Note: This post is from our book Develop Great Images in Lightroom (available for iBooks).
Often when I crop, its all about precision. I frequently need to crop to a specific aspect ratio. Sometimes it’s for the screen (video projects and slideshows) as well as print output. In these cases, I need the shape of my photo to precisely match my target. Fortunately, Lightroom Classic makes this easy.
Step 1: Select an image for cropping
Step 2: Choose the Crop Overlay tool by pressing the R key. This will even switch you from the Library module to the Develop module. An outline appears around the image with adjustment handles to modify the crop.
Step 3: Examine the Crop Overlay tool in the tool drawer. A closed padlock means the crop tool is constrained to a preset. While, you can click the lock to unconstrained the crop tool, lets focus on using a specific aspect ratio preset.
Step 4: Click the a Aspect pop-up menu next to the padlock to choose an aspect ratio. The following choices are available (international localizations may contain different sizes).
- As Shot: This matches the original ratio of the photo.
- Original: This essentially uncross the image and restores it to its original crop.
- Custom: More on this later
These ratios are common print sizes:
- 1×1: A square-shaped crop
- 4×5 / 8×10: A popular print size
- 8.5×11: This matches a standard sheet of paper in a US standard
- 5×7: Another sized crop used for prints and frames
- 2×3 / 4×6: These two sizes are also widely used for prints
The sizes are frequently used for multimedia projects:
- 4×3 1024×768: This matches many older computer and revision monitors
- 16×9 1920×1080: The aspect ratio for most video projects
- 16×10 1280×800: The ratio of most widescreen computer monitors
Tip: If youd like to use the Crop Overlay tool with the last settings used, press Shift+A.
Step 5: Drag a crop handle to crop the image. You can also click to select the Crop Frame tool to freely position the crop.
Step 6: You can modify the crop behavior if needed with a keyboard shortcut. Press the X key to toggle the orientation of the crop between portrait and landscape.
Step 7: Press Return (or Enter) to apply the crop. You can exit without cropping by pressing the Escape key.
Remember, all cropping is nondestructive. You can always revert a cropped image by choosing Original from the pop-up menu to restore an image to its original crop.
Hi. Not a Lightroom user yet. I just wanted to know if you can save a custom crop as part of a develop preset in Lightroom 6.
You don’t discuss the Custom setting in the article, but I went ahead and used it. Lightroom saves these custom crops in a list below all the default crops. I am wondering how I can delete some of the custom crops I have made from this list. Any ideas?
Thanks
These should be recent choices. Old ones get pushed out of the list when you add new ones.
You don’t discuss the Custom setting in the article, but I went ahead and used it. Lightroom saves these custom crops in a list below all the default crops. I am wondering how I can delete some of the custom crops I have made from this list. Any ideas?
Thanks
These should be recent choices. Old ones get pushed out of the list when you add new ones.
Hi. Not a Lightroom user yet. I just wanted to know if you can save a custom crop as part of a develop preset in Lightroom 6.