14 Replies Latest reply: Mar 9, 2011 7:23 AM by Jasonized RSS

    Cropping during export does not work

    nufarydyna Community Member

      I was trying to crop group of photos for iPad, exactly to 1024x768 pixels (I do not like black bars around the photos). Unfortunately the export crop failed and it did not want to change the original aspect ratio. I did as follows: selected in library the test photo (5200 x 3466 pix, 3:2) and clicked the export button. In dialog box I was trying 2 different options: In first attempt I selected dimensions and typed 1024 and 768. In second try I have chosen width & height and typed 1024 and 768. After exporting I got 2 virtually identical photos with size 1024 x 682pix which means that original aspect ratio was not changed and photos were not cropped as expected.

      After that I was serching internet and found 2 iPad export presets by Matt Kloskovsky. After installation I tested them and they did not crop the photos either. I got exactly the same result as above. Of course I could crop the the photos to desired aspect ratio in develop module but this is not practical solution for hundreds of photos.

      So my question is: how can I resize (crop) photos to desired size during export and what I did wrong?

      I am using LR 3.3 on Mac.

      Thanks in advance.

        • 1. Re: Cropping during export does not work
          Franz Leu Community Member

          Export does not crop the image. You need to do this in develop before exporting. Exporting does only rescale in terms of pixel-size of the image.

          This might be helpful. http://help.adobe.com/en_US/Lightroom/3.0/Using/WS6505A3BB-ADF6-4127-8110-D284BBC79853.htm l

          • 2. Re: Cropping during export does not work
            nufarydyna Community Member

            Thanks for prompt answer but it is still very confusing. This is what Adobe help page says:

            "Dimensions
            Applies the higher value to the longer edge of the photo and the lower value to the shorter edge regardless of the photo’s original aspect ratio. Specifying 400 x 600, for example, produces a 400 x 600 portrait photo or a 600 x 400 landscape photo."

            It clearly says "regardles" which I understand means that when I specify 1024 x 768 size I should get the exported photo in this particular size on both edges.
            Also Matt Kloskovsky on his Web page clearly stated that one of his presets was designed specificly to fill the iPad screen completely without side bars.

            Using develop module is unfortunately too much work (first to apply crop and later after exporting to remove it).
            Any other suggestions or advise?
            • 3. Re: Cropping during export does not work
              Franz Leu Community Member

              IMHO, Dimension is not doing what it is supposed to, you're right I guess.

              Still leaves open what it should do: Crop ... and where to crop .. how should it know ... or change the aspect ratio which would actually 'destroy' the image.

              • 4. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                Lee Jay-ZyZk56 Community Member

                nufarydyna wrote:

                 

                Thanks for prompt answer but it is still very confusing. This is what Adobe help page says:

                "Dimensions
                Applies the higher value to the longer edge of the photo and the lower value to the shorter edge regardless of the photo’s original aspect ratio. Specifying 400 x 600, for example, produces a 400 x 600 portrait photo or a 600 x 400 landscape photo."

                It clearly says "regardles" which I understand means that when I specify 1024 x 768 size I should get the exported photo in this particular size on both edges.

                 

                It also gives an example of what it meant by "regardless" which is portrait or landscape.

                 

                Example:

                 

                You have a 600x400 photo (landscape).

                If you specify a width and height of 200x300, you will get a photo of 200x133.

                If you specify dimensions of 200x300, you will get a photo of 300x200.

                 

                Perhaps it should say "regardless of the photo's original orientation" instead.

                 

                Just go crop them all to 4:3 and then export them.  Just takes a second.

                • 5. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                  Butch_M Community Member

                  According to Matt's presets, one crops the image to the 1024x768 Dimension ... the other preserves Aspect Ratio ...

                   

                  The key is to select "Dimensions" from the Resize to fit drop down selection in the image sizing settings ... set your pixel dimensions to 1024x768 and resolution to 132 pixels per inch ..

                   

                  IpadImageSize.jpg

                   

                  If you download Matt's presets, the iPad (Full Screen) is the one you want ... the other, iPad (preserve aspect ratio) will fill the empty space with black when viewed on the iPad.

                   

                  Matt's presets are linked in this blog entry ... take special note as how to install them ...

                   

                  http://lightroomkillertips.com/2010/presets-lightroom-ipad-export-settings/

                  • 6. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                    clvrmnky Community Member

                    Butch_M wrote:

                     

                    set your ... resolution to 132 pixels per inch ...

                    Why?

                    • 7. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                      Butch_M Community Member

                      My guess is Matt chose 132 ppi because it is the native resolution of the iPad screen ... you should probably ask him why he chose that number ...

                      • 8. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                        nufarydyna Community Member

                        I installed both Matt's presets

                        without any problems and yes I selected t

                        he "Full Screen". All informa

                        tion looked exactly as in your screensho

                        t but unfortunately it did not do t

                        he expected job. Original photo (5200

                        x 3466) was exported to jpg (1

                        024 x 682). I even took one square photo from my library (4000 x 4000pix) and after the Matt's Full Screen preset I got square jpg (1024 x 1024). That clearly means that whatever original photo you take, any export preset actually preserves the aspect ratio.

                         

                        In this situation I have another question. What is the easiest way to achieve what I want (1024 x 768) for let say 300 - 400 hundred photos from different folders? I marked all of them with red label so selection is not a problem. The problem is that I do not want the iPad crop (1024 x 768) stay permanently with my images in LR library. I need it only for iPad export. At this moment I see the following workflow:  select the photos, create virtual copies, select virtual copies and move them to separate collection, crop all of them to 4:3 aspect ratio using sync button, export to 1024x768 (should work this time) and finally delete collection from LR library. It looks like a lot of work.

                        Anyone has simpler solution? Any suggestions are appreciated.

                        • 9. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                          Lee Jay-ZyZk56 Community Member

                          nufarydyna wrote:


                          At this moment I see the following workflow:  select the photos, create virtual copies, select virtual copies and move them to separate collection, crop all of them to 4:3 aspect ratio using sync button, export to 1024x768 (should work this time) and finally delete collection from LR library. It looks like a lot of work.

                          Anyone has simpler solution? Any suggestions are appreciated.

                           

                          If none of them are cropped at the moment, you could just select them all, set the crop, export them, and reset the crop.  Otherwise, your suggestion seems quite efficient and was the approach I had in mind when I mentioned it earlier.

                          • 10. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                            PhotoGAP Community Member

                            Try the Print module - print to jpg. To get started, try these settings: single image layout, check zoom to fill, check rotate to fit, zero all margins, cell size 6.00 in height x 8.00 in width (same aspect as 1024x768), print to jpeg file, file resolution 128, print sharpening (whatever you want), jpeg quality (whatever you want), custom file dimensions 8.00 in x 6.00 in.

                             

                            In the grid view, select a group of photos, then try printing to jpeg with the above start settings. See what you get, then make adjustments to the file resolution settings, quality, and file dimensions to suit your needs. Printing multiple photos like that will also create a folder, so you will want to work out your desired workflow. When you have the desired settings, save them to a custom print template for future use.

                             

                            Hopefully, this can accomplish what you want, without creating extra virtual copies, etc. I tested it briefly here, and it seemed to do what you want. Good luck!

                             

                            Edit: refined dimensions noted above to give exactly 1024x768 printout.

                            • 11. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                              Franz Leu Community Member

                              This does not work as described, at least not on my system and obviously neither on the OP's.

                              • 12. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                                Jasonized Community Member

                                If you've got them selected, then create a new collection, with them as "create new virtual copy".  Then you can go in and apply a crop to the first image in the collection, and use sync (or copy/paste settings) for the rest.  Export those virtual copies.  No need to reset the crop, as your original images will still have the original crop on them.

                                 

                                You might want to collapse the virtual copy stack, if they bother you having more than one image (they stack next to the original image normally).

                                 

                                But you wouldn't necessarily have to delete them, as they are only virtual copies.  Your original is still ready and waiting for work.

                                 

                                Cheers!

                                • 13. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                                  nufarydyna Community Member

                                  Thank you all for helpfull sugestions. I will go through virtual copy path. Additional advantage is that I can tweak the crop for some images. But in general with increased popularity of iPad (new one will be released in 2 days!) the problem of transferring properly formatted photos from LR will require in future more elegant and simpler solution (perhaps plug-in?).

                                  • 14. Re: Cropping during export does not work
                                    Jasonized Community Member

                                    Well, one basic problem with an "automatic" crop... you would let software determine where your want to crop your image?  I wouldn't, so can't see a way to make an "automatic" crop for a particular size...

                                     

                                    just my .02gbp worth. 

                                     

                                    Cheers!