Photoshop Tips: Copying, Resizing, and Cropping

April 20, 2012 by • 2 Comments

My name is Jamie and I blog at Sew Rockin’. Over the next couple weeks, I’m going to share with you some of the most basic photoshop tips to get you started (or farther along) in Photoshop. If you are a Photoshop Elements user, I have provided instructions to help you get the same (or a similar) result. Depending on the version of PS or PSE you are using, the screen may look a little different but the functions are the same. I am using PS 5 for my examples and all the photos I am editing are JPEGs.

There are many photo editing programs out there, but the king of them is definitely Adobe Photoshop. Some of you might be well versed in Photoshop (PS), while some of you might be terrified to even try it. Most of you have probably dabbled with it and you want to learn more. I started using PS back in 1993 when I was in high school and working for my dad’s graphic business. I literally read the book and taught myself because I had to. Don’t feel like you have to know all there is about PS though, because unless you use it daily on a professional level, total mastery of such a massive program is unlikely. Even after all these years, I am always picking up new skills!

Around 10 years ago, Adobe released Photoshop Elements (PSE). It is a cheaper and “lighter” version of photoshop that actually suits the needs of many people who want to do basic photo editing. If you have the money and want to invest in the more powerful program, go for PS, especially if you are wanting to do professional work. Novice photographers looking to make simple photo edits, especially those who are not so techno-savvy, will probably find PSE more user-friendly and it will most-likely have everything you need anyway. If you are a teacher or have a K-12 student, Adobe offers the academic version of PS for a fraction of the price. The program is exactly the same as the regular version but you are not supposed to use it for commercial work. The savings definitely makes it worth looking into!

Tip #1 – Treat your originals like gold.

My first rule when doing photo editing is NOT TO WORK ON MY ORIGINAL FILE. Seriously…it is extremely easy to not be paying attention and accidentally hit “Save” and write over your original file…probably with changes to it that you don’t even like. Ask me how I know this! From my memory card, I save all of my photos on an external hard drive and they become my “master copies”.

  • So when I open a file, for example “IMG_1000”, I immediately go to File → “Save As” and rename it and save it somewhere else on my computer. Now I have a new file and my original file intact in a safe place! You can make a duplicate copy of your original file by right-clicking it but when you are working with JPEG images, you don’t want to keep making copies of copies of copies because JPEG images degrade the more you copy and edit them. [PSE users - you do it the same way.]

Tip #2 – Resizing your photos can speed up the editing process.

I have my 18MP Canon T3i set to take the largest JPEG images possible, which means they come out 72’ x 48”, which is a monster 51.3MB file. If I happen to capture a great picture, I want to have the option to blow it up to poster size. But on a daily basis, no one really has a need for a 72” x 48” image and if you try to edit it on your computer, chances are that your processor can’t handle it very well and it will be as slow as molasses.

  • So my advice is that as soon as you “Save as” and rename your file (Tip #1), change the image size. To do this, go to Image → Image Size.
  • When I want to put my photos on my blog, I usually make them around 750 pixels on the largest size so they end up around 10” x 8”. Then I usually reduce the size to 80% when I actually insert the photo on my blog post, so when you click on it, you get a slightly bigger picture in the new window.
  • If you want to edit your picture before you print them, at least reduce the size of your image to a percentage of the original so it is a little more manageable. To be safe, you want to make sure your file is a little bigger than the size you want to print it out at, to be sure the picture quality doesn’t suffer and just incase you want to print it out a little bigger later. Even if I reduce my image to only 25%, I still end up with an 18” x 12” image (around 3MB), which is plenty big enough to print out in a variety of different sizes and most computers won’t really be slowed down. [PSE users - you do it the same way.]

 

 

Tip #3 – Crop the right way.

It’s ok to crop! I know we try to frame pictures perfectly when taking them, but sometimes you get a great shot but something weird is in the frame or you have a giant empty space on the side. Check out this flower picture I took. Of course that little piece at the bottom is totally bugging me!

Yes, PS has a little cropping tool but using it messes up the “Aspect Ratio” (the natural proportion size) of your picture if you just start randomly cropping things. Aspect ratio is really important especially if you want to print pictures out at standard sizes or have all your images the same size. You aren’t going to be happy if you send a 4” x 5.25” image to get printed as a 4” x 6”. Here’s how you crop an image while still maintaining the aspect ratio:

And here’s the end result:

[PSE users - aspect ratio is a little easier for you. Select the cropping tool from the toolbar to the left and where it says “Aspect Ratio” under the File-Edit-Image... bar at the top, select “Use Photo Ratio”.]

If you have any questions you can email me at jamie {at} sewrockin.com. I’ll be excited to teach you a little more next week and I’d love to have you come for a visit…above are links to some of my favorite tutorials!

Categories: Photography Tags: ,

Comments

2 Responses to “Photoshop Tips: Copying, Resizing, and Cropping”
  1. Jo-Anne's Rambling says:
    April 21, 2012 at 4:07 am

    Some really good advice here I often crop my photos that is one thing I do know how to do………lol

    Reply
  2. Jessica @ Stay at Home-ista says:
    April 22, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    I just bookmarked this page for later, this is great advice for a photo novice like me:)

    Reply

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