Cropping Question

[fulbie]

OK, I know there are a lot of cropping threads, but I can't seem to find an answer to my specific question. I'm a newbie.

Basically, my pictures (From 20D) have dimensions of 3504 x 2336 pixels. I want to crop and keep the aspect ratio the same. In PS I input, in the crop fileds, width: 3504 px, height: 2336 px, basically keeping it the same size, but cropping unwanted stuff. Is this the right thing to do or am I losing quality this way? Essentially the picture is being cut down and then being enlarged to it's original size. Make sense? Is there a better way to do this while maintaining quality and original aspect ratio?

I don't like using 'free' crop because i can't get the exact aspect ratio.

[tim]

In photoshop I put in 3in and 2in, for the same 3:2 ratio that the files originally have. What I really do though is crop to a 3:2 ratio in CS2 camera raw before I get it into photoshop proper. I never set a resolution, I leave it at whatever it wants to be since it makes no difference.

[kawter2]

I don't like using 'free' crop because i can't get the exact aspect ratio.


I use it all the time and retain aspect ratio..


I drag it from top left (off the image) to OFF the bottom right where it snaps to the image boundries.. then i resize using alt+drag and shift+alt+drag

[fulbie]

Awesome! Thanks for the advice!