CANON DPP 4
The Canon Magazine 87
VIDEO ALSO ONLINE CROP TOOL
http://bit.ly/pp_160_8(^01)
CROP & ROTATE
Our example image features a tilted
horizon and distracting clutter at the
sides of the frame. This type of shot
will benefit from a bit of careful
cropping. Click on this tab to access
the crop and rotation tools.
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ASPECT RATIO
Although you can crop the shot to
any shape using the Free option from
this drop-down menu, it’s often more
useful to constrain the shape of the
crop. You may want the cropped shot
to fit into a specific picture frame, for
example. To fill a widescreen TV use
the 16:9 ratio. A 1:1 aspect ratio gives
a square crop that’s ideal for sharing
on social media, like Instagram. You
can even choose the Custom option
and type a ratio in the boxes below.
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CROP OVERLAY BOX
Click-and-drag over the image to
begin cropping. A rectangular crop
overlay box appears. Drag the corner
handles to change the shape and size
of the cropped area. Areas outside of
the crop overlay will be greyed out
(and disappear once you crop the
image). Drag within the crop overlay
to reposition the composition of the
scene without changing the size of
the cropped area.
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X,Y, WIDTH & HEIGHT
As you adjust the shape and size of
the crop overlay box the values of
these fields will change. Fine-tune the
shape and size of the cropped shot
by typing numbers into these fields.
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ANGLE
Drag this slider to rotate the crop
overlay window to counteract tilted
horizons. You can also rotate the crop
overlay by placing the cursor over a
greyed-out area. The cursor will
change to a rotate icon.
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SHOW BORDERS
Tick this box to toggle the borders of
the crop overlay window on and off.
It will also show or hide the corner
handles. You can still adjust the
shape of the cropped area when the
borders and handles are hidden.
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OPACITY
This slider lightens or darkens the
overlay’s greyed-out area to make it
harder or easier to see pixels that will
be removed after cropping is applied.
01
HOW IT WORKS CROP AND STRAIGHTEN
Counteract tilted horizons, magnify distant subjects and remove distracting objects
Can I use DPP 4?
Download the latest version of DPP
from http://bit.ly/get_dpp. Check
the website to see if your DSLR is
compatible with DPP 4 – you’ll need
your serial number to update. DPP 4
works with most recent Canon EOS
DSLRs, but for older cameras you
may have to use a previous version.
POST-PRODUCTION
In photography, the ‘production’
stage is your shoot. ‘Post-
production’ refers to processing
your images after the shoot, in an
application such as DPP 4.
RULE-OF-THIRDS
By overlaying a grid of nine
rectangles on a photo as you
crop, you can create a more
balanced and classically
composed shot. Unfortunately,
DPP 4 lacks this useful feature.
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JARGON BUSTER
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