Um…it sounds like you’re not cropping. Are you, perhaps, just erasing the unwanted image portions? Are you using the crop tool or Image>Crop after making your selection?
There is an option to save the uncropped portion, or delete it when executing the crop. Be sure you aren’t saving the unwanted potions.
have been using the lasso tool or magnetic lasso and deleting what i don’t want. i don’t know of any way to get the standard crop tool to bend and curve around a shape. i was under the impression it is always a rectangle. i have been reading here about a .jpg always being a rectangle and that is why the bounding box is there but i have tried saving a cropped head from a photo and even though the file type changes it is still a .jpg. can i change the actual file to say an .eps file? even when i deleted the background layer and saved just the head as a .psd file when i opened it into my signmaking software i still had the bounding box.
You have to use the "crop" tool. The shortcut key is "C". So just hit C and you will be on the crop tool. then drag the tool around the image where you want it to be cropped. Bam you are done.
don’t want to crop a simple rectangle. i am trying to crop a head only from a picture. my problem is not with cropping it is with the bounding box i cannot get rid of and not being able to change the actual file from a .jpg to a file that doesn’t have to be in a rectangle
MIchael,
All raster images have to be rectangular.
What you are describing is not a crop. You can however use a clipping path or transparency to hide parts of an image. By the sound of it, this is what you need.
change the actual file from a .jpg to a file that doesn’t have to be in a rectangle
This isn’t possible, Michael. You’ll want to save your image as a transparent gif to achieve what I think you’re trying to achieve. Is this for web use? I have never heard of flexisign so I’m not quite sure what your output is here so it’s hard to advise you. If this is for web use, the transparent gif may be the way to go. Can you give us more information about what you’re trying to do after you crop said head?
Michael, when you are using a selection tool (such as magnetic lasso) do you have a feather to it? I’m wondering if when you cut out your image because you have a feathering, you are seeing the surrounding pixels and not a bounding box.
michael,
There may be some confusion here, because what you’re doing, and what you want, are not called "cropping."
Removing the background from a photo subject, (or vice-versa), is often mistakenly referred to as cropping, stripping, and other wrong terms, but I’ve been told the correct word is "silhouette."
The secret to accomplishing what you’re trying to do depends on the software you’re using, and the format in which you save your image. Here’s a quick desription of methods to get you going:
If you’re placing the photo in another Adobe app, like InDesign or Illustrator, they recognize Photoshop’s native transparency. Save your image in Photoshop format, (.psd), and use the Place command in the other app.
For other page layout apps, (like QuarkXpress), you’ll have to draw a clipping path around the subject, then save in EPS format.
For Microsoft Office apps, save your file, (with transparency), in PNG format.
For web-use, use Photoshop’s Save for Web, with .GIF format selected.
I’m not familiar with Flexsign…
FlexiSign is software for use in laser cutting / vinyl signmaking. It supports PNG Alpha Transparance and PostScript.
