In LR3 the “X” key switches between landscape/portrait modes while cropping. RTFM.

Trying to crop a small portion of a 20MB image is very difficult in LR. LR is suppose to be oriented toward photographers, not graphics designers, so the Crop feature should behave like you are looking through a viewfinder. The crop frame should remain level and full size (or a user selected size) and the image should pan, zoom and tilt behind this frame. To keep both camps happy, there should be a toggle, like the “X” key.

Also, LR should borrow some ease-of-use from Google Earth so in BOTH crop modes, you can zoom with the mouse wheel and rotate by CTRL-mouse wheel, and do fine pan/zoom/rotate movements by simultaneously holding down the ALT key.

But I _want_ to move the crop rectangle, not the picture below!

It is counter-intuitive, that is why it takes “a bit of getting used to”.

Imagine that you are working with a rectangular frame and a scalpel, you would not be moving the photo around while keeping the frame in place, wouldn’t you?

It’s one of those examples where software architect tries to be “smarter” than the real life and fails. If at least there was an option to invert the mouse X and Y axis… even first person shooters allow you to set that according to your preference.

Thanks for the explanation on the second one though, for some reason the lock didn’t want to stay on between images.

Good questions.

1. It takes a bit of getting used to, but when you click and drag to “move the crop” you’re not actually moving the crop box around (as one does in Photoshop and many other image-editing programs). Rather you are moving the image behind the cropped area (which stays centered). So, clicking and dragging the mouse towards you does indeed move the image down, as intended.

2. When you lock the aspect ratio to Original by clicking the padlock icon in the Crop tool, that setting is maintained between images. For example, enter the Crop tool, click the padlock to lock to original aspect ratio, crop the image and hit Done. Now move to the next image and enter the crop tool. Your aspect ratio should still be locked to “Original.” You can’t lock the aspect ratio (from photo to photo) to anything other than original because that would automatically crop any photo you entered the Develop Module with. To sync a crop between images, try using the Sync button in the Develop module.

-Scott

1. Invert the crop tool’s mouse X and Y axis — it is completely retarded as it is. Dragging the mouse towards me should move DOWN, not UP.

2. Make “Original” (or just about any locked) aspect the default for every photo.

Some presets apply graduated filter from different angle and position. When cropping, the filter position stay in the original image instead of reapplied inside the cropped area.

Check under the View menu and see what option is checked under the “Tool Overlay” option. It should say “Auto Show” or “Always Show.” If “Never Show” is checked, the crop overlay will…well…never show.

Hope that helps.

-Scott

Lot’s of folks get confused by this one. The crop tool just tells Lightroom what pixels to show or to hide. Image Size tells Lightroom what physical dimensions to fill for the new file upon export.

Bonus advice: If I were you I would use the “Resize to fit: Width and Height” option in the Image Sizing section.

Hope this helps,
David

Lynn.

There’s not a way, that I know of, to keep it active between images. You can tap the R key to get the crop tool on a photo, reach outside one of the corners with your mouse until it turns into a curved, double-sided arrow, and drag the photo around until it’s straight. It’s certainly not as cool as the “draw a line until it’s straight” tool, but you could then tap Enter, an arrow key to move to the next photo, and then R again to start the process all over.

Or…you could shoot with a tripod.

I’m just teasing…hope you’re not too sensitive. I admit..I hate tripods.

-Scott

The problem with this solution is that it doesn’t necessarily zoom the image in the same way the zoom function would in Lightroom. It’s more like holding a magnifying glass up to your screen.

But, it’s better than nothing, I guess!

-Scott

Lightroom does not have a built-in way to stay zoomed while in the crop tool. However, if you are running Windows 7, you can use the Windows Key plus the + or _ to zoom the window live. That will allow you a workaround while cropping.

If you don’t have Win7 but are still on the Window platform, you can download a program called Zoom-It. It’s free and the latest version has a “live” version like the Windows 7 built-in one. It’s not as nice but it will work in a pinch.

Best of luck,

- Wil

I guess I’d never tried before, but it does not look possible. I tried every trick I know to get it to zoom or keep the zoom while cropping, and it kicks me back out to the “Fit” view every time.

-Scott

-Scott

You’re right. It’s not easy…and a bit counter-intuitive.

Once you select the Crop Tool in Lightroom, choose 8×10 from the Aspect drop-down menu. Then grab a corner of the crop overlay with your mouse and begin to drag it smaller. If you drag the mouse in the direction you’d like to move the crop (like across the top of the image to make a vertical) the crop overlay will eventually “snap” to the vertical/portrait orientation.

You may have to drag around a bit to find the sweet spot to make that happen.

Thanks for your question!