Cropping question

[4073708 1]

I have been known to have several crops of the same picture for different frames.

 

[KmH]

Editing rule #1.
Don't edit your original image. Edit a copy of it.

If you're going to crop after having edited, do the same thing - crop a copy of the edited photo.
That way you can go back to the full size edited photo and crop another copy of it if you want to crop to a different aspect ratio.

Cropping away pixels you edited locally is a waste of editing time.

 

[Alexr25]

Editing rule #1.
Don't edit your original image. Edit a copy of it.

Correction:
Editing rule #1.
Don't edit your original image. Edit a copy of it unless you are using a non-destructive editor such as Lightroom in which case there is no need to make an edit copy.

 

[SquarePeg37 8]

...Cropping away pixels you edited locally is a waste of editing time.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?

TIA

 

[soufiej]

Here I may be a bit different in my thought process than it seems most forum members think about a photo.

Since I print most of my own photos and do so only for display on the 'fridge or side table, I am thinking of a likely aspect ratio before I even frame my shot. I then back off the framing a sufficient amount to allow for other potential print sizes.

In my computer, I crop to suit the print size. I retain a copy of the original file for later use.

 

[sabbath999]

When I crop, I do so in "standard" dimensions simply because they look "right" to my eyes.

 

[Dave442]

I also use the vitural copy option in LR and in the Copy box I put the corresponding crop aspect ratio. I have many photos that were cropped to at least three different aspect ratios based on display media.

With film I always started with the full negative when going to print and now when looking through my images I like to be able to see the full image in addition to the variations already produced.

For printing I usually stick to one of the standard aspect ratios and that's probably just the engineer in me trying to be too orderly.

 

[dennybeall]

I save the original as shot and do any cropping with Photoshop with the "Save Cropped Pixels" turned on. Files take more space but the cropped area can be recovered.
I don't print, except for a clients restoration job, so I set h and v to what pleases me for that shot since it'll be shown on a screen.

 

[KmH]

...Cropping away pixels you edited locally is a waste of editing time.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?

TIA

A global edit effects the entire photo the same and by the same amount.

A local edit is done by selecting just a portion of a photo to be edited.
Photoshop has a nice variety of selection tools and selection tool options for masking portions of a photo for local editing.
Often the portion of the photo that is masked for a local edit is put on it's own layer so that edit can be modified later in the editing workflow if needed.

Lightroom is much more limited for doing local edits with it's minimal selection tools and selection tool options.
Lightroom also does not have layers. But OnOne software has a plug-in (Perfect Layers) you can buy to use with Lightroom.