Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks by Lynette Kent

Expand the canvas with a REVERSE CROP
When you think of cropping, you generally think of
reducing the physical size of an image by cutting
away areas around the borders. In Photoshop, you
can use the Crop tool to expand the canvas, giving
your photo a larger border, or giving a design more
background area.
Although you can expand the canvas by selecting
Image ➪ Canvas Size and setting the specific
dimensions for the canvas, as shown in task #110,
using the reverse crop method is quick and gives you
a preview as you work of how your image will appear
on the expanded canvas. And Photoshop’s Crop tool
gives you more flexibility because you can drag the
crop marquee handles to create an uneven border.
You can use this technique to enlarge your canvas
visually or use precise dimensions for your final
image. By specifying the width and height for your
finished design in the boxes in the Options bar, you
can click and drag out the crop marquee in the image
and maintain the exact dimensions you typed.
1 Open an image.
3
1
Note: If necessary, click Window ➪
Application Frame so that the
workspace fills the open space.
2 Click Ô+minus sign (Ctrl+minus
sign) to add some space around
the image.
The image view becomes smaller
on the background area.
3 Click the Crop tool.
4
A
A The crop marquee appears on
the image.
4 Click and drag the corner or side
anchor points of the crop
marquee to extend the crop area.
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