{"id":4141,"date":"2016-11-29T01:05:59","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T06:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.filepuma.com\/?p=4141"},"modified":"2024-06-18T05:04:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T12:04:08","slug":"how-to-crop-images-using-shapes-in-photoshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/how-to-crop-images-using-shapes-in-photoshop\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Crop Images Using Shapes in Photoshop"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Photoshop\u2019s most handy tools is the\u00a0Clipping Mask<\/strong>. Buried in the complicated program\u2019s layers, you can use this tool to create a frame for an image, revealing only the part of the image you want to display.<\/p>\n

This can be a great way to crop an image in your\u00a0Photoshop\u00a0project without cropping the actual image.<\/p>\n

The first step is to create the shape of your choice.\u00a0The easiest way to do this is by using Photoshop\u2019s Shapes tool which is found in the Tools bar on the left. You can choose from a rectangle, ellipse, rounded rectangle, polygon, or create a custom shape.<\/p>\n

\"toolsmenu\"<\/p>\n

For the purposes of this tutorial,\u00a0we\u2019ll be using an ellipse. After selecting the shape, you can\u00a0draw the shape one of two ways.\u00a0You can either drag the cursor across the canvas to create the\u00a0ellipse.<\/p>\n

Holding down shift will allow you to create a perfect circle\u00a0when\u00a0using the ellipse, or perfect square when using the rectangle.\u00a0Alternatively, you could just click anywhere on the canvas and type in the exact dimensions of the shape you want to create.<\/p>\n

\"size\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve chosen to create a black circle so it\u2019s easy to see on the canvas. The color is only important in so far as you can see the shape as it will be completely covered by the image.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"blackcircle\"<\/p>\n

Next you\u2019re going to want to insert the image you want framed by that shape. To do so go to File > Place Embedded, and navigate to where the file is saved on your computer.<\/p>\n

Doing it this way, rather than copying and pasting, allows you to manipulate the image in\u00a0Photoshop\u00a0without making irreversible changes to the\u00a0original file.<\/p>\n

\"placeembedded\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019m using this image from Pixabay, which I downloaded at 1920\u00d71524. After navigating to it on my computer, it will look like this when you open it in Photoshop. Just hit Enter and it will create a new layer on your canvas.<\/p>\n

\"imageplaced\"<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll notice that\u00a0it restricted the size of the image to the boundaries of my 500\u00a0pixel wide canvas even though it\u2019s a larger image. To ensure that the image will take up all of the circle, right-click it, and select \u201cFree Transform\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"freetransform\"<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll see the same diagonal lines across the image. Dragging the image from one corner, while holding down the shift key to preserve aspect ratio,\u00a0enlarge the image until it\u2019s covering the circle.\"circlecovered\"<\/p>\n

Then going to your Layers panel, right click on the image layer of the dog and click \u201cCreate clipping mask\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"clippingmask\"<\/p>\n

At that point you will see the\u00a0borders of the image are restricted to the circle shape. You can move your shape around, make it bigger or smaller with the Free Transform tool, and show only the precise part of the image you want displayed.<\/p>\n

\"clipped\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of Photoshop\u2019s most handy tools is the\u00a0Clipping Mask. Buried in the complicated program\u2019s layers, you can use this tool to create a frame for an image, revealing only the part of the image you want to display. This can be a great way to crop an image in your\u00a0Photoshop\u00a0project without cropping the actual image. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-graphics-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4879,"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4141\/revisions\/4879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filepuma.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}