Transform: Ctrl-T. But be aware that when you do that you are resampling and to some extent degrading the image.
Thanks for the tip Ed!
I’m bringing in pics to a poster project. I want to size the pics to fit over a graphic of a blank polaroid to make polaroid pictures, but I’m not sure the best way to size the pictures to fit. I ‘place’ the pic in the program. I size it to what ‘looks’ right and then drag it over the polaroid graphic/template to find the pic is off a bit. So I have to resize it again. Is there a better way? I am new to this still. On top of that I have to crop black letterbox bars off the top and bottom of the pics after I import (place) them b/c the pics are still shots from my dvx100a camcorder.
Thx Ed!
Be sure that the template is the correct resolution for final output. It would probably be better to resize as few times as possible. So either drag into the template and resize there or determine what size and resolution you need and resize the file properly before dragging in.
The latter is more complicated but you get more resampling options. Use Image Size rather than eyeballing what "looks" like the right size.
By using the "Place" command (File>Place) you are doing exactly the right thing for this type of project. The "placed" image becomes a "Smart Object" which can be resized over and over without affecting the quality.
However, to crop the image to a square requires you to rasterize the layer. Instead, try using a layer mask.
First, use the rectangular marquee tool (hold shift to contrain to a perfect square) then hold ALT as you click the "add layer mask" button in the layers palette. This will effectively "crop" your "Smart Object" without having to rasterise it.
Hope this helps.
Chris.
Chrisjbirchall,
Thanks for the advice it worked as you said, but now I am unable to move the picture around. I don’t understand why I can’t drag the picture to place it where I want it. I even linked it to the polaroid to see if I could move them together and it still wouldn’t move. Any advice? Thx!
Ed,
Thanks again and again for all your help!
You guys rock!
You certainly should be able to move the image.
It might be that the move tool is automatically selecting the layer beneath. Try UNchecking "Auto Select Layer" in the Options Bar. Also, make sure you have the Thumnail active in the layers palette, not the layer mask. When you move the picture, the mask should travel with it. To move your "polaroid" at the same time, either Ctrl+Click to highlight both layers or permanently link them by clicking the chain icon.
Hope this does the trick.
Chris.
This is weird. I made sure the picture is highlighted on the layer I want to move. The Mask is on the same layer as the pic and they do not move together. When I move the pic it disappears when it moves away from the area were the mask allows the pic to show through. I then placed the mask on a separate layer and chained them to move them around together and that didn’t work either.
Not sure if this makes a difference. I inversed the mask to get rid of the black bars on top and bottom of the pic. Is this causing the problem?
Worst case scenario I’ll get all my polaroids w/ pics where I want them and then I’ll add the mask to get rid of the letterbox bar on top and bottom. That should work….
Regardless, additional advice is most welcome!
Thanks Chris!
Is the mask linked to the graphic? In versions up to CS there’s a little chain link icon between the two thumbnails. What happens if you click in the space between?
Note: make sure you don’t have an active selection (marching ants) when you try to move them.
Ed,
The mask is on the same layer as the pic and there is not chain link icon between the two thumnails. There is one to the side where I linked that layer with the polaroid layer, but nothing else. I’ve played around and no luck thus far. When I click the space between the icon for the picture and the mask the whole tab for that layer highlights. I can select the pic icon and the mask icon separately, but without much effect.
Thanks for helping me!!!
Thank you Michael D Sullivan for posting a pic for me. Unfortunately When I click between the pic icon and the mask nothing happens. It highlights the layer tab for those two, but does not activate anything in between. I’m using CS2, so it should work, but doesn’t.
Thanks for the info, I’ll keep trying.
Just tried this in CS2 and it works fine for me, as long as it’s not the background layer (which won’t take a mask). Alternatively, Layer > Layer Mask > Link (or Unlink, if already linked) will do the job.
Ok, I have no clue what I am doing wrong. I have all these brilliant people offering advice and still I can’t figure this out.
I tried Layer>Layer Mask>Link, but the word link it grayed out where I can’t select it. I tried unlinking the picture layer that has the mask on it from the polaroid layer and it didn’t highlight (still grayed out). I clicked between the mask and the picture and nothing.
I tried edit > transform > rotate to see what would happen. As I rotated the picture the mask stayed still as the picture rotates (the corners disappeared as they rotated out of the boundaries).
Guys, thanks for your patience, but I can’t figure out what I am doing wrong.
The only thing I know that I may be doing different is the fact I am inverting the mask before applying it, so I can see the picture and block out the bars on the edge.
Any other advice?
Thanks again guys!
Kugar13, if your file is < 10MB, mail it to me — my email address is my initials at camsul dot com. In the email tell me which layer you are trying to work with. Maybe I can figure out what’s going wrong.
