Cropping

[McCormack]

When cropping images in IrfanView I'd like to blow the cropped selection back up to full size but I don't know how to do it... can someone walk me through the process?

[IMG][/IMG]

[Frog]

I don't know InfanView but doesn't it have a maginification tool?
In photoshop elements there is a magnifying glass in the tool bar and can use it to expand or make smaller.

[McCormack]

I found the magnification tool in IrfanView, but when I use it it not only enlarges the cropped area, it also enlarges the the rest of the image (the black border of the image), and when I go to save the image it still shows up as cropped. Also the image looses quite a bit of quality when enlarged.

[Frog]

Ah! After I posted, I wondered if you wanted the actual pic enlarged by increasing its dimensions.
That should be done in small stages. If you have a 1200x900, I think you should start by increasing those to1850x1350 then to 2700 x1900 until you get what you want.
Increase by half the dimension each time AND sharpen at each step before going up another notch.
I don't know how you get rid of the black border in that program. When I crop in photoshop, whatever I cropped is gone.
Follow the same steps for decreasing the size of a photo.
Keep watching your post. Somebody can probably explain it better than I.

[drg]

Hi,

The versions of IrfanView I have used including the current one I have loaded (ver 4.25/3.97) loads a file at 100% displayed size (there is a parameter start file to option differently). The when an image is 'cropped' the resulting file is re-displayed at 100%.

If the image that remains post-cropping is smaller than your display resolution, it will have a black border like the one shown. It can be enlarged with the zoom in/magnifier tool on the top bar. That will degrade the image.

The best that can be hoped for is to 're-size' the image, which is what frog alludes to in his post. Up-scale or re-sizing to a larger image will degrade the image to an unusable point quickly as the program has to 'invent' data to make the picture larger. This is an option under the Image pull down menu on the version I have used.

IrfanView has some added plug-ins to do 'smarter' or 'auto' cropping as well as other operations that can be found under the Options menu. Click and drag or the Custom Crop will add work just the same with different types of control/interface.

A smaller than original, i.e. cropped, has less data available so it will be a lower 'quality' at the same size as a larger dimensioned original.

Does this answer your question or not? Let us know.

Good luck!

[McCormack]

OK, I played around with the suggested enlarging options in IrfanView, and it looks like I can't enlarge the cropped area without also enlarging the border. But I don't crop my images all that often so I guess it's not the end of the world, and I'll just have to be conscious of that when I'm shooting photos.

Thanks for your help guys... I appreciate it. :thumbsup:

[McCormack]

Alrighty then, I figured out this cropping/border thing out in IrFanView - after making my crop, I had mistakenly been selecting "cut-leave selection" instead of the more appropriate "crop selection" from the edit drop down list. The "crop selection" option allows the cropped selection to be made full sized again without any borders.

As an aside I discovered that rectangular crops more fully fill the screen once saved to desktop size.

[Frog]

Glad you got it figured out and thanks for letting us know.
Never used IrFAnView. Do you like it?

[McCormack]

Although I've shot 35mm film and slides for years, I'm just getting my feet on the digital side of photography, so I don't have a lot of experience with image editors, but for my needs IrFanView works great, and the price is right too.

My main need for an editor is to resize/resample images for e-mail and forum posting purposes, and I also apply just a touch of color correction and sharpening, and now that I know how to crop I'll be doing a bit of cropping form time to time. Like I said IrFanView serves the purpose nicely for what I do.

Glad you got it figured out and thanks for letting us know.
Never used IrFAnView. Do you like it?

[McCormack]

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