Creative Cropping
Create some cool cropping using the Cookie Cutter tool and the Background layer inside Photoshop Elements.
[This is an updated version of Corey Barker's Creative Cropping video from May, 2007.]
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Related Tags: cookie cutter tool, cropping
Frank
July 2, 2011 at 6:14 am
Keep up the GOOD work, the cheatsheet’s are most useful…
Steve
July 2, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Awesome tutorial Elizabeth, I posted an image on Flickr using your tutorial. Thanks so much. I used a little different shape to draw attention to the A10′s firepower. Have a wonderful 4th.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42247711@N08/5895041393/in/photostream
Rick
July 5, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Nice Steve!
Steve
July 7, 2011 at 12:46 pm
You bet Rick!!
Steve
July 7, 2011 at 5:44 pm
Rick, please pass another thank you on to Elizabeth, I just found out this image was selected in Flickr’s Explore.
Mary
July 4, 2011 at 5:01 am
Very nice! I love the look that you created.
Thanks!
Mary
Thomas
July 5, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Wow – this one has all kinds of possibilities!
Thank you!
Greg
July 5, 2011 at 11:38 pm
My over 60′s class will love this one. just the other day one of my students was asking how to achieve a particular effect and bingo! This tute will help me to help her achieve her special effect. So thank yo very much.
Cheers!
Kathy
July 7, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Help!! I followed all the directions and everything worked well. The only problem is after I select effects and click on the drop shodow the video is hard to understand. I heard double click on________?? This brings up the box where you changed the crop you used numbers like 35 43 63?? How do I get that window, I have double clicked on everything , like fx and and and to no avail. How do i get that little chart??????
Anyone please help a newbie!!! kathy
Rick
July 8, 2011 at 10:12 am
Hi Kathy,
You either double-click on the ‘fx’ icon in the layer, or you select the layer in the panel, then choose Layer Style > Style Settings from the Layer menu.
(The double-click option is mentioned in Step 6 of the cheatsheet that you can download with the video — just click on the “Download the Creative Cropping cheatsheet” link to get the PDF.)
best,
Rick
– – – – – – –
Rick LePage
Editor in chief
Kathy
July 8, 2011 at 10:37 am
Hi Rick, Thank you so much for the reply. I did see the PDF and step 6, It just was not working for me. Prob was not on the right layer. Your info is very helpful. Thanks, I just love this site because of the clear step by step directions for newbies like me. Thanks again,Kathy
William
July 8, 2011 at 10:49 am
I like it and I will use it. Thanks
david
July 10, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Can’t download on my Windows 7 platform. Says i need a certain codec. Have’nt had problems with any of the others. Id really like to add this to my library. Thanks
Tony
July 12, 2011 at 6:26 am
it’s simple, but very effective; a very well done tutorial!
Brenda
July 13, 2011 at 7:53 am
Great tutorial. I can’t wait to use this technique.
John
August 5, 2011 at 4:41 pm
great tutorial Elizabeth. I was wondering if the same feature it in the full photoshop. I looked all through the shape tools and brushes.
John
August 25, 2011 at 12:36 pm
How do I get my scanner into Elements 9
Rick
August 25, 2011 at 1:19 pm
John,
If you take a look at the July/August 2011 issue, on Page 30, there’s a note about how to get the driver for your scanner into Elements 9:
If you’re using Elements 9, you may find that your scanner no longer appears in the Import menu. Adobe chose to leave this out of the standard installation. However, you may be able to restore the feature by relocating Adobe’s TWAIN plug-in file.
In Windows, navigate to C:\\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 9\ Optional Plug-Ins\Import-Export (the path may vary slightly depending on your system and location) and move the “twain_32.8ba” file to C:\Program Files\ Adobe\Photoshop Elements 9\Locales\en_US\ Plug-Ins\Import-Export. Alternately, you can use the Organizer on Windows to access your scanner by going to Get Photos And Videos>From Scanner.
On the Mac, move the TWAIN.plugin file from Applications/Adobe Photoshop Elements 9/Optional Plug-Ins/Import- Modules to Applications/Adobe Photo- shop Elements 9/Plug-Ins/ImportModules.
It’s from Liz Ness’ Creative Scanning article, which can also be downloaded from here:
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/members/creative-scanning/
Hope this helps.
best,
Rick
Gerald
September 1, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Elizabeth:
Really fun technique; thks for this tutorial. Using your technique, I see a hew way to link four related snaps, with four creative crops for a nice display.
Good show!
Robert
September 5, 2011 at 11:49 am
Besides drop shadow I also tried bevel and that also made cookies cutter shaped image pop out. I like the popping out effect this technique creates with the background layer in either case. I suppose the options are endless.
Peggi
November 25, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Is this in PSE10? I have PSE9.
Rick
November 25, 2011 at 4:55 pm
This works all the way back to Elements 5, Peggi. (It might go even further back, but the original video referenced above was done for that version.)