Cropping

Just a quick question to get a feel for what you all do. When cropping to post online or just for your own collection, do you usually restrain to the same aspect ratio (3:2 I think) or do you do it freely? If freely, what do you do if you decide to print? Add a border or crop differently? I know non-destructive programs make this less of a concern, but I'm just curious. Thanks for the input.

cropping is done in camera for me

I don't crop to a specific ratio unless there's a reason -- such as restrictions on a particular website, or if I'm cropping for print. I always set the crop tool (in Photoshop) to "hide" rather than "delete" so I can undo the crop later if I want to.

Hum... if I understand you correctly I'd have to answer by saying I always keep a master copy of all my "keepers". Any changes made are to a copy. So, if I make any changes I always have a couple originals stored on CD, etc.. The other option is working with layers. Changes can be made over and over with a layered file that hasn't been flattened.

I do at times crop an image. Shooting group portraits with a wide angle at times necessitates centering the group when framing leaving extra space around them. This trick helps eliminate distortion - then cropping out the extra space during PP.

If you didn't have access to an image program or don't do a lot of post processing I'd say make a duplicate copy of the original each time you need to use it for something like the web vs. printing an 8X10.

Hope this helps.

seaside wrote in post #7300052
Hum... if I understand you correctly I'd have to answer by saying I always keep a master copy of all my "keepers". Any changes made are to a copy. So, if I make any changes I always have a couple originals stored on CD, etc.. The other option is working with layers. Changes can be made over and over with a layered file that hasn't been flattened.

I do at times crop an image. Shooting group portraits with a wide angle at times necessitates centering the group when framing leaving extra space around them. This trick helps eliminate distortion - then cropping out the extra space during PP.

If you didn't have access to an image program or don't do a lot of post processing I'd say make a duplicate copy of the original each time you need to use it for something like the web vs. printing an 8X10.

Hope this helps.

I'm only really asking out of curiosity. I've been using Apple's Aperture for edits, so I know everything is completely non-destructive. I try to crop so that if I went to print it would be a simple export without changing anything. I guess I was just interested to see how others go about it. Thanks for all the input!

I crop all the time. Most frequently I crop to a 4:5 aspect ratio (which would go for an 8x10 print) and a 3:4 aspect ratio for a 12x16 print. I crop for effect -- many shots just look better at a less-wide aspect ratio.

Always keep the original. I occasionally crop for an album or a print if a customer requests it, but typically I go for 3:2 or 16:9 personally.

dissolve wrote in post #7299303
Just a quick question to get a feel for what you all do. When cropping to post online or just for your own collection, do you usually restrain to the same aspect ratio (3:2 I think) or do you do it freely? If freely, what do you do if you decide to print? Add a border or crop differently? I know non-destructive programs make this less of a concern, but I'm just curious. Thanks for the input.

I either always use the original 3:2 ratio or I use a square or I use the medium format 8x10 (4:5 ratio).

Bobster wrote in post #7299326
cropping is done in camera for me

Completely irrelevant...His question was about ratios, not where or when you do your crop...

tonylong wrote in post #7301608
I crop all the time. Most frequently I crop to a 4:5 aspect ratio (which would go for an 8x10 print) and a 3:4 aspect ratio for a 12x16 print. I crop for effect -- many shots just look better at a less-wide aspect ratio.

That brings up exactly my point of the post. I've seen commonly used print sizes and several aspect ratios are used. When I go through my photos there are plenty of areas I want to crop out but it doesn't fit the 3:2 aspect ratio I try to adhere to. So my question is: is it worth it to try and maintain an aspect ratio for all photos.

I guess you answered it though; since different print sizes are different ratios, it only really matters when you go to print. Oh, and I always keep masters untouched, which is why this isn't a huge concern, just a question of interest. As always, thank you everyone!

In the past dozen weddings i've cropped two images to non-standard sizes. Since my albums can have images any size it doesn't much matter. For prints it would be more of an issue.

When looking at the aesthetic reasons to crop, Luminous Landscape has an interesting essay on the topic. HERE IS THE LINK. In the final analysis, you must let the image and it's message tell you where to crop*, not the shape of the sensor.


When I was printing film, I cropped everything. And by that, I mean everything. I used one of these:

Byte size: ZERO | Content warning: NOT AN IMAGE

Radtech1, thank you for your ideas and link, it helps a lot. I have a new question now. I haven't started printing any of my shots yet but I just assumed that most print places only had paper that fit with standard aspect ratios. Is that the case?

In which case you add a white (or whatever) border to fill the vacancy between the "aesthetic" crop and the standard print paper, then cut.

Rad

Radtech1 wrote in post #7308969
In which case you add a white (or whatever) border to fill the vacancy between the "aesthetic" crop and the standard print paper, then cut.

Rad

Sounds completely reasonable. Won't be afraid to crop to dimensions other than 3:2 anymore

AlphaChicken wrote in post #7303986
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobster

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cropping is done in camera for me

Completely irrelevant...His question was about ratios, not where or when you do your crop...

Not irrelevant at all. In camera is a 2:3 ratio, so, that was his answer.

Personally, since I post my images on smugmug for family to order prints and most simply order the 4x6 size, I maintain my crops to the 2:3 ratio so they receive the image as I have intended. Not how they or smugmug will automatically crop. I also don't mind the 8x12 and 16x20 sizes so it also works for enlargements. Mind you, I keep all original RAW files, so, for my personal prints then the image will dictate the print ratio. For family its mostly 2:3.