Cropping in Lightroom
How to crop in Lightroom
1) Go to the Develop Module
The Develop Module is in the upper right of Lightroom.
2) Select Crop Overlay
It's the first option above the color sliders on the right side of your screen.
3) Select the proper Aspect Ratio for your desired print dimensions
For this example, we are going with an 8x10 final print. The main thing to learn when cropping in Lightroom is learning crop ratios.
For example, a 16x20 print uses the same ratio as an 8x10 or 4x5 print.
Also, a 20x30 print uses the same ratio as 2x3 or 4x6.
You can always enter your own custom ratios here, but if you memorize the varying aspect ratios and the different print sizes they pair with, cropping will go faster for you.
4) Adjust crop
Move the crop up, down, left or right to find the crop that looks the best for the image you are working on. Then hit Enter or click Done in the lower right of your screen.
Below is what your screen will look like after you hit Enter.
All editing in Lightroom is non-destructive, so you aren't changing the original file. You change the crop or reset the crop back to the original ratio at anytime.
5) Export Settings
Next, go to File > Export
Scroll down to File Settings and set the Quality to 90, Color Space to sRGB and JPEG format
Right below File Settings you can set your image size export settings. You have a couple of options here.
You can either
A) Uncheck Resize to Fit to export your file at full res, but at the cropped aspect ratio you set. (This creates a larger file to upload)
or
B) You can check Resize to Fit and set one of your edges to match the desired length of the final print. In this case we are planning on ordering an 8x10. I choose the Long Edge option and entered 10.0 inches, since the longest side of our print will be 10 inches.
Then I set the resolution to 300 pixels per inch and clicked Export.
Note: At the top of the Export Settings window, set the location you want to export the file to.
6) Verify Pixel Size
If you want to check your file size after export, you can do it in your finder window under a view that shows the file details or in Photoshop by going to Image > Image Size
In the screenshot below, I checked it in the Mac Finder and you can see it's set to 2400 pixels by 3000 pixels. Those are the exact dimensions of an 8x10 at 300dpi. This file is ready to be sent off to the Lab!
