Aug 02
Cropping a photograph is something we do very regularly and can help to improve composition, change the image to based on artistic preference, or set it to a specific aspect ratio for output or sharing purposes.
Luminar has an easy-to-use and straightforward crop tool that makes it simple to use, and the new updates in Luminar 4.3 make it even easier.
Access the Luminar crop tool
To access the crop tool in Luminar, first access the Edit section. Then you can either click the Crop icon at the top, select the Crop & Rotate panel within the Canvas category or use the keyboard shortcut C. All of these methods will automatically open the Crop & Rotate panel on the right, giving you access to all of the cropping features in Luminar.
Select the crop ratio
Next, you will want to select the crop ratio. If you want to keep the image at the same aspect ratio it was photographed in, or whatever the original image is set to, then you don’t need to make any changes to this setting. By default, it will lock the original ratio so you can adjust the crop area without
If you prefer to use a different crop ratio, you can click the Aspect Ratio drop-down to view all of the other options, including Free (which allows you to set the crop ratio while resizing and moving the crop around in the image) and Custom (allowing you to set your ratio to specific dimensions). And, if you would like to change your image from horizontal to vertical—or vertical to horizontal—click the Rotate Crop icon to the right of the Aspect Ratio drop-down (or use the keyboard shortcut X).
Rotate and flip
The Crop & Rotate panel also allows you to flip and rotate the image. If you already have a crop in place, it also maintains your crop, making the panel much easier to work with.
Crop overlay
Lastly, the crop overlay grid helps guide your composition while setting the crop and has two purposes. If you need to rotate an image to level it, you can use the straight edge overlays as a guide to keeping things level.
Also, the grid helps you maintain a pleasing third-line composition, as placing elements within the intersection of the lines within the frame is a good compositional guideline to follow.
Watch the video below to see how easy it is to crop a photograph in Luminar:
