Photo: constrain crop size and positioning?

[VectorCat]

So, I can easily set my crop ratio (6:4) however when I either try to scale the crop area or move it, there seems no way to constrain size, movement. I am accustomed to holding the Shift key to constrain, either scaling or motion, but this doesn't apply to the crop tool in Photo, which cancels the benefit of having a custom, user-settable ratio. It seems only to be free-hand/unconstrainable..good sometimes, but we also need to have constraint available, too!

Is there a way to A) constrain crop ratio as I scale to include more or less of an image and B) constrain to axis as I move the cropping grid to where I want it?

Thank you!

[Gabe]

Hi @VectorCat,

I could not replicate this. For me, it works fine:

[NewEmoji]

Thanks a lot for posting this VectorCat. I just switched to Photo and cropping functionality feels a bit lacking.

It would be really helpful to have the same scaling and manipulation options for crop area as for layer manipulation. By that I mean:

1. Holding Ctrl+Shift to constrain scaling to layer centre

2. Holding Ctrl to scale symetrically both left/right or top/bottom bounds

3. Holding Shift to snap movement to 45° increments

[VectorCat]

Thank you for confirming, NewEmoji

Conventions I'm used to, perhaps others are, too:

1. drag out Crop "tool/marqee" - whether freehand or preset aspect ratios
2. Use any corner or side control handle to change size, aspect. if preset chosen, drag corner, aspect automatically kept at preset values
3. click/drag somewhere within the area of the crop "tool/marquee" to move it
4. When satisfied, press Enter to approve and implement the crop and the set values and positioning

[R C-R]

5 hours ago, VectorCat said:

Conventions I'm used to, perhaps others are, too:

1. drag out Crop "tool/marqee" - whether freehand or preset aspect ratios
2. Use any corner or side control handle to change size, aspect. if preset chosen, drag corner, aspect automatically kept at preset values
3. click/drag somewhere within the area of the crop "tool/marquee" to move it
4. When satisfied, press Enter to approve and implement the crop and the set values and positioning

Except for #1, this is how it works in Affinity Photo. In particular, if you have set the crop mode to use a ratio (original, custom, or a user created preset), dragging on any handle preserves that aspect ratio. For any mode, dragging inside the crop box moves it around without changing its size or aspect ratio.

Are you seeing something different? If so, can you provide a video showing that?