is Crop to selection possible

[traildriver]

So, I'm a couple days into a trial version of AP 1.7.0. So far, I like it very much and probably will join the hordes moving from Adobe. Alas, one of the first things I find missing is crop to selection. I stumbled on this forum looking online for ideas on how to do it. Pretty much astounded that it isn't possible except via workarounds that don't really seem satisfactory. In Photoshop, I had (have) a fast efficient workflow allowing me to fly through image files, trimming away excess stuff and saving the file with a few keystrokes—two actually. Draw a marquee box, use a keyboard shortcut (I created option-command-/) to perform the crop in one motion, Save (command-S). Bingo. Done. Next...

As others have pointed out, trimming excess junk from screen shots is routine, and likewise trimming scans that were not cropped during the scan is a pretty common scenario. It seems basic that image editing software should be usable for images of all kinds. Cropping should be an almost instantaneous action, if that's what the user is intending to do. 

I don't want to say this will be a deal breaker, but I do want to the Affinity development team to understand how important this feature is—obviously it is to many people (I had no idea). Dragging handles of a box using a separate tool, or copying to the clipboard and saving to a new layer or new document, then exporting, etc. isn't going to work for me. I am usually working on a set of images that are not the source files (if a mistake is made, it's not catastrophic) or I am destructively editing on purpose.

I suspect I am about to buy Affinity Photo, but I do want to chime in right from the get-go and echo the request of legions of others who have been asking for crop-to-selection for several years. This is probably the single most valuable (to me) feature I could hope to see incorporated in AP. Fingers crossed!

One last thing. The problem with the existing crop tool is that a pre-drawn grid appears on screen when the tool is selected. What slows users down is having to find the handles and drag them carefully to at least two different locations to resize the crop area. What if there was an option NOT to have the grid appear automatically but allow the user to simply click on the image and drag out the crop box to the desired size, then hit Return, and Bam—image cropped. Hit Save and move on. I know nothing about coding so have no idea whether this is a viable concept.

Anyway, tally my vote for crop-to-selection in a (not too far in the) future version of Affinity Photo. Thanks!

[Nathan]

12 hours ago, traildriver said:

allow the user to simply click on the image and drag out the crop box to the desired size, then hit Return, and Bam—image cropped

Strangely, the first time I open a project I can do that, but if I try to crop again, I can only move the crop.

[PaulEC]

14 hours ago, traildriver said:

last thing. The problem with the existing crop tool is that a pre-drawn grid appears on screen when the tool is selected. What slows users down is having to find the handles and drag them carefully to at least two different locations to resize the crop area. What if there was an option NOT to have the grid appear automatically but allow the user to simply click on the image and drag out the crop box to the desired size, then hit Return, and Bam—image cropped

You can do that - just ignore the pre-drawn grid and draw out a new one.

[traildriver]

That would be great, but I'm not seeing how to do that. When I am inside the grid, moving the cursor moves the entire grid. Outside the grid, the cursor defaults to the rotate cursor. So, I'm only seeing these two options at the moment. Being able to draw out a custom crop grid would (I think) basically solve the issue that so many people have been commenting on. Is there something you are doing that might not be obvious to the first time user? Thanks!

[oO5Dynasty]

Yo be honest it’s a feature a lot of us would like to see implemented. Hopefully it gets implemented and if it doesn’t then their is nothing we can do about it. For me crop to selection is apart of my workflow in every project. It’s just how I like to work and I would like to see it implemented.

[Jowday]

Crop tool: crop rectangle or square - usually cropping a photo or screenshot

Crop to selection: crop to WHATEVER type of selection - especially irregular areas - to keep only that area in the file only discard the rest forever. It is part of a well thought out workflow.

I rarely use the crop tool at ALL when I am not working with photographs.

[R C-R]

10 hours ago, PaulEC said:

You can do that - just ignore the pre-drawn grid and draw out a new one.

 

3 hours ago, traildriver said:

That would be great, but I'm not seeing how to do that. When I am inside the grid, moving the cursor moves the entire grid. Outside the grid, the cursor defaults to the rotate cursor.

I think what @PaulEC is talking about works with any crop Mode except the default "Unconstrained" one you get when you first click on the tool. At least for me, even clicking the "Reset" button on the context toolbar immediately after the tool's crop window opens 'resets' the "Unconstrained" crop mode to how it should work (& I believe used to work without that extra step in the Mac 1.6.x versions).

So as things stand now in the 1.7 version, you can't just ignore the grid straight away -- you have to either change crop modes or 'reset' the default to the ... well, default ... before that will work.

[traildriver]

Might be getting there, and this touches on what @Nathan and @PaulEC said. I just discovered that when you bring an image into AP, then go to the crop tool, the FIRST time the tool opens, the overlay is displayed (not always a grid so I will stop using that word). The FIRST time is key, because if you move the cursor inside the overlay frame before doing anything else, a crosshair cursor appears allowing you to do just as @PaulEC said—you CAN draw out your own crop box, hit Return, and voila, you've got your crop. It seems that if you do anything else with the crop tool open, the option to draw your own frame evaporates—at least that's been my experience thus far. I've repeated this a couple times now. If you inadvertently do anything when the crop tool is opened—like click a handle or click the rotate cursor outside the initial crop frame, the option to draw your own frame is gone. The solution: close the image and bring it back into AP, go to the crop tool, and immediately go inside whatever frame is showing and see if you get a crosshair cursor that allows you to drag out your own frame. Wow. This seems pretty obscure, and it merits further tests. I have no idea if this works if you've done other things to the image in AP. But if your main intent is to crop using a rectangular shape, try this.

And I concur with @Jowday about crop to selection. I usually use a rectangle, so was describing it that way, but technically it can (or should be) be any shape selected. And I don't think the AP crop tool allows anything but four straight sides, right? So the crop tool is not really the same as "crop to selection." But it feels like progress. Thanks everyone!

[koskow]

@traildriver 

I noticed that as well and was going to make a video to see if anyone was experiencing that aside from me.  Thanks for saving me the time of having to do that.

I did notice this:

If you click the Reset button, you can click and drag again.

 

[traildriver]

Awesome—yes, it works! Thanks @koskow ! @R C-R mentioned Reset too and it works for me regardless of the Mode setting.

[R C-R]

10 minutes ago, traildriver said:

Awesome—yes, it works! Thanks @koskow ! @R C-R mentioned Reset too and it works for me regardless of the Mode setting.

I can't figure out if this is a bug or 'by design' -- but I think this is a new behavior in 1.7.

[traildriver]

Winding down here—maybe... The conversation has, I think, been about the crop tool in the Photo Persona. I've discovered there is a crop tool in the Develop Persona as well. The two crop layouts are very nearly the same, except the layout in the Develop Persona is missing the Reset button. Why? It seems the only recourse if you need to back up is to either select Undo in the Edit menu (or Command-Z) or hit the Cancel button. Neither option is very elegant. If you choose Undo, you still lose the ability to draw out a custom crop area until you leave the Develop Persona and come back in again. If you hit Cancel, you are jumped back to the Photo Persona and have to then re-enter the Develop Persona and try the crop again. IMHO this seems really clunky. Why not just have a Reset button the same place it is found in the Photo Persona? The screen real estate is there to do it—I don't get it. Echoing @R C-R is this a bug or by design?

All that said, as a newbie, I don't yet have a grip on what circumstances lead the user to cropping in the Develop Persona, and if one is inadvertently bounced back to the Photo Persona, one can just do the crop there. I think my point is that the crop tool layout/behavior is inconsistent between the two modes or personas. Once a user figures all this stuff out (and can remember the quirks) I'm sure you eventually get used to things, whether they make sense or not.

[traildriver]

Hoping not to wear out my welcome...  please advise if this should be a new thread. It does have to do with cropping however.

Photoshop [Perspective Crop Tool] allows the user to correct (straighten the edges of) a distorted / skewed rectangle (trapezoid) by dragging a warp mesh (?) to the corners. Hitting Return straightens everything (sets the corners to 90 degrees) and crops in one keystroke. I'm looking for how to do this in Affinity Photo. I did experiment with the Distortion slider which is found under the tab for Lens > Lens Correction in the Develop Persona. Moving the slider makes edges either uniformly convex or concave, but this doesn't solve the issue of "squaring up" a distorted rectangular shape.

The Mesh Warp tool in AP (Photo Persona) seems to be for adding "distortion" rather than correcting it. Any idea about how to "square up" corners of a skewed/warped rectangle? (Sorry if my terminology is off a bit). Thanks!

Edited June 13, 2019 by traildriver

[jullit31]

@traildriver I think you should start an new topic for something like this, but you are looking for the Perspective Filter.

[traildriver]

Thanks @jullit31 — Yes, it seems that's what I need. I hadn't worked with the tool sufficiently to understand the different settings. No need to start a new thread now. Much appreciated!

[Frozen Death Knight]

I think there should be several ways to do this in the Affinity Suite. Right now you can do it by creating a New From Clipboard document, but 1) it doesn't actually keep the DPI of the original file, which is a big no no in my eyes, and 2) this is hidden away in a menu when it could just as well be shown in the R click menu when clicking on layers.

Here's a list of ways I would like to see in Affinity to make pixel perfect crops:
 

1.  The crop tool has a menu option to make crops based on selected layers or on empty pixel space.
    
2. Create new document from clipboard needs to create a document based on original document DPI and should be accessible in the R click menu in the Layers panel.
    
3. The Export Persona should have the option to make slices based on layers selected with pixel perfect cropping if you want to work with non-destructive cropping. Right now you can crop based on layers, but I haven't found a way to make it crop based on pixel perfect dimensions when working in Photo.
    
4. Finally, the ability to create an Embedded Document while using R click on selected layers, which is basically what a Smart Object is in Photoshop. This would both solve two issues at the same time, since 1) it would make your original file do non-destructive cropping since it is embedded into the original file, and b) make creating embedded layers a lot faster than it currently is.

[Steps]

I miss this feature, too.

And the "Copy from Clipboard" is a really crappy workaround as said before, because loosing DPI (and other metadata) is not a good thing.

[reberts2]

I still need this feature baddddly as well (pleasssse and sooonnn).

I'm very disappointed it hasn't been introduced/improved, as it's part of my daily workflow x hundreds of images.

I've created the following macro to compensate (image attached).

It selects, inverts selection, pads the selection by 15 pixels, duplicated layer with selection, fills the selection, clips the canvas, deletes the extra layer.

Thanks Affinity!

[slavonec]

On 9/15/2017 at 3:24 PM, toltec said:

 

Sorry, but that is a terrible idea. Not cropping to selection, but destructive cropping which is what it would mean. One of the best things about Photo is a non-destructive workflow, including cropping (normally) which is like having the undo facility. Why would anyone want to change that ? Personally, I would recommend Photo to anybody because it does not throw stuff away. Surely it is better to embrace new improved methods, especially if they could prevent making mistakes. And what is the difference between crop to selection and a normal crop ?

 

What you want is simple and easy to do in Photo and without losing all the data. Although you can still delete the data easily enough afterwards if you want to but as a two step process, which at least makes you think before deleting.

 

If you prefer to work in a destructive way that cant be undone, fine. You need a program with a Destructive workflow. Try Photoshop, a destructive cropping process and only ten times the price. 

 

Surely better to stick with Photo though and adapt to a non-destructive workflow though? Personally, I much prefer the Photo non-destructive cropping. If you really feel you still need it, you could put in a feature request.

 

If you need, it is easy enough to make a crop. Just crop the document as normal, press the C key and draw a crop box, that's it. No need to even make a selection first. Admittedly, the information is still there, Photo is persistent in trying to save you from yourself, so go Document > Flatten and it's all gone for good.

 

Here are two very easy non-destructive.methods that crop to a selection and still keep the original information

 

Make a selection first, press Ctrl + J. That copies the selection, and only the selection, to a new layer. copy it, (Ctr + C) then go File > New From Clipboard. It makes a new document exactly to the selection  Plus, the original information is kept in the original file for safety.

 

Alternatively, draw a Rectangle above the the image, right click on the rectangle layer and go Mask to Below. Just the "selection".will be in it. Copy the layer Ctr + C and then go File > New From Clipboard again.

 

Ctrl + C then File > New From Clipboard is a two stage presses, and the original data is still there.(just in case) which has to be a good thing for safety, right ?. File > New From Clipboard.even has a keyboard shortcut or you can easily set your own.

 

 

 

The above is from one very, very, very limited by it's thinking persona! The first thing I was looking into Affinity Photo is exactly crop selection. Since all things are NON-DESTRUCTIVE what stops the affinity guys from making that exact function a non-destructive! There is not a single operation as important as that simple, stupid trick - just cut it dam it!

As an artworker, I need a simple and fast cut of the selection I make for speed purpose.

So, enough of it. Please, include that into the next version. Or even better - do it NOW!

[Fixx]

On 6/13/2019 at 4:12 AM, traildriver said:

about crop to selection. I usually use a rectangle, so was describing it that way, but technically it can (or should be) be any shape selected. And I don't think the AP crop tool allows anything but four straight sides, right? So the crop tool is not really the same as "crop to selection."

You cannot crop to any other shape than a rectangle as documents cannot be any other than rectangles. You should though be able to use irregular selection shape as "guide" and crop would be the selection bounding box area.

[Nifflas]

I don't use Affinity any longer, mostly for small issues like this that are incredibly frustrating that just works in Photoshop like it's no big deal. Though I really don't care about a non-destructive workflow, I don't see why this can't be non-destructive if the regular crop tool can be. It's also really weird to see a debate over how this feature can work when other software already shows how it's properly done.

[Jowday]

3 hours ago, Nifflas said:

I don't use Affinity any longer, mostly for small issues like this that are incredibly frustrating that just works in Photoshop like it's no big deal. Though I really don't care about a non-destructive workflow, I don't see why this can't be non-destructive if the regular crop tool can be. It's also really weird to see a debate over how this feature can work when other software already shows how it's properly done.

Exactly. And implementing it can’t be hard work. 

[oO5Dynasty]

Destructive / nondestructive work flow does not matter, It is a tool that should be implanted. It’s up to the user to use the tool or not.  I got started in adobe photoshop 7 with no knowledge of how to use software at all. I followed a lot of online tutorials from old websites that are not even around anymore. Some of them used crop to selection which is how I found out about it. What I would do is duplicate the image before I did crop to selection so I had a copy. But my point is everybody has different work flows. Let’s give them the tools they need and feel the most comfortable with to better their work flow.

[mobvision]

@Nifflas Me neither. Shouldn't even bother to bring it up.

[Jowday]

On 7/25/2019 at 4:15 PM, slavonec said:

As an artworker, I need a simple and fast cut of the selection I make for speed purpose.

So, enough of it.

Exactly. Cut, keep, continue. Part of so many workflows. No matter what type of selection you made.

It is absurd that there is a discussion about it. This is so basic.