Cropping Pictures
Pictures should be cropped tightly before they are sent to the photoengraver. Cropping is the process of cutting off or marking out unwanted parts of a photograph or an illustration.
Pictures are cropped for two main reasons:
- to eliminate the portions or details which are either undesirable or unnecessary; and
- to give more space for displaying points of interest intended to be played up.
Cropping may be done through the following procedures:
- by marking the front of the picture using greae pencil or a soft China blue pencil (blue does not show on the processed negative);
- by cutting off the unnecessary parts; or
- by using a window to preserve the picture.
In cropping, focus the eyes on an important detail and eliminate the irrelevant ones. For instance, you can eliminate the body and the other arm of a speaker to show a clenched fist in a gesture.
To get the most important detail, divide th picture into nine areas by drawing two vertical lines and two horizontal lines equally spaced. The strong points lie where the lines cross. These lines are called “dividing third.”
Too much cropping, however should be avoided. One needs an overhanging branch in the foreground for better perspective. Also a man in the desert deserves a picture showing the vastness of the desert.
You don’t have to include the whole face in a portrait. You can take off the ear as long as the attention is focused on the eyes which are the windows of the soul.
