Crop Canvas?

[akovia]

I'm looking for a way to use the crop tool (or similar) to only crop the canvas size and not the image itself. 

To explain a bit more, I have quite a few crop presets that have all the aspect ratios of the artwork I create. Most of the time I'm trying to compose an image to fit within the restraints of a ratio. If I use the crop tool and I don't get it exactly right on the first crop, I have undo and try again. Or I can use the better solution of dropping another copy of the image as another layer and then I can move the full image around as needed with the correct canvas ratio acting as a viewport.

I think it would be incredibly handy if you could use the crop tool to just crop the canvas to create a viewport at the preferred ratio, and leave the existing layer/s as is. (A modifier key for instance) I think this would go hand in hand with the new Out-of-canvas viewing and editing features.

Am I overlooking an easy way to do this already? 

I have already requested a feature to mask the canvas padding and might help to visualize what I'm trying to say.
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/issues/4833

Just wanted some feedback before requesting another feature.

[Ofnuts]

The crop tool is really about changing the size of things, not the view. Changing the canvas size has other limitations (positions of guides, selection clipping...). What you want is some kind of porthole. IMHO this could be some kind of display filter (View>Display filters) that dims the image outside of some settable rectangle.

In the mean time you can use two pairs of guides to delimit a rectangle in your canvas. They will even make it easier to crop later.

[akovia]

(04-02-2020, 10:11 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: The crop tool is really about changing the size of things, not the view. Changing the canvas size has other limitations (positions of guides, selection clipping...). What you want is some kind of porthole. IMHO this could be some kind of display filter (View>Display filters) that dims the image outside of some settable rectangle.

In the mean time you can use two pairs of guides to delimit a rectangle in your canvas. They will even make it easier to crop later.

Thanks for the insights Ofnuts.

I didn't think there would be any difference in changing the canvas size with a tool, than simply changing it though the usual interface. (Other than having more controls) 

The beauty of using the crop tool is that all the ratios are already saved as presets. I have ratios like 200:37, 500:713, 17:25, 1:1.5, 10:3, etc.. Being able to drag the crop tool outline over an image really helps to see all the options of the composition. It's just that if you finish the crop, you lose the power to adjust the image around. 

My solution for now has been to open an image, then scale the canvas to the exact dimensions of the finished image. Then I can use the scale or unified transform tools to compose the layer/s into the viewport. It works ok, but it would be so much easier to compose the other way. I would much rather work at the full image resolution and scale down at the end once everything is composed.

The crop tool already has all the options built in with having presets, and masking. I just thought it might be the easiest way to get there, but it's never that easy. :/
Thanks again. It gave me more to think about.

Cheers

[akovia]

WOOHOO!
Ask and ye shall receive.

https://twitter.com/GIMP_Official/status...38723?s=20

[ChameleonScales]

You can already do it this way :

1. pick the Rectangle selection tool
   
2. in the tool settings, check "fixed" and select "Aspect ratio" in the dropdown menu (or whichever you need)
   
3. input your values in the field just below
   
4. make your selection in the canvas
   
5. if you want to move your rectangle vertically or horizontally, you can pick the Move tool, switch to "Selection" mode in its tool settings, then use Ctrl while dragging the rectangle to constrain the movement along an axis
   
6. Once your rectangle fits your desired crop, go to Image > Fit canvas to selection. This will preserve all the pixels outside the canvas.
   

[rich2005]

As

Quote:. WOOHOO! Ask and ye shall receive.

Implemented in Gimp 2.10.20 crop tool options.

example: https://i.imgur.com/HL23ysd.mp4

[akovia]

(08-28-2020, 01:37 PM)ChameleonScales Wrote: You can already do it this way :

1. pick the Rectangle selection tool
   
2. in the tool settings, check "fixed" and select "Aspect ratio" in the dropdown menu (or whichever you need)
   
3. input your values in the field just below
   
4. make your selection in the canvas
   
5. if you want to move your rectangle vertically or horizontally, you can pick the Move tool, switch to "Selection" mode in its tool settings, then use Ctrl while dragging the rectangle to constrain the movement along an axis
   
6. Once your rectangle fits your desired crop, go to Image > Fit canvas to selection. This will preserve all the pixels outside the canvas.
   

Not sure if you noticed the dates of my posts? I asked about this feature 1 day before it was announced, and then cheered when they announced that it would be available in 2.10.20.

There are still a few quirks/bugs associated with it, but it's so much better than it was. 

Most notably, if you use the clone/heal tools near the edges, it will sample from the hidden canvas. There should be a option/modifier that prevents this, and samples as if the hidden parts of the image were not there.