Photoshop CC 2017 gives us an amazing feature under the crop tool. Normally we think of using the crop tool to reduce an image or take away something we don’t want in an image.
(This tool was added in version 2015.5, by the way, so you might have it.)
With Crop we can ADD a bit to an image. This is useful if we cut something off or something spills out of the frame.
Notice in the photo on the left that the burst of light exceeded the size of the frame.
In the photo on the right, you’ll see that the top of burst has been captured — or recreated.
I did that with Content Aware in the crop tool in Photoshop 2017.
Here’s how it works:
- Open the image in Photoshop CC.
- Click on the crop tool
- Click on the tiny box next to the words Content Aware in the ribbon above the photo. (I’ve circled it below)
- Then pull the crop box up about 1/4 inch.
- Press return and Photoshop works magic and the small area above the photo is filled in.
- Do that again with another 1/4 inch and a bit more area is created.
- Flatten the layers when finished.
- Click Filter>Camera Raw Filter or open into Lightroom for minor tweaking to the cloned area.
Pretty amazing tool, Adobe. Give it a try as you process your fireworks photos.
Kathy Adams Clark 