Perfect Your Crop and Straighten Technique in Lightroom

Cropping, straightening, and transforming images might seem basic, but mastering these techniques can significantly boost the quality of your photographs. These adjustments are crucial because they ensure your compositions look deliberate, professional, and visually appealing.

Coming to you from Aaron Nace with Phlearn, this practical video takes you through a detailed yet straightforward guide to effectively crop and straighten your images in Lightroom Classic. Nace begins with a brief overview, demonstrating the versatility of Lightroom’s cropping tool by showing how easy it is to adjust the framing of an image. You learn to apply standard aspect ratios such as a 1:1 square crop or a 5x7 ratio, ideal for printing purposes. Additionally, Nace emphasizes the flexibility of creating custom crop sizes, reminding you that Lightroom’s crop adjustments are entirely non-destructive, allowing you to experiment without risk.

The video also covers the essential skill of straightening images, particularly useful when dealing with horizons or architectural lines that appear off-kilter. Nace clearly illustrates how the angle tool within the crop interface can correct slight tilts and dramatically improve the final image. Beyond basic straightening, he introduces Lightroom's Transform tool, explaining how it corrects perspective distortion. This feature is especially beneficial if your photography includes architecture, as it easily aligns vertical and horizontal lines. However, Nace advises caution when using this on images containing people, as it can distort their appearance.

Taking things further, the video introduces a powerful workflow that integrates Lightroom with Photoshop to expand your cropping options. This part is particularly interesting because it reveals how artificial intelligence can generate additional image areas, extending your photo seamlessly. Nace demonstrates how quickly you can switch between Lightroom and Photoshop, showing how easy it is to expand the frame and return to Lightroom for further edits. This advanced yet accessible method can rescue shots where your original framing didn't quite leave enough room around key subjects. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Nace.