Cropping - move crop box but only vertically

[createsean]

I have a photo that I'm cropping to a 6:2 ratio which is fine. However when I move the crop tool vertically I can't figure out how to constrain it so it only moves vertically and not horizontally. I would expect holding shift while dragging would restrict movement to one direction only.

 

What happens is that I move it vertically to where I want but inevitably I have shifted 1-2 pixels to the side and now have an white bar on the side after cropping.

 

How can I do what I want?

[MEB]

Hi createsean,

If you set the crop mode to Custom (or Original) Ratio then the crop tool/area will always keep that proportion. If you move the top center handle vertically to increase the height of the cropped area, the width must also increase to keep the ratio you have specified otherwise you aren't able to keep the ratio.

 

So assuming you don't want to keep it set the mode to custom ratio (6:2) and position the crop frame as you wish first then change the Mode to Unconstrained and move the top center control handle upwards.

 

[createsean]

that doesn't work and is overly complicated. When I used photoshop all I did was shift+click and drag the crop boundaries and it only moved in one direction.

[MEB]

If you move the crop area only in one direction (increase height in this case) you are not able to keep the same ratio... Am i missing something here?

[toltec]

1 hour ago, MEB said:

 

Am i missing something here?

 I believe createsean wants to reposition the actual crop box, constraining it's movement to vertical only. Like shift dragging a rectangle.

 

 

[MEB]

Ah, i see. After re-reading the first post it all makes sense. Thanks toltec  Time for a break.

Currently it's not possible to constrain the movement of the crop frame.

[createsean]

13 minutes ago, toltec said:

 I believe createsean wants to reposition the actual crop box, constraining it's movement to vertical only. Like shift dragging a rectangle.

 

 

Yes that exactly. 

 

 

1 minute ago, MEB said:

Ah, i see. Thanks toltec  

Currently it's not possible to constrain the movement of the crop frame.

 

Well that's unfortunate. Consider this a feature request. Hope to see it in the next build.

[MEB]

Sorry for not being of much help createsean.

Thread moved to the Feature Requests section.

[createsean]

Just now, MEB said:

Sorry for not being of much help createsean.

Thread moved to the Feature Requests section.

 

Helpful in that I got an answer. So all good.

 

And for the feature request the constraining the movement should work vertically and horizontally. So if I move the crop box horizontally shift + click/drag restricts vertical movement.

[carl123]

Not sure how to describe this but here goes..

If you set the ratio to 6:2 where the 6 part equals the full width of the image then if you set snapping on and have Snap to spread selected in the snapping then you can quite easily move the crop up and down whilst the vertical edges remain snapped to the spread and still retaining the 6:2 ratio.

PS The crop will also snap to vertical guides but not much use when in crop as you would have to have added them before activating the crop function

[createsean]

59 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Not sure how to describe this but here goes..

If you set the ratio to 6:2 where the 6 part equals the full width of the image then if you set snapping on and have Snap to spread selected in the snapping then you can quite easily move the crop up and down whilst the vertical edges remain snapped to the spread and still retaining the 6:2 ratio.

PS The crop will also snap to vertical guides but not much use when in crop as you would have to have added them before activating the crop function

Where do you turn on snapping?

[carl123]

10 hours ago, createsean said:

Where do you turn on snapping?

See attached...

the vertical sides of the grid will now snap to the vertical edges of the image making grabbing the centre of the grid and moving it (just) up or down a lot easier.

Note: Increasing the Screen Tolerance value will make the snapping more powerful (the blue arrow in my screenshot)

 

 

[createsean]

That's better but still not perfect. Will use this next time I crop and need to move the crop box.

[Mithferion]

Here is my take but also it's kind of dull...

• Create a rectangle that has the aspect ratio you want and place it over the area you want to crop. This rectangle will have the snapping and draggin options you want. Also, you can change it's opacity.

 

• The, use the Crop Tool tand use the rectangle as a guide.

 

• Finally, apply the cropping and there you have it.

 

Hope this helps.

Best regards!

[I'm Ant]

I just came across this problem I'm trying to crop my camera photos so they are full screen on my computer screen I set the exact size for HD  then  it messes up if I move the crop box. Hope they add  vertical only key  soon or a crop box that doesn't wonder off the edges of the picture.

[walt.farrell]

If you know where you want one of the edges of the crop to be, then before you start cropping you can drag a guide to that location. Then use the crop tool to create the crop box, position it to that guide, and with snapping enabled it will snap to that guide line while you drag it up and down. (Alternatively, the crop box will also snap to an edge of the picture, so you don't need a guide in that case.)