Monday, January 21, 2013

Understanding the Need for Cropping and Resizing Picture


Visualize a glossy magazine or a website without attractive photos. Only pictures of good quality will be able to attract attention. If there is distorted then it looks weird and the page will be flicked off. If this happens then the cropping and resizing has not been done properly.

It is time to understand why cropping and resizing snaps is essential. Modern cameras have many technical possibilities. Professionals usually prefer manual operation. Once the snap is taken nothing can be done to change the composition. But it can be readjusted on the editing table to make it more palatable to the senses. Two of the options through which snaps can still look smart are cropping and resizing. But why is it even required? It gains importance when it is used to prepare a design particularly for the web, leaflets, brochure, magazine, catalog, pamphlets, fliers and handouts. It is basically an image editing professional’s job to make the snaps relevant to the medium they will be used for. Sometimes they need to fit in standard frames and both these options are required. It is much better than fitting a square peg in a round hole!

The term cropping implies that a snap needs to be trimmed. Except for the main vital subject the other elements can be left behind. This gives a detailed and focused look to the main subject. Passport photos, profile mugs are cropped for these reasons. Other reasons for cropping include short descriptions with text in magazines or newspapers. Cropping is ideal, as no heavy duty repairing is required. A professional photo can do it himself when a picture needs to be published quickly. Most edit programs have the simple cropping feature to be utilized in emergencies.

The term resizing means changing the dimensions of the actual photo without removing any of the elements. This is tricky and requires professional expertise. Often distortions result when the pictures are not resized in proper dimensions. Ideally one should resize the pictures before the cropping is done. Resizing is done for adjusting the picture with the available space. This could be for print or web media. During resizing the resolution quality is important. When the dimensions are reduced in proportion then the quality is maintained. If the picture is scaled then the stretch should be appropriate. Nothing looks uglier that a bad photo editing job.

Now that both the terms are clear one can approach a professional editor for cropping and resizing a picture.  While cropping it is essential to avoid squishing the snap. It narrows the entire subject and it may not look clean aesthetically. To avoid this mistake use the cropper too to remove some unwanted sections. Then this error can be eliminated. It is important for the editor to use the tools effectively. Often the tools are misused and result in bad cropping or even resizing. This happens to web pictures, which are cropped in HTML. To reduce this inconvenience the web pictures should be of a lower resolution. Any browser needs to function in optimum speed. This can be done only if the pictures are supportive. This makes it essential to use a professional to do both the jobs effectively rather than tinkering it yourself. Professionals can handle bulk image cropping and resizing projects as they have the necessary infrastructure, experience and skills to do it in lesser time.

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