The Crop tool is located in the Shape (Lens in versions prior to 15.3) tool tab.
You can also access the Crop tool in the Cursor Tools section in the Toolbar. Images can be cropped using an unconstrained or fixed ratio.
Crop around the center with the Option/Alt key (macOS/Windows). The Shift key will lock the current aspect ratio when cropping with an unconstrained ratio.
You can also use the Shift key to create a new crop from anywhere in the image in case you do not want to resize the existing one by dragging the edges.
Basically, holding the Shift key while applying a crop will ignore any previous crop. Additionally, freehand rotation can be accessed by either moving the cursor outside the corner of the crop or by using the modifier key Cmd/Ctrl (macOS/Windows).
To apply the crop after selection, simply switch to another cursor tool or press the Return/Enter key.
Click the Reset adjustments icon to revert to the uncropped image, or use Cmd + Z / Ctrl + Z to undo your most recent adjustment.
Other tips for working with the Crop tool:
- As of Capture One 22 (15.3) your selected Aspect Ratio (also referred to as Crop Ratio, or simply Ratio) will be stored on a per-variant basis – this means that your Ratio will be different depending on which image you are working with, as Capture One remembers your preference for a smoother experience – you can change this behaviour under the Crop tab of Preferences:
- Adjust a crop by dragging the edges of the preview inwards (the cursor will turn into a two-way arrow) until the desired crop has been achieved.
- Click within the crop boundary (where the cursor will turn into a cross) and drag the selection to move the entire selected cropped area.
- Rotate the crop to suit by grabbing just outside the corners of the crop frame (the cursor will change to a curved arrow).
- The original image with the cropping mask is shown in the thumbnails.
- The crop masking can be changed in Preferences. Go to Capture One -> Preferences / Edit -> Preferences (macOS/Windows) and select the Crop option to change the opacity and brightness of the mask being used.
- Click the Reset Crop adjustments button to undo a crop and revert to the original un-cropped image.
- Reselect the Crop tool at any time to readjust the crop settings.
Comments
24 comments
Why is there no way to show aspect ratio of a photo that has been cropped already?
Hi Frank,
You can view the details of the photo in the Process Summary tab.
There is no aspect ratio but Size based on which the aspect ratio can be calculated.
Yes it can be calculated if
1) I put these numbers into a calculator
2) Take this number and multiply it by the first number of one of the aspect ratio and see if I end up with the correct second number. If not I start again with 1) ...
While every tool shows the values of the image you are currently looking at (i.e. exposure, keystone,...) the crop tool shows the values one has been using on the last crop done before which might even have been in a different catalog, on a different day or even week.
To me this looks like a very obvious design flaw.
Just saw this while looking for an hour or so to find a way to switch the crop from landscape to portrait!
Coming from LR where cropping is an intuitive charme I second that CO's crop tool isn't well thought and designed. Speed editing? How many keys do I have to press if I select the cropping tool, then trying to rotate a bit. Going back to crop and finally you also have to press enter instead of clicking the pen or mouse. BTW. I tried to enter a ration of 3:2 when 2:3 exists to get a landscape ration but this isn't even possible.
In the same category go the thumbnails in the filmstrip which always show the uncropped image so it's really difficult to recognise what the image looks like. Especially when it's low key.
I've asked before, but is there or can we get a shortcut to undo the crop, rotation and keystone?
Also, can the crop ratio jump to the ratio of the crop you have on a photo? Like if I have several different crops throughout the day, can I go back to adjust a photo from earlier without having to remember the ratio I had previously chosen? I want to just click on that shot and it jumps to the ratio I cropped it with and I can adjust it without it jumping to a crop from later in the day?
Hi,
When the session folder is browsed in grid view, the images are shown with a crop overlay. I would like to evaluate all images in the folder after cropping has been applied. Is there a way to toggle crop on/off in grid view? I have tried multi-view but somehow, the viewer seems limited to 11 thumbnails visible at once.
Hi Christophe,
Thank you for your comment.
I have forwarded your request to the Support Team. They will get back to you shortly.
I can't get a grip on the flipping size numbers in the crop tool..
No matter which number I enter, they keep reverting back to the original.
In my case I'm on 2:3 ratio. It says 800x533. (Where do these numbers come from, anyway????) That's too small for me I would like 1200 on the long side. But when I enter 1200 and hit Enter or Tab or anything it reverts back to 800.
This really annoys me and was much, much, much more intuitive in LR.
Please help!
C1 Version 14.3.1.14
Oh, I now found out that the numbers are somehow linked to the size I enter in the export dialogue.
Hell, what do they do over there and why are they linked? And why, if they are determined in the export dialogue, do they seem editable in the crop dialogue in the first place?
Just make that crop tool work like in LR with ratios only and yes, let me determine the final size in the export dialogue.
And please add the information of the size determination in your "tutorial" above. Until you've built a decent crop tool.
BTW what happens If I cropped to 1200px and later decide to change my export setting to a larger size. Have the pixel been affected already? Should all the numbers only be displayed for information would this make it even more misleading. Again, check LR: Better copied well than screwed up trying on your own.
Best wishes, Ralph
Ralph,
As one User to another ...
I think you may need to step back and think about the functionality a little more. Maybe investigate how it is intended to work and what it offers using the Export Recipes (Output Recipes in releases before V21.3)
If you prefer LightRoom, use it. There is no real benefit to trying to persuade people to simply make LR clone applications.
More significantly, adding such a comment to a Community Help page is not very useful, even though it may make you feel better.
There are other ways to make suggestions about functionality changes, either via the Forum or on a Personal basis using the "Submit a request" feature in the Community pages.
SFA
why shouldn't it be aloud to give a hint to LR as an example how a great crop tool is working? I mean CO want's people to change from LR to CO but then they should stand the comparision. Only a good development engine (which was changed how LR is working with blacks and white!) isn't everything. You say there is no real benefit of trying to persuade people to simply make a LR clone. Yes, I agree here but right now if you take a closer look you'll see that a lot (just in the latest update) of functions that LR has had for some time are brought into CO.
The crop tool of CO is a nightmare since I'm a CO user (I don't like it to be polite). If I need to crop I'll do it in Photoshop which has more than one positive aspect. First it stays afterwards in the then orginal size and I'm able see the real image in the filmstrip where CO is showing something that can't be really recognized (the cropped image inside the original image :-( )
Hi SFA,
thank you for your reply. I do pay for the software and I reserve the right to utter my annoyance about bad user interfaces and software that might be developed with the help of paying customers in mind. I don't intend to investigate, I want to work and I seek pages like this to learn where I have failed to understand.
I switched to C1 for many reasons and it is a superb piece of programming esp in the color engine as you probably have also noticed.
It drives me up the wall though, when I need to get things done and the tools I am using and paying for are sub par in their performance be it in parts only.
This is why I sought help right here but was put off from the NOT-Tutorial how to use the crop tool. Then I decided to post my questions and my suggestion for a solution.
The crop tool is an annoyance. PERIOD. And I don't see where I am wrong pointing the developers to a better working feature in a competitor's app. My critic regarding the functionality was absolutely legitimate, don't you think.
And where was I trying to "convince" C1 to copy LR? I am sure they are smart enough to find a solution of their own.
Well and I posted here to get some quick help / explanation. I do not want to enter a process of begging to solve an obvious flaw in the software/user interface. C1 might not even see it the way I do.
And I kindly ask you to address my questions in your next reply:
Why can you enter sizes in the crop tool when they are determined in the export recipes?
Why don't they override the export recipes then?
What use is it to have to select an export recipe setting at the beginning of your workflow? What happens when you change recipes during the work / for some images in the session / catalogue your working on?
And what happens when you have multiple export recipes selected?
All this can be solved with one feature. Leave the pixels out of the cropping tool and just use ratios (like in LR ;-) and let the user determine the export size at the end of the workflow
All this should be mentioned in the "Tutorial" at the top of this page, or not?
Regards, Ralph
Dear Support Team
There have already been question on that (Chris above). Is there a way to toggle the crop overlay on/off in the grid view? After I crop, I would like to see all the pictures in the grid in their final version. Thank you.
I'd like to change the colour of the grid in the crop tool - it's of no use when attempting to crop something using the grid when shot against a white backdrop.
Edit: Ok, just found out I could do it using the grid tool - I had assumed this belonged within the crop tool prefs, but glad there's a way!
My images are showing with a pre-existing crop a small way in from the edges. Why is this and how can I prevent it?
Is there a way to get the crop tool to clamp to values that are multiples of 10, for example?
I find myself using the tool to crop to, say, 2163x2163, when really I'd prefer that instead of letting me crop to an individual pixel value, I'd prefer it rounded me to the nearest 10 (so it would become 2160). Obviously I would want to be able to toggle this rounding, but it would speed up my workflow if it were an option. Thanks!
It is possible to bring back Grid Type feature? And adding the following grids with color options:
-- Golden Ratio grid
-- Fibonacci Spiral grid
-- Dynamic Symmetry
Or even more grid types...
https://imagealchemist.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/CO-MacR-Pref-Crop-CO10.png
The weird wonky thumbnails are so annoying. Just show the final crop. One of my biggest issues with CO. Please please fix this
I feel like I am taking crazy pills here. I recently switched to CO, and I can't find a way to easily crop into an horizontal image with a vertical aspect ratio. So if my photo is 2x3 I want a 3x2 crop. I use this all the time in other editors, and it seems with CO there is no simple way to do it? The drop down menu only gives me other horizontal crops, 2x3, 3x4, 4x5 etc. Are there really no vertical options? Why? What am I missing?
Edit: since I've seen others ask about it, and have found the solution on YouTube: you have to push the crop window until it snaps into the other orientation. So if you have a 2x3 photo but want it to be 4x3, just select the 3x4 option on the drop down, and then push that frame until it snaps into 4x3. Not very intuitive, and nowhere to be found in the help files, but it works.
So when will the crop tool be fixed? So far the issues that I have found are:
Applying changes to an image does not allow for the crop tool to adjust/new crop on the image.
Shift key does not always allow for you to create a crop.
Selecting am aspect ratio that is different than the current ratio doesn't change the ratio of the image and half the time it doesn't let you adjust the crop of the image.
Then there is this which I am not even sure what to call. This image has a crop on it which you can see in the preview images, yet the image in the main screen appears without the crop and I am unable to adjust the crop.
That tool seems so basic. But it's lacking behind so much...
How can we flip the crop frame preserving aspect ratio? We can't. How can we estimate final composition when we crop a little area of a shot, but we HAVE TO view it all? Instead of moving a shot inside of a frame as in Lightroom, we have to manipulate the frame around an image as in Photoshop. I used both ways and second is really worse I admit.
And finally, why are the previews show us whole image with a crop overlay, but not final composition? How am I supposed to scroll through them quickly picking the one I need if they are shown unedited?
And yeah, working with recovery mask is especially fun when you've cropped the image - it may sample cropped area, but than you simply can't move sampler any more!
I strongly disagree with that. It is far easier to adjust your crop when you can move the smaller frame around the larger frame, especially when you consider that your movements aren't mirrored.
The browser view shows the edited image. The area outside the crop will be dimmer. You can expand that area and select to view in grid with XL images.
Can we please get a shortcut toggle key which switches between landscape/portrait? Thx.
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