Comments on: Shoot for the Crop – Don’t Cut Yourself Short http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short Discover how to use your digital camera with our Digital Photography Tips. We are a community of photographers of all experience levels who come together to learn, share and grow in our understanding of photography. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:56:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Matthew Dutile http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-77926 Matthew Dutile Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:17:33 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-77926 RAW is my best friend. I shoot in completely manual settings (from shutter speed to aperture to even setting kelvin temps for my WB) and sometime the WB will be a tad off, or the tinting not quite right. But thanks to RAW, it's a quick fix in post. I'm a big advocate of RAW. I've been shooting it since day 1. RAW is my best friend. I shoot in completely manual settings (from shutter speed to aperture to even setting kelvin temps for my WB) and sometime the WB will be a tad off, or the tinting not quite right. But thanks to RAW, it’s a quick fix in post. I’m a big advocate of RAW. I’ve been shooting it since day 1.

]]> By: ImaBlessingtoo http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-77806 ImaBlessingtoo Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:36:45 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-77806 Thank you, Kathy. Actually, it's ZoomBrowser Ex. I had it wrong. Anyway, yes, my camera (Rebel XT) does shoot both RAW and jpg. I didn't see the value in continuing to shoot both because it took so much memory and I was having trouble with viewing and editing RAW. But your post made a lot of sense to me, and I will look into Corel. I only have Adobe Photoshop 2 and that may also be part of the problem. I will make sure that I don't edit my originals--just make copies to edit and only make crops from the original copies as you suggest. Thanks for the post. Thank you, Kathy. Actually, it’s ZoomBrowser Ex. I had it wrong. Anyway, yes, my camera (Rebel XT) does shoot both RAW and jpg. I didn’t see the value in continuing to shoot both because it took so much memory and I was having trouble with viewing and editing RAW. But your post made a lot of sense to me, and I will look into Corel. I only have Adobe Photoshop 2 and that may also be part of the problem. I will make sure that I don’t edit my originals–just make copies to edit and only make crops from the original copies as you suggest. Thanks for the post.

]]> By: Kathy Nairn http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-77683 Kathy Nairn Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:00:45 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-77683 @imablessingtoo: I'm not familiar with ZoomExbrowser but there is a free viewer called "FastStone Image Viewer" and can be found online at http://www.faststone.org It will view raw files effortlessly. I'm sure there may be a couple of other free viewers but this one, I use. I do not know whether Photoshop Elements can work with RAW images. However, if cost is an issue and Adobe products are not in your budget range, maybe you can look into Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 Ultra. It reads RAW and does a sundry of things that Adobe Photoshop 7 can do (and then some). AND it's currently being offered for less than $80. You do not have to shoot in RAW to preserve image quality, although it does help to have a RAW version of your jpg. Toning and adjustments are a lot more fun with RAW. Maybe your camera shoots both together? As an attempt to answer your question(s): Say you crop your image to an 8x10. Do a "save as" from your .psd to .jpg After the save, back up to the original .psd work and create a new crop using 5x7, and save from .psd to .jpg I would not recommend cropping a 5x7 from an 8x10 or similar. Always create your crops from the original working file, whether it is the original RAW, jpg, or psd file. This is what will save on the resolution / quality. Kathy @imablessingtoo:
I’m not familiar with ZoomExbrowser but there is a free viewer called “FastStone Image Viewer” and can be found online at http://www.faststone.org It will view raw files effortlessly. I’m sure there may be a couple of other free viewers but this one, I use.

I do not know whether Photoshop Elements can work with RAW images. However, if cost is an issue and Adobe products are not in your budget range, maybe you can look into Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 Ultra. It reads RAW and does a sundry of things that Adobe Photoshop 7 can do (and then some). AND it’s currently being offered for less than $80.

You do not have to shoot in RAW to preserve image quality, although it does help to have a RAW version of your jpg. Toning and adjustments are a lot more fun with RAW. Maybe your camera shoots both together?

As an attempt to answer your question(s):
Say you crop your image to an 8×10. Do a “save as” from your .psd to .jpg
After the save, back up to the original .psd work and create a new crop using 5×7, and save from .psd to .jpg

I would not recommend cropping a 5×7 from an 8×10 or similar. Always create your crops from the original working file, whether it is the original RAW, jpg, or psd file. This is what will save on the resolution / quality.

Kathy

]]> By: rod fermin http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-76862 rod fermin Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:16:20 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-76862 precise cropping spells a big, big difference. precise cropping spells a big, big difference.

]]> By: ImaBlessingtoo http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-76330 ImaBlessingtoo Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:36:12 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-76330 Just an added note to my question above--I know that images shot in RAW don't lose quality when you do edits or crops.... Just an added note to my question above–I know that images shot in RAW don’t lose quality when you do edits or crops….

]]> By: ImaBlessingtoo http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-76328 ImaBlessingtoo Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:29:55 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-76328 Just on question--are you shooting everything in RAW so that you can make numerous crops without losing image quality? Or just using "save as" for every different crop of the same photo? I'm obviously not a professional....I dislike using RAW because it's much more difficult to easily view the photos after uploading them to my computer. I have ZoomExbrowser and Adobe Photoshop Elements 2. Just on question–are you shooting everything in RAW so that you can make numerous crops without losing image quality? Or just using “save as” for every different crop of the same photo? I’m obviously not a professional….I dislike using RAW because it’s much more difficult to easily view the photos after uploading them to my computer. I have ZoomExbrowser and Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.

]]> By: B P Maiti http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-76327 B P Maiti Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:27:17 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-76327 After reading this artcile,I am now a more aware photographer.On this issue not many discussions were there.An excellent article Thanks. After reading this artcile,I am now a more aware photographer.On this issue not many discussions were there.An excellent article Thanks.

]]> By: Andrew http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-76309 Andrew Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:10:54 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-76309 Great article, really enjoyed it. The shots are amazing as well, really like all 3. Your friend is a great model. Great article, really enjoyed it.

The shots are amazing as well, really like all 3. Your friend is a great model.

]]> By: Marie Glynn http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-76268 Marie Glynn Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:41:35 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-76268 Thanks so much for posting this, Matthew. I was recently disappointed with an 8x10 made from a digital photo: now I know why! I LOVE the suggestion about the jar on top of the fridge. That's a great idea and I will use it! Thanks so much for posting this, Matthew. I was recently disappointed with an 8×10 made from a digital photo: now I know why!

I LOVE the suggestion about the jar on top of the fridge. That’s a great idea and I will use it!

]]> By: Alfred Bonke http://www.digital-photography-school.com/shoot-for-the-crop-%e2%80%93-don%e2%80%99t-cut-yourself-short/comment-page-1#comment-76254 Alfred Bonke Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:55:49 +0000 http://digital-photography-school.com/?p=11026#comment-76254 Great article. I just checked out my Panasonic DMC-ZS3 P&S. It has a setting that automatically gives you three aspect ratios in one shot. They are 4:3,, 3:2 and 16:9. Wow! I have some experimenting to do. Thankyou Mathew and thanks to the Digital Photography School. Great article. I just checked out my Panasonic DMC-ZS3 P&S. It has a setting that automatically gives you three aspect ratios in one shot. They are 4:3,, 3:2 and 16:9. Wow! I have some experimenting to do. Thankyou Mathew and thanks to the Digital Photography School.

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