2013

The Photo Tools 281
Un-clip
Press the UN-CLIP button with any clipped photo selected, to restore the original
photo. This restores the clip rectangle, which you can adjust or clear by clicking
outside it.
The
UN-CLIP button in the CLIP TOOL will change the outline of any clipped photo, and
also arbitrarily formed shapes with a bitmap fill, to that rectangular outline of the
complete photo or bitmap used as the fill. You may have to select the Clear button to
clear the crop rectangle (or click outside the rectangle).
Adjusting the clip region
Because the un-clip button restores the clip rectangle (showing the area outside
faded), you can easily make fine adjustments to a clipped photo. Just select the photo,
press the Un-clip button and adjust the sides of the clip rectangle as required. Double
click inside the photo to clip it again.
Width / Height
After drawing a clip rectangle, you can enter values directly into the width and height
fields on the InfoBar to set the clip rectangle dimensions to exact values.
Lock Aspect
Select the "LOCK ASPECT" check-box to constrain the clip rectangle to a specific
aspect ratio as you drag. The radio buttons to the right of the check-box determine
the aspect ratio used. Select "
CURRENT" to maintain the aspect ratio to that of the
photo before the clip. Note that the clip rectangle automatically changes between
landscape and portrait orientation as you drag a corner of the rectangle. So if you
drag sideways it tends to create a clip in landscape orientation. If you drag
downwards more, then it will create a clip region in portrait orientation.
The common preset crop aspect ratios are available of 4:3 (most consumer digital
cameras and old-style TVs and monitors), 3:2 (that of traditional film cameras and
higher end SLR digital cameras), and 16:9 (aspect ratio of widescreen TVs).
You can override the lock-aspect option by using "Ctrl" while dragging. So if you're
dragging out a clip rectangle (or adjusting one) without aspect ratio lock, then holding
"Ctrl" will lock the aspect to the last selected aspect ratio. Similarly if you have lock
aspect option on then "Ctrl" will temporarily un-lock the aspect ratio.
Clipping in Photo Documents
In photo mode, there is a one-pixel grid applied to the photo (when at 96dpi, the
default resolution) and the clip rectangle snaps to this grid. This makes it very easy to
get pixel exact clipping. For highly accurate or exact pixel snapping, it's recommended
to operate in photo mode and to zoom in so you can see the pixels clearly.
See Photo documents (on page 273) for more information.