In an ideal world, every photo you take would be perfectly
composed. However, in real life, many pictures could use some
improvement. Often, thoughtful cropping can make the difference
between a mediocre image and a better one. Cropping a picture
just means eliminating or trimming off edges. Some cameras can
crop images before printing. Check your manual to see if your
camera is one of these. The manual may use the word “trim”
rather than “crop.” Otherwise, crop pictures by using a photo-
editing program. The process is simple. First you select the
area that you want to keep. Usually, you place the cursor or
crop tool where you want one corner of this image to be. Then
click and drag to select the area that will appear in the new
image. That area will appear lighter or darker than the parts to
be trimmed off. Most programs allow you to crop either to
certain specific sizes or to a random size of your choice. If
you like the cropped version, you then direct the program to
complete the crop. Do not crop your onl