Adobe Photoshop CC doesn’t open your Raw file, you may need to update the Raw plug-in. (See www.adobe.com for the latest plug-in.) The plug-in should be downloaded and placed in this location in Windows: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins\CC\File Formats. On the Macintosh, place the plug-in here: Library\Application Support\Adobe\Plug-Ins\CC\File Formats.
Cropping is especially important in Photoshop. Each pixel, no matter what color, takes up the same amount of information, so cropping eliminates unneeded pixels and reduces file size and processing time. For that reason, you should crop images before you start working on them.
You can crop an image in Photoshop CC in two ways:
Use the Crop tool.
Select an area with the Marquee tool and choose Image ⇒ Crop.
To crop an image by using the Crop tool, follow these steps:
1 Press C to access the Crop tool.Make sure that the preset (in the upper-left corner of the control panel) is set to Ratio, or, if you wish, to a specific preset size in the Presets drop-down list, as shown in Figure 1-10.FIGURE 1-10: Select the Crop tool preset before you click and drag.
2 Click and drag over the area of the image you want to keep.
3 If you need to adjust the crop area, drag the handles in the crop-bounding area.
4 When you’re satisfied with the crop-bounding area, double-click in the center of the crop area or press the Return or Enter key to crop the image.
5 If you want to cancel the crop, press the Esc key.
Using grids as you crop
As a default, a three-row and three-column grid appears after you click and drag over an area with your Crop tool. This grid can be used as a guide to help you create more dynamically cropped images. Images whose points of interest appear on the intersections of this grid, or that can be divided into the sections of the grid, are generally considered to be more interesting. (This is the called the Rule of Thirds.) See how the image in Figure 1-11 fills the bottom one-third of the image with water, and the upper two-thirds with sky.
FIGURE 1-11: Use of the Rule of Thirds overlay in the Crop tool.
If you prefer to change or turn off the overlay, select the Never Show Overlay option from the Set the Overlay Options drop-down list, as shown in Figure 1-12. Keep in mind that you must have already clicked and dragged out your crop area before you can make changes to the overlay.
FIGURE 1-12: Select from a multitude of overlays to use as guides, or turn the overlay off.
Using the Frame tool to create cropped images
There are several ways you can create a frame; in this chapter, the first two methods are covered.
Use the Frame Tool to draw an empty rectangular or elliptical frame in your image, and then add an image inside the frame.
Click and drag a frame over an existing image to define the masked area.
Convert any existing shape or text to a frame. This method is discussed in Chapter 8 of this minibook.
Creating an empty frame with the Frame tool
Creating an empty frame offers the functionality of an image placeholder. The empty frame essentially determines the position and size of the image before it has been selected and placed.
1 Open an image.
2 Choose Window⇒ Layers to show the Layers panel if it is not visible.
3 Click on the Create new layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, as shown in Figure 1-13.
4 Select the Frame tool.
5 In the Tool Options bar, choose a rectangular frame or an elliptical frame, as shown in Figure 1-14.
6 Click and drag to create a new frame on the canvas.
7 With the frame selected, choose File⇒ Place Linked or Place Embedded. In the dialog box that appears, select an image that you want to place in the selected frame.The image is placed as Linked or Embedded Smart Object, as shown in Figure 1-14.
FIGURE 1-13: Add a new empty layer to your image.
FIGURE 1-14: Select the Frame tool, and the select the shape you want to use from the Options bar.
Creating a frame by clicking and dragging over an existing image
Open an image in Photoshop. Clicking and dragging a frame works with any layer in Photoshop. Here’s how:
1 The first step is to verify that you have a pixel layer to work with and not a Background layer. Choose Window⇒ Layers and check to see whether your image has a Background layer. If it shows Background layer, as shown in Figure 1-15, double-click on the layer to open the New Layer dialog box and press OK.
