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What do you mean my photo needs cropping? |
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| Here we have a recent holiday snap of, well, let's call him Colin. At this point, the photo seems to have a very clear image of Colin's face, prompting some of you to ask, perhaps, does this photo need cropping? Well, if this photo doesn't get cropped, when it gets uploaded to the site and resized it will end up looking like this... |
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| As we can all clearly see, we can no longer clearly see the lovely Colin's face. Oh no! Now this might be OK as a secondary photo, but it's not going to cut the mustard as a primary. So, it's time to get rid of those unnecessary zebras! Now there's a sentence you don't hear every day. |
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| If we crop the image, thus getting rid of those pesky zebras, then we're going to end up with a lovely, clear, full face picture that will make our photo approval team happy, and give Colin the very best chance on the site. Now when the photo is uploaded to the site it looks like this... |
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| That's much better isn't it? |
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Yeah, that's great, but how do I actually do this cropping? |
If you've ever used the mighty Photoshop then you probably should stop reading now.
Windows Users
Still here? Then if you're on a PC using Windows you can use a natty little program called, imaginitively enough, "Paint". Here's how:
Locate, then right-click on your photo file (which should be a .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, or .png) and select "open with", then choose "Paint". Your image is now open and you can crop it.
 If you're using XP or an earlier version of Windows, you're in for a real treat as you can only crop your photo from the bottom right hand corner - hover your cursor over the bottom right corner of the image, and your cursor should change to a set of diagonal arrows. Left click and move your cursor up and left until you're happy with the amount of image you have removed. To crop the other corner flip the image by clicking "image", "flip/rotate" and then "rotate by angle - 180°", then do the same as before. Remember to flip it back afterwards or you will be upside down!
- For Windows Vista, they've upgraded it slightly, hoorah! You can now make a selection using the "Select" tool and then select "Image", then "Crop". The select tool is the one highlighted in the toolbar pictured here on the right, it's easy to use and pretty self-explanatory. Go on, give it a go!
I would recommed saving a copy of your photo, so that you don't overwrite your original file - select "File", then "Save As" and then give your file a new name. For example, if your original file was called "Me on holiday.jpg", then you might want to call your new file something like "Me on holiday cropped.jpg". Now hit "Save" and that's it, you're all done. Pat yourself on the back, and let's get that photo online.
Apple Mac Users
If you're using a Mac you probably know how to do all this and more besides, but in case you don't, you can use a quite nicely featured (in OS X at least) program called "Preview". There are better instructions than I can write on how to do this here. Do note that it's a good idea to remember to save a copy of your file rather than overwrite it, so that you don't lose your original, uncropped photo.
Linux Users
If you're using Linux as an OS I would be amazed if you need any instructions at all for anything, ever. Fact! If you do, however, please get in touch with us on admin@mysinglefriend.com and we'll get our resident Linux geek/guru Jon to provide you with the relevant information.
Wax on, wax off! |
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