Melissa13 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Is there an easy way to cut two photos to the same size in PSE 9? And I'm not talking about a perfect 4x6. I mean if I cut a photo to an odd size and I want to match that shape and size with another photo. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvich Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I would use a clipping mask. First, select the rectangle tool and adjust the geometry settings for it to the size that you want the photo to be. Click on your layout to add this shape. Duplicate this shape and position the two shapes where you want them on the layout. Temporarily, turn off the eyeball beside one of the shapes layers. Then, on the layers palette, make sure one of your photos is the layer directly above the shape layer you can currently see. Also, drag the photo on the layout itself so that it is above the shape. On the layers palette, place your cursor between the photo and shape layers. Hold Alt (the cursor should change from a pointing finger to a black ball with an arrow). Click once with your mouse to "clip" your photo to the shape layer. Then make sure you are on the photo layer and then resize and/or rotate your photo to fit the shape. Next, select both shape and photo layers and link the two layers on the layers palette. This will allow you to move the two layers as one, if desired. Repeat this process with the other shape layer and photo. (Be sure to turn on the eyeball!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April Showers Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I would use a clipping mask. First, select the rectangle tool and adjust the geometry settings for it to the size that you want the photo to be. Click on your layout to add this shape. Duplicate this shape and position the two shapes where you want them on the layout. Temporarily, turn off the eyeball beside one of the shapes layers. Then, on the layers palette, make sure one of your photos is the layer directly above the shape layer you can currently see. Also, drag the photo on the layout itself so that it is above the shape. On the layers palette, place your cursor between the photo and shape layers. Hold Alt (the cursor should change from a pointing finger to a black ball with an arrow). Click once with your mouse to "clip" your photo to the shape layer. Then make sure you are on the photo layer and then resize and/or rotate your photo to fit the shape. Next, select both shape and photo layers and link the two layers on the layers palette. This will allow you to move the two layers as one, if desired. Repeat this process with the other shape layer and photo. (Be sure to turn on the eyeball!) I do what she said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B&K Mom Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Yep....Clipping Mask is the way to go. And it works in PSE as well. Hope it works for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa13 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Thanks! Boy, this seems complicated. In previous versions, wasn't there a one or two step process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraC1977 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Melissa, I'd do the same as Ivich et al, but I'll describe it a little differently; perhaps that will help. On a new layer, create a shape for your photo. You could use the Rectangle tool, or any other shape you liked. Size it as desired. Copy the layer using CTRL + J and move it away from the first layer. Now you have two perfectly identical shapes. Drag Photo 1 on top of the bottom shape, and Photo 2 on top of the top shape. CLIP Photo 1 to its shape, either in the layers palette (described above,) or via CTRL + G. Clip Photo 2 to its layer. Now resize the PHOTO layers to fit the shapes nicely and drag the photos to position the areas you want to see above the shapes. To modify the layout, select the photo AND its clipping mask in the layers palette and move them together. If you need to resize them further, select at LEAST the two clipping shapes and resize at the same time. It's not really that complicated, but in trying to describe it completely, and with all the steps, it might seem complex. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBarnes Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Another possibility is to use your rectangular marquee (selection) tool. You can set it to a specified Size or a specified Aspect Ratio but I think you'd want to go with Size. Make one of the photos the active layer. Use your marquee tool. Go to Select>Inverse and making sure that the photo layer is still selected, hit Delete. Hit Ctrl + D to get rid of that selection. Make your other photo the active layer and repeat the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Personally I would use the clipping mask method as well, because that allows you to change your mind later (I am a fickle scrapper, lol). But, both the Rectangular Marquee tool and the crop tool have an option where you can choose a custom size and trim a picture to your exact dimensions. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool like Pat explained above if your photos are already on your layout. If you are precropping, use the crop tool to trim them before hand, then move onto your layout. With the Crop Tool active, up across the top of the screen you will see several options. Type the Width and Height that you want, and enter 300 in the Resolution box. Crop. Then move on to the next picture. Your crop settings should carry over. Note - it is important to not only use the same width and height settings, but the same resolution setting or your pictures won't crop to the same size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Ohhh! Just thought of another method (not to muddy the waters or anything, lol). If you previously trimmed a picture, and want to match the size on another picture, but you don't know what size you used originally, this is how I would do it. Make the trimmed picture active in the layers palette. Hold the CTRL key down and click on the Thumbnail on that layer (the Thumbnail is the little picture of whatever is on the active layer). You should get marching ants outlining the picture. This is called a Direct Selection. Now, without doing anything to get rid of the marching ants, switch layers. Make the picture that you want to trim active in the Layers Palette. Switch to the Marquee Tool (the shortcut is the letter M on your keyboard). Now, you can drag that selection (marching ants) around on the screen, positioning it over the portion of the picture that you want to keep. Now, (double check to make sure the picture you are trimming is active in the Layers Palette) currently anything INSIDE the selection is selected. If you press delete, everything INSIDE the selection will be deleted. We want everything OUTSIDE of the selection to be deleted. So, we need to switch. You can go Select > Inverse or use the shortcut Shift + CTRL + I. Now, you'll still see the original selection AND you'll see marching ants going around the outside edge of the layout. This means that everything between the two selections is active. Press Delete and you've trimmed the picture to match the first one. It's similar to the method that Pat explained, just using the first picture to set your size instead of the Aspect Ratio of the Marquee Tool. Post and let us know how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBarnes Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 It's cool that there is almost always more than one way to do things in PSE and CS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa13 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Thanks everyone for these suggestions. I'll give them a try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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