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Crop before editting photos or after?


4 years 10 months ago #648441 by Paris Gal
Do you feel it makes any difference to when you crop an image.  A friend and I were just talking about this.  What's funny is she is on the side that crops first, I prefer to crop after.  As I see it, after you edit a photo, you might crop an image slightly different.  See my point?  
5D mark II gripped | Canon 100L | Canon 85 1.8 | Sigma 50 1.4 | Tamron 28-75 2.8 | 580ex II | 430ex II x 2 |
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4 years 10 months ago - 4 years 10 months ago #648443 by Troponin

Paris Gal wrote: Do you feel it makes any difference to when you crop an image.  A friend and I were just talking about this.  What's funny is she is on the side that crops first, I prefer to crop after.  As I see it, after you edit a photo, you might crop an image slightly different.  See my point?  


Always crop first. The reason why is that, when I am trying to balance out my dynamic range, sometimes there are areas that are lighter or darker than the area I am going to crop. These areas will clip before my cropped area will, giving me a "false" sense that my dynamic range is good. Once you crop, you will see the histogram actually change to show you the range in the new area. Vignette is also applied to the current crop, and when you recrop, you might have to readjust the vignette as well. There are other ways to work this out without cropping, but it's more work, IMO. 

This is all part of your work flow. It makes editing more efficient and enjoyable if you have a lot of photos 
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4 years 10 months ago #648447 by Nikon Shooter
Technically, it will make marginally any difference in a better
converter.

I usually prefer to do it rather late in the development unless
the crop is obvious from the very beginning.
Light is free… capturing it is not!
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4 years 10 months ago #648480 by garyrhook
I crop last. I keep unrecoverable decisions at the very end of the editing process, along with edits that have to be applied to the final image.

It's easy enough to ignore areas that you intend to crop later, and the histogram is only a guide for your eye.
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4 years 10 months ago #648481 by Troponin

garyrhook wrote: I crop last. I keep unrecoverable decisions at the very end of the editing process, along with edits that have to be applied to the final image.

It's easy enough to ignore areas that you intend to crop later, and the histogram is only a guide for your eye.


I should have specified, I use LR, and I am never editing a RAW in an unrecoverable manner. 
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4 years 10 months ago #648493 by Moossmann
Same here, I crop as one of the final things I do to the photo.  Although I do agree, it doesn't make a difference as technically you can revert back a crop in Lightroom.  
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4 years 10 months ago #648603 by garyrhook

Troponin wrote:

garyrhook wrote: I crop last. I keep unrecoverable decisions at the very end of the editing process, along with edits that have to be applied to the final image.

It's easy enough to ignore areas that you intend to crop later, and the histogram is only a guide for your eye.


I should have specified, I use LR, and I am never editing a RAW in an unrecoverable manner. 


My comment was general. I use LR, too, but also PS, which is not non-linear. And I use plug-ins that create rasters that can't be reversed. Defining a workflow that accommodates one's needs is critical, but usually based on trial-and-error. At least, it was for me.

Given that LR works on a preview when editing, I'm not entirely sure cropping early or late matters.
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4 years 10 months ago #648621 by Shadowfixer1
Photoshop can crop non-destructively also. Just make sure you uncheck the "delete cropped pixels" box in the ribbon. You can then revert to the original if you want to at a later date.
www.betterphoto.com/?ramshots
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The following user(s) said Thank You: Troponin
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4 years 10 months ago #648640 by Pete Franko
Makes no difference IMHO.  Personally I edit on the back side most of the time.
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4 years 10 months ago #648681 by Steve Zahra
I always crop  in the beginning of the post editing process.  For me it helps me keep focus and frame up the final shot. 
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4 years 10 months ago #648769 by Little Kate
I guess it doesn't matter, but I usually will do in the beginning.  
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4 years 9 months ago #649975 by Vincent
Usually after, no reason, just how I do it.  
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