INTRODUCTION
What if your picture dimensions do not fit one of the standard print sizes (4X6, 5X7, 8X10 or 11X14)?  If you send it out to be printed, the printer will arbitrarily crop it.  Here we will learn to resize the canvas and crop to any standard size.

DOWNLOAD PICTURES
Open your browser and go to http://leisurevillage.us/nt/classnotes.html.  Open lesson 276 > click HERE to view the first picture > restore (click double squares in upper right corner of browser) > drag the browser window to reveal part of the picture and part of the Desktop > drag picture onto the Desktop.  Click HERE to repeat for a second picture.  Minimize the browser.

OPEN PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS
Click (or double click) the Photoshop Elements icon on the Desktop.  If the Welcome screen is visible, close it.
 
OPEN THE FIRST IMAGES
Click File + Open (or Ctrl + O) > navigate to the Desktop > select 276a.jpg > click Open.

CROP THE FIRST IMAGE
The image will look much better if it is cropped to remove areas above and below the chair and shadow.  Select the Crop tool > if crop dimensions are shown, click the Crop icon at left end of the Options bar + Reset Tool > click and drag a rectangle around the best part of the picture + OK.

RESIZE THE CANVAS
For this image, select the foreground color and select black > press the X key to make background color black > select Image + Resize + Canvas size > set Width = 0 inch, height = 3 inch, Relative checked and Anchor with white rectangle in center > click OK

CROP TO STANDARD PRINT SIZE
Select the Crop tool > set Width = 14 and Height = 11 > draw the largest possible rectangle around the picture > if top and bottom spaces are not equal, use Arrow keys to center + Enter.

OPEN THE SECOND IMAGE
Click File + Open (or Ctrl + O) > navigate to the Desktop > select 276a.jpg > click Open.

REPEAT ABOVE FOR THE SECOND IMAGE
If you begin with this dark photomerge image, skip the initial crop > set the background color = white > resize the canvas using Height = 5 inch > crop to a standard print size.

CONCLUSION
Don’t trust anyone else to crop your prints.  Follow these procedures for all non-standard pix.

GOOD WEB SITES
LEISURE VILLAGE: http://leisurevillage.us and http://leisurevillage.org
BILL’S HOME PAGE: http://bzus.com