Photoshop Elements >
Cropping >
Square & Rectangular - Crop Tool
You can use the Crop tool to crop your photograph with a square or rectangular shape.
Be sure to check off as you go along.
Preparation
1) Preserve your original file.
If you haven't already done so, go to Preserve Your Original File.
2) Create a Background copy layer.
If you haven't already done so, go to Create a Background Copy Layer.
No Restriction
3) Make sure the Background copy is active (highlighted).
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Background copy |
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Background |
5) in options bar/Tool Options, select No Restriction in the Aspect Ratio box.
6) Click, hold, and drag to create the crop marquee.
The area outside the marquee darkens.
This area is called the shield.
Press / to return the shield area to the normal density (exposure).
Commit or Cancel
7) Click the green check mark, or press Enter, to commit the cropping.
To cancel, click the red circle-with-diagonal, or press Esc.
Fine Tune
Here are several ways you can fine tune your use of the crop tool.
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Change from landscape to portrait, or vice versa |
Click the white double arrows in options bar/Tool Options.  |
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View an overlay |
in options bar/Tool Options, you can add an overlay to the cropped area.  |
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Make a square |
To make a square, press and hold Shift. Then click, hold, and drag the marquee. |
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Drag from the center out |
The center is where you place the cursor. Press and hold Alt, to draw the marquee from the center, outward. You can combine Alt with Shift to draw a square from the center. |
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Move the marquee |
Use the arrow keys to move the marquee. Or, click inside the marquee, hold, and drag it. |
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Change the size of the marquee |
There are two ways you can change the size of the marquee: 1) Click, hold, and drag the handles on the corners and sides of the marquee. If you press Shift, and click, hold, and drag one of the corner handles, the aspect ratio of the marquee is maintained. 2) Enter dimensions in the Width and Height boxes in options bar/Tool Options. |
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Check the dimensions of the marquee |
Open the Info panel to see the exact dimensions of the marquee. Look for W and H. To change to inches from pixels, or vice versa, go to Preferences. |
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Rotate the marquee |
The marquee can be rotated by placing the cursor in the area outside the marquee. The cursor will change to a curved, two-sided, arrow. Click, hold, and drag. Click the green check mark. The angle of the rotation is shown in the Info panel. |
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Can't make the marquee the correct size |
Photoshop Elements may place an invisible grid on your photograph. As you draw the crop marquee, it may jump away from the position that you've selected. This is a feature called snap to grid. To see the grid, go to View > Grid. To turn off the feature, go to View > Snap To > Grid. To change the grid values, do the following. Go to Edit > Preferences > Grid (Windows) or Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Grid (Mac). |
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Change the shield |
As described, the shield is the area outside the crop marquee. You can change the color and density (exposure) of the shield, and can turn the feature on or off. To change the shield, do the following. Go to Edit > Preferences > Display & Cursor (Windows) or Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Display & Cursor (Mac). |
Other Aspect Ratio Choices
Above, in options bar/Tool Options, No Restriction was selected in the Aspect Ratio box.
There are several other choices in the Aspect Ratio box.
Here's a description of each choice in the Aspect Ratio box.
If you haven't already, go to Aspect Ratios.
Photo Ratio
If you select Photo Ratio, the marquee will have the same aspect ratio as your photograph.
Preset Sizes
If you're going to print your photograph on a certain size paper, select the size of the paper.
Custom Sizes
You can enter values into the Width and Height boxes in options bar/Tool Options.
Resampling
The Crop tool may resample your photograph.
Below, the original photograph of the ice is 1.33 MB.
When it was cropped using the preset size of 8 x 10, Photoshop Elements added pixels.
The file size for the cropped version, 1.76 MB, larger than the original, 1.33 MB.
Original - 1.33 MB
Cropped - 1.76 MB
If you don't want resampling, use the Elliptical Marquee tool instead of the Crop tool.
Rule of Thirds & Grid Lines
Consider using the Rule of Thirds & Grid Lines when cropping.
Saving the Photograph
If you haven't already done so, go to Saving Files.