Trim and place pictures side by side in picture frame?

[feklee 1]

I have two pictures that I want to trim a bit and place side by side in a picture frame. The picture frame is defined on the master page, and I don't want to touch it.

Can this operation be done all from inside Publisher? Does switching to another persona help? Or do I need to do the composition externally using Affinity Photo or Designer?

(not sure if I posted this in the right forum)

[Hilltop 46]

Place one of the photos in a picture frame and use the Photo Persona (assuming that you have Affinity Photo installed). There you can add the second picture and do additional editing. Once you're done, return to the Publisher Persona.

[Wosven 451]

Hi,

You can also use 2 rectangles in which you insert your images. The 2 rectangles can be aligned to the sides of your picture frame and used for triming part of the pictures.

test_2img.afpub

[feklee 1]

1 hour ago, Hilltop said:

There you can add the second picture and do additional editing.

Sounds good, but how do I add a second picture in the photo persona? If I use File / Place..., then I can load a photo, but it will replace the photo already in the picture frame.

[feklee 1]

1 hour ago, Wosven said:

You can also use 2 rectangles in which you insert your images.

How do I insert the rectangles into the picture frame? I know I could draw them on top of the picture frame, but then if I move the picture frame in the master, the position of the rectangles won't get updated, which is pretty bad.

[Hilltop 46]

9 minutes ago, feklee said:

Sounds good, but how do I add a second picture in the photo persona? If I use File / Place..., then I can load a photo, but it will replace the photo already in the picture frame.

You can just drag & drop the picture into the file you're working on. 

[Hilltop 46]

8 minutes ago, feklee said:

How do I insert the rectangles into the picture frame? I know I could draw them on top of the picture frame, but then if I move the picture frame in the master, the position of the rectangles won't get updated, which is pretty bad.

Wosven means that you can also use two picture frames instead of one, place them side by side and trim/crop them.

[feklee 1]

6 minutes ago, Hilltop said:

You can just drag & drop the picture into the file you're working on. 

If I drag the second picture into the picture frame (where I want to have it), then that replaces the first picture. Note that I need both pictures to be in the picture frame. Otherwise, they don't get moved when I move the frame in the master.

4 minutes ago, Hilltop said:

Wosven means that you can also use two picture frames instead of one, place them side by side and trim/crop them.

OK, but that's not a solution. The picture frame is in the master. It repeats on several pages, and any content should be possible to be inserted.

[Hilltop 46]

What about compositing the two images in Photo, export the result and then place it in your Publisher file?

[feklee 1]

Just now, Hilltop said:

What about compositing the two images in Photo, export the result and then place it in your Publisher file?

Yes, that option was what I thought about when I wrote:

3 hours ago, feklee said:

Or do I need to do the composition externally using Affinity Photo or Designer?

It's totally OK, especially as it's possible to place .afphoto files into a Publisher document. I just wanted to see if I'm missing something and if there is a simpler / quicker way. Now I only need to decide between Photo and Designer. 

@Hilltop, @Wosven Thanks for all the suggestions!

[Hilltop 46]

10 minutes ago, feklee said:

If I drag the second picture into the picture frame (where I want to have it), then that replaces the first picture. Note that I need both pictures to be in the picture frame. Otherwise, they don't get moved when I move the frame in the master.

Don't drag&drop the image onto the other image but next to it. Then move it with the Move tool. You can resize both pictures by double-clicking on them. Once you're done, you can group the two pictures and return to the Publisher Persona. 

[feklee 1]

18 minutes ago, Hilltop said:

Don't drag&drop the image onto the other image but next to it.

You mean place it next to it outside the picture frame? Then how do I get both pictures back into the picture frame?

[Hilltop 46]

Perhaps good to just do a little trial & error. You drag & drop the second image away from the image in the picture frame to prevent it from replacing it. Then you can move it over the first image which you can resize by double-clicking it. Once you have satisfactorily positioned both images within the boundaries of the picture frame, group the picture frame and the second image. 

[feklee 1]

4 minutes ago, Hilltop said:

Once you have satisfactorily positioned both images within the boundaries of the picture frame, group the picture frame and the second image. 

Grouping a picture with a picture frame on a master doesn't work, at least for me. Anyhow, I have it done now in a separate document created with Designer, which appears to be the better choice than Photo in this case because of the vector cropping tool.

[Hilltop 46]

Glad you got it all sorted.