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The Photo Tools 391

Adjusting the clip region
Because the un-clip button restores the clip rectangle (showing the area outside faded),
you can easily make fine adjustments to a clipped photo. Just select the photo, press the
Un-clip button and adjust the sides of the clip rectangle as required. Double click inside
the photo to clip it again.

Width / Height

After drawing a clip rectangle, you can enter values directly into the width and height
fields on the InfoBar to set the clip rectangle dimensions to exact values.

Lock Aspect
Select the "LOCK ASPECT" check-box to constrain the clip rectangle to a specific aspect
ratio as you drag. The radio buttons to the right of the check-box determine the aspect
ratio used. Select "CURRENT" to maintain the aspect ratio to that of the photo before the
clip. Note that the clip rectangle automatically changes between landscape and portrait
orientation as you drag a corner of the rectangle. So if you drag sideways it tends to
create a clip in landscape orientation. If you drag downwards more, then it will create a
clip region in portrait orientation.

The common preset crop aspect ratios are available of 4:3 (most consumer digital
cameras and old-style TVs and monitors), 3:2 (that of traditional film cameras and higher
end SLR digital cameras), and 16:9 (aspect ratio of widescreen TVs).
You can override the lock-aspect option by using "Ctrl" while dragging. So if you're
dragging out a clip rectangle (or adjusting one) without aspect ratio lock, then holding
"Ctrl" will lock the aspect to the last selected aspect ratio. Similarly if you have lock
aspect option on then "Ctrl" will temporarily un-lock the aspect ratio.

Clipping in Photo Documents

In photo mode, there is a one-pixel grid applied to the photo (when at 96dpi, the default
resolution) and the clip rectangle snaps to this grid. This makes it very easy to get pixel
exact clipping. For highly accurate or exact pixel snapping, it's recommended to operate
in photo mode and to zoom in so you can see the pixels clearly.
See Photo documents (on page 380) for more information.

Photo Tool Notes

1. You can select different photos while using the PHOTO TOOLS by just clicking on
them. This also works for photos inside groups.
2. If you click and drag, while in the ENHANCE TOOL, it will start a crop on the photo that
you started dragging on. Or, if you start dragging on the background, the crop will
be applied to the first photo you touch during the drag.
3. The UN-CLIP button in the CLIP TOOL will change the outline of any clipped photo,
and also arbitrarily formed shapes with a bitmap fill, to that rectangular outline of the