Chapter 6: Cropping and resizing images
Crop and resize images are two of the most basic yet most powerful tools when it comes to editing images on your smartphone. While they seem like simple tasks, they have the potential to completely transform an image, allowing you to highlight specific elements, change orientation or adjust the image to suit different shapes and sizes.
Image cropping
Cropping is the process of removing unwanted parts of an image. This can be done for a variety of reasons, such as removing a distracting element, changing the image's orientation, or even to highlight a specific object or person in the image.
In most smartphone image editing apps, the crop tool is represented by a square icon with diagonal lines. When you select this tool, a grid will appear over the image, allowing you to adjust the cropping frame. You can drag the edges and corners of this grid to define the area of the image you want to keep.
Some apps also offer predefined aspect ratio options, such as 1:1 for a perfect square, or 4:3 for a more rectangular aspect ratio. This can be useful if you are editing the image for a specific purpose, such as posting to Instagram, which prefers square images, or for use as a cover photo on Facebook, which requires a more rectangular aspect ratio.
Image resizing
Resizing, on the other hand, is the process of changing the overall size of the image. This may be necessary if the image is too large to email or upload to a website, or if you want to print the image at a specific size.
When resizing an image, it's important to maintain the image's proportions to prevent the image from looking stretched or squeezed. Most smartphone image editing apps have an option to keep aspect ratio locked when resizing the image. This means that when you change the width of the image, the height automatically adjusts to maintain the same aspect ratio, and vice versa.
If you need to resize the image to a specific size, such as 1024x768 pixels for a desktop wallpaper, you can enter those dimensions directly into the resize tool. However, be careful not to reduce the image too much as this can result in a poor quality image.
In summary, cropping and resizing are two essential skills that all smartphone image editors should master. They may seem simple, but with a little practice and experimentation, you'll find that they have the potential to transform your images and take your photo editing skills to the next level.
So the next time you're editing an image on your smartphone, don't forget to try the crop and resize tool. You might be surprised how much these simple tools can improve your images.
In the next chapter, we'll explore more image editing tools and techniques, including filters, color adjustments, and more. Stay tuned!
