270x250, and have set a custom proportion for 270x250, I SHOULD be able to choose which part of the image to be within the final crop. Photoshop has enabled this since at least the 90s. I expect Affinity to perform this important function.

I should be able to Search Help for "constrain" and find the key combo.

[walt.farrell]

9 hours ago, WriterDeb said:

It IS an issue that when you set a proportion to be maintained, we cannot adjust within the image. When an image is 1800px and I need 270x250, and have set a custom proportion for 270x250, I SHOULD be able to choose which part of the image to be within the final crop. Photoshop has enabled this since at least the 90s. I expect Affinity to perform this important function.

You can do that. Having set the ratio, you can adjust the size of the cropping box, and you can drag it around within the image to select the portion you want.

[Tezlefty]

This forum and all the You tube commentary etc seem to be unable to connect question to answer. I think I can explain how it works better than other attempts to explain or reply on this forum. 

Firstly, I am new to Affinity Photo and I too am shocked at the clumsy crop facility that any working photographer uses as basic to the workflow. 

The Question : What EVERYONE is asking,  is to be able to set a an absolute final size eg 1500x2100 pixels then be able to resize the 5x7 ratio crop box to selectively crop different areas without losing ratio, to be able to not only move the  fixed ratio crop box but also to resize it without losing ratio  AND END UP WITH a resampled 1500x2100 pixel image.

You should be able to enlarge or shrink the 5x7 crop box without losing ratio fixed to give you the final dimensions as  5x7@300ppi or 1500x2100pixels regardless of how much of the image has been cropped. 

My answer: How I found the logic of this program works to achieve that. 

To do the above, as example,  you have to choose fixed ratio, 5:7. Forget about ppi for now. You crop to your preferred composition.

It is when you EXPORT the file when  the absolute dimensions get locked in through resampling.

After you choose export you'll see the actual pixels you have left after the crop. They will be anything but in a 5:7 ratio. You then set the pixels of one of the sides, say 1500,  and the other side will automatically change in proportion to be 2100 px. You then choose the JPG quality if exporting as JPG, etc. (PPI is irrelevant in this context)

I am currently doing whole lot of graduation portraits, all shot on 2:3 ratio and all needing to be cropped to 1500x2100. I then need to send these online to my lab so I need to send final print size at best quality and smallest file size i.e. actual pixels. But I have to keep resetting the tool.

I DO NOT LIKE that it does not keep the same last used option. It reverts to unconstrained each time.  I have to keep re-setting and rechoosing the ratio with every single photo.

I DO NOT LIKE  that I have to remember to ”input” the final size for each export. I prefer to be able to set ratio, enlarge the crop box and have the software compute the resampling, choose whether Bicubic or bilinear is best (if enlarging or shrinking) etc. 

I DO NOT LIKE  that this process means  that sharpening is applied before final pixels size is fixed when exported. 

I DO NOT LIKE that I cannot Apply Last Filter with key command-F on the next file, only on the existing file and only after its been applied once. 

I DO NOT LIKE that I need to mouse up to click in each field to set the pixel size and that the locked ratio does not automatically adjust the adjacent box until I click in it , or that I have to click on the export button instead of it being a default  that i can key with the Enter. 

I DO NOT LIKE that when I open a number of files from a folder they do not open in the tabs in file number order, so photos which are shot in the same scene needing similar edits  do not appear sequentially as I close file and go to the next one, so i don't remember exactly what i just did and have to recalibrate each scene again and again when it reappears.  

 

[MEB]

Hi Tezlefty,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Currently Affinity Photo doesn't crop and resize in a single step as Photoshop and other software - this was already mentioned in quite a few threads. You have to perform the crop first then resize/resample the document (using menu Document ▸ Resize Document...) or export it and perform the resize/resample on export. There's improvements to Affinity Photo v1.7's crop tool that will allow you to what you want (that is, crop and resize at the same time within the Crop Tool) but I don't know enough details yet to go into details - maybe some of the workflow issues you pointed out were already improved/corrected for the next version. In any case I suggest  you add your feedback/suggestions in the Suggestions for Affinity Photo on Desktop section which is closely monitored by the dev team.

[Tezlefty]

Hi MEB, 

 

Yes, thanks, if you read my post you will see that I discovered that for myself and was sharing it - because I searched online and watched you youtube tutorials and nowhere was it stated clearly. Nor was it clearly stated in this thread either.  

Your sentence "Currently Affinity Photo doesn't crop and resize in a single step as Photoshop and other software .... You have to perform the crop first then resize/resample the document (using menu Document ▸ Resize Document...) or export it and perform the resize/resample on export.:.”  - is indeed the clear answer and  should be clearly stated, front and centre, for any questions or tutorials  regarding Affinity Photo Cropping.