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Cropping allows you to chop off any of the four edges of a layer to eliminate parts you
don’t want to see in your composition. Common examples of layers you’d want to crop
are video clips with a black line or unwanted vignetting around the edges. You can use
the crop operation to remove these undesirable artifacts. You might also crop a layer to
isolate a single element of the image.
Cropping in the Inspector Versus Cropping in the Media List
When you crop an imported image using the Crop tool (which yields the same result
as using the Crop controls in the layer’s Properties Inspector), only the instance of that
file is cropped. The source image in the Media list is not cropped. To crop the source
image, you must select the layer in the Media list, then use the Crop tools in the Media
Inspector. For more information, see Media Inspector.
Note: If you must isolate a more irregularly shaped layer, or you want to create a border
of a specific shape, see Using Shapes, Masks, and Paint Strokes.
To crop a layer in the Canvas
1 Choose the Crop tool from the 2D tools pop-up menu in the toolbar.
2 In the Canvas, drag any of the eight handles around the edge of the layer to crop the
sides:
• Drag the top, left, right, or bottom handle to only crop one edge.
• Drag a four corner handle to crop two adjacent edges simultaneously.
280 Chapter 7 Basic Compositing