Lightroom 3: crop landscape to portrait

<p>I have a photo I took in landscape orientation, knowing that I need to crop a portrait orientation image out of it with a specific aspect ratio. So I enter the custom aspect ratio (35 x 45), and try cropping and the crop remains a landscape one. OK, so I enter (45 x 35) as another custom aspect ratio and try again.<br>

And find I've been outsmarted.<br>

Lightroom knows that my image is a landscape one, and uses a wider than high crop for both aspect ratios.<br>

Is there a way to persuade Lightroom 3 to crop a landscape shot to a portrait orientation with a specific aspect ratio?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>have you tried something simple like rotating the image first. perhaps LR is locking onto the orientation metadata and you can fool it by rotating it.</p>

<p>Hmm. I don't see an obvious way to rotate 90 degrees (other than in the print module). But that would leave my subject rotated 90 degrees and me cropping a portrait to portrait (since it won't allow me to crop a landscape out of a portrait (just tried that)). I could do this with a free-hand crop no problem, but then I'd have difficulties getting the size exactly right.</p>

<p>(I've solved the immediate problem by reshooting the image, which is just a mug shot for an ID card, so (this being Japan) it has to be exactly the right size with my nose exactly in the middle and with exactly the right amount of space above my head.)</p>

 

<p>This is gotta be one of the most puzzling behaviors in Lightroom, but I figured it out (by chance). Select a corner of your crop frame, drag to make it smaller and smaller. At some point it will just flip from landscape to portrait, and _then_ you can drag again to enlarge the crop frame _in portrait mode-.</p>

<p>try it...</p>

<p>mike</p>

just grab the corner of the crop mark, shorten it in lock crop mode (locks the aspect ratio) and as you drag the corner crop mark toward the center of the image it will flip 90 degrees and retain the crop aspect ration you set . . .

<p>David,</p>

<p>In lightroom 3 under the settings tab at the top of your screen, you will find "rotate crop aspect". Simply click on that and your crop will flip flop to portrait from landscape.</p>

<p>If you have a mac simply hit the x key while in crop mode.</p>

<p>kevin</p>

<p>Thank you for that solution - that was one thing I could never figure out in LR.</p>

<p>Thanks, Kevin. You're flipping brilliant! (Pun intended, of course.) And x works on peecees, too.</p>

<p>Glad to help. I spent an hour messing with it the other night, and boy did I feel stupid when I found it.</p>

<p>In LR3, while in crop mode, you could press the "X" key to change the orientation. This works on both PCs and Macs. (an earlier poster said that this was Mac-only).</p>

<p>Like Ive been told since 1974 when beginning to work on computer.....<br>

When all else fails, read documentation or help files and yet, I still persist in learning in forums. Seems to me, getting lots of answers like these, its a better learning experience. :) Ive learned, to learn, from other peoples questions...</p>

 

<p>This solved a puzzler for me, too. The technique works for Lightroom 2 as well. Cheers.</p>

<p><<Robert Johnston posted...>></p>

<p>Robert, great comment. Not that long ago, people would get irked if you asked, and tell you to go RTFM. Nowadays, it seems it is getting more and more acceptable to just ask - I do think net users are getting more cooperative? Well, depends on the forum. This one is great.<br>

Anyways, Help and manuals were always iffy. Like roadmaps. That's why our spouses would beg us to stop and ask for directions :-)<br>

m.</p>

<p>I suppose pressing "X" doesn't work in LR 2.7? Pressing "X" sets the Rejected flag.</p>

<p>"When all else fails, RTFM"<br>

I actually did. But unless you know the answer, you often can't find said answer. Now that I know what to look for, it's right there in Evening's LR3 book, in a tip at the bottom left of page 264.</p>

<p>Joshua: "X" in this sense seems to be new to LR 3, where it only works when the crop adjusting function is activated. When the crop function has been closed, it still sets the Rejected flag.</p>

 

I see you got your answer already, David :) One could alternatively just open it in PS and set the aspect ratio after selecting the crop tool :)

<p>"just open it in PS..."</p>

<p>That's cheating...</p>

<p>In LR 2.7 it works best for me, if a grab it in upper right corner and drag it down to lower left. Somewhere past the center, if flips to Portrait.</p>

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3689330"><<<michael cytrynowicz>>></a><br>

The best reason Ive come up with that causes difficult manuals, is that Programmers write the software. They know how it works, so write them in technical language. They forget the majority of those using the program, do not know 1% about programming. Sometimes Ive read the manuals three times, without finding what I needed. It can be compounded, by manuals for programs written in other countries, then the manuals are written or printed in India, etc, all by those who speak English as a second language.<br>

Sometimes I think the best instructions<br>

may be those written in Spanish, French or Japanese. ;-)</p>

<p> </p>

"That's cheating..." - DL

<p>LOL! :D