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OK, I am confused or just dumb sometimes. I see comments that a photo is 50% or 100% crop. In my thinking if I crop 100% there is nothing left. Or is it backwards? Does 100% crop mean original image, nothing cropped away? What is the definition of XX% crop?
Mark
Cropped and not resized.
100% crop means what you are seeing is the actual pixels that are on your screen represent the actual pixels in the jpeg. Depending on the camera this could be a large or very small part of the picture as a whole.
I could be wrong, but my understanding has always been that 100% is any size crop of an original image where the pixel ratio is 1:1 - in other words every pixel (within the cropped area) taken is displayed on the screen. Typically images displayed on a screen (like many of the ones on this forum) have been resized so the who image can be seen without panning/scrolling. When an image has been resized you are only seeing a fraction of the actually pixels that where captured by the image sensor. Hope that helps clarify.
I am glad you asked this question....i am still confused.
keller
when people post pictures they're generally resizes from the original 4000x3000 pixels, etc, etc.. to something like 800x600.
People will crop a part of the image and not resize it for web, so it's 100% it's original pixel size... basically they'll do this to examine things like noise, sharpness, etc.
You're thinking too logically. The "100% crop" terminology comes from Photoshop, so of course it's not supposed to make sense. [:D]Quote:
Originally Posted by clemmb
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Originally Posted by Daniel Browning
haha, so true!
My understanding of it is that its a cut out piece of the image without it being resized confusing.
So say you have an image of a coin in the middle of a table, with the table in shot. You crop the coin out at 100% by simply "discarding" the rest of the image but then leaving the cropped coin at its 100% size.
So you don't crop it to make a 6x4" picture, you crop it at nothing actually.
Man its confusing to explain as much as it IS confusing....
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Originally Posted by clemmb
Mark,
Just open any image in a viewer or editor: (These are typical apps on my PC)
1) Irfanview: View/Display Options/Fit Images to Window (1:1, recommended) Down in the left tray of the program you will see 100%
2) Picasa3: After opening a single image there is a button lower right (1:1) Click it. Look at the thumbnail lower right. It says "Zoomed to 100%"
3) Microsoft Office Picture Manager: There is a pulldown on the default tool bar. Set it to 100%
4) Photoshop: View/Actual Pixels look in the lower left corner of the image box. It says 100%
I think it's pretty self-explanatory.
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Originally Posted by Chuck Lee
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Browning
I tend to agree with Daniel on this one. I use PS Elements. I though that % in the lower left corner was just how much I have zoomed in on the photo. After reading the above explanations and playing around with it a little I think I am getting a little better handle on it but still a little confused. My default images say 9.2% when zoomed 'fit to screen'. It only says 100% if I zoom actual pixels. So if I have reduced an image for posing. it went from 9.2% to 33% at full screen. At zoom actual pixels it is 100%. So what crop is this?
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Originally Posted by clemmb
That my friend is the 100% crop...[:D] The borders of your screen are cropping your image. If you selected a rectangle anywhere from that region and discarded the rest and save, that would be a 100% crop. As said by others, it is what we use to "pixel peep" and judge the sharpness or noise or IQ of an image. So, when people post 100% crops they are posting a portion of the image that represents a full 100% zoom on your's, mine, Daniel's, and everyone else's monitor screens.
Hope that clarifies.
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Originally Posted by Chuck Lee
Yes, this clarified it for me but it does not seem to fit what I see others post when they say this is 100% crop. If I give you 100% crop of a head&shoulders portrait for example you are only going to see the eyes. This is good for showing you how sharp my 5D is but you probably already know how sharp it is. So if I take an image and crop exactly half of it away I should tell you this is an 18.6% crop? That is what PS shows after the crop and I zoom to fit screen. If I reduce an image for posting but keep the images as it was shot then I should tell you that it is a 9.2% crop?
Mark
Quote:
Originally Posted by clemmb
No, you would say "cropped 50%". That is not the same as saying a "50% crop". It isn't an expression that is used normally anyway. When someone states that they are showing you a 100% crop then it is inferred that you are not seeing a reduction but the actual 1:1 pixel by pixel display of the original image. Cropped in the purest definition means "cut away". The term 100% crop is a variation of that expression. Most folks don't state whether or not their images are post cropped. i.e. If someone shows you a square formatted photo they don't tell you it's cropped square. That displayed image may only be 64% of the orignal photo. You, as the viewer will never know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clemmb
The 18.6% crop after a fit to screen is the zoom ratio of your monitor. You may be working on a 1280 x 1024. On my 1920x1200 it may report 25.4%. It's also dependent on the window size. Make Photoshop window only half of your screen and zoom to fit. The zoom percentage will go down even further.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clemmb
No, because that is not a crop it is a reduction.
Also, remember there are ratio crops. Our cameras shoot in a 2:3 width to height ratio. To print this image we may choose to print on 5 x 7 or 8 x10 paper. It is at that time that we decide which part of the image has to be "cropped" inorder for it to fully fit on that size paper.
Does this help any?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Lee
Yes. Perfectly. Sometimes I just need a good complete explanation.
Thanks.
Mark
Errrr... How much Crop could a Pixel Crop Crop if a Pixel Crop could Crop Pixel(s)?
(I actually get the concept, I've just never read crop so many times in so few lines :P)
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Originally Posted by lculpin
Exactly!
Thanks for injecting some humor into this crazy thread - apparently it's not so self-explanatory if you don't intuitively understand it.
Like Daniel said, you can't get too literal on this one. Literally it would mean "Here's the entire image." In reality it means "Actual Pixels." However you slice it (doh!), as long as you make your crop in 100% view, when you post it it's considered a "100% crop." You cropped your image while in 100% view.
See? That's how many pixels a Pixel-Crop would crop if a Pixel-Crop could crop pixels!