Using The Crop Tool In Photoshop CS, Advanced Optionsby Anita Cross

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ide vs. Delete

Cropping an image is a destructive edit. That is, a portion of the original image is deleted from the file. Save and close the image, and there's no going back! If you, or your client, decide to use a different area of the image, you could find yourself back at square one. That is, unless you use the "Hide" option.

The Hide option is not available in all situations. Excess "Background" will be deleted if not converted to a layer first. In fact, Hide will be greyed out if the only layer is the "Background". Additionally, Hide is unavailable when you use the Perspective option, because the image gets distorted as well as cropped.

When you use Hide, each layer (except "Background") retains the full image, even if it has been resized or rotated. Multiple layers receive the same changes: if you rotate and resize the visible layer, you've rotated and resized all the layers.

Using Preset Crop Sizes

The Crop tool has several preset precision sizes you can apply before you make your selection. In the options bar, click on the small down arrow next to the Crop icon. Select a preset and you will see the width, height and resolution automatically filled in. Make your selection, and apply. The resulting image will be cropped and resized to fit the preset.

You can even create your own presets for image sizes you use frequently:

Enter the width, height, and resolution into the options bar, either manually or by using the Front Image feature.
Click on the small down arrow next to the Crop icon in the options bar, and select "New Tool Preset"
Click on the small square icon on the right, and select "New Tool Preset".
Name your preset and click on OK (or hit the Enter key).

Knowing how to use all the options for the Crop Tool can save you an amazing amount of time. Whether you use this knowledge to increase your productivity, or increase the amount of free time you have for other pursuits, don't stop with the Crop Tool.

Learning how to use all the tools in Photoshop CS can save you time and simplify your work. So go for it!

About the Author Anita Cross is the owner of Call Of The Wild, an Internet Marketing company which sponsors the Call Of The Wild Photo web site. Anita is also a professional photographer and an amateur writer who spends more time than she'd like looking at a computer monitor, and far less time looking through the lens of her camera.