Is there a cropping tool that also shows bleed boundaries?

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Is there a cropping tool that also shows bleed boundaries?

I am looking for a cropping tool or plug-in that can indicate bleed or wrap boundaries. I have a visible canvas of 24x48, and need to crop to include 4" bleed on all four sides... so the printed image is 32x56. But I want to see and manuever the crop tool with bleed indicators so I can precisely visualize the front plane and determine what is being wrapped.

Is there a plug in or tool available for Aperture 3.5.1? Thank you.

iMac 24" 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; 4GB Ram 1TB

Posted on Mar 7, 2014 4:23 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 7, 2014 6:39 PM in response to MiguelL

MiguelL wrote:

Is there a plug in or tool available for Aperture 3.5.1? Thank you.

None that I know of. Afaict, there isn't even a good automated solution for Photoshop.

In Aperture, you could crop to the area (and aspect ratio) you want on the front, then duplicate the Version and change the crop parameters to add the bleed. You could then flip between the two -- but there's no "live" way to update one and have it show up in the other, nor is there (afaik) any crop overlay that will show you the concentric "front plane" at the same time as the full crop.

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Answer 2

MiguelL Author

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Mar 7, 2014 6:44 PM in response to Kirby Krieger

Thank you.

Would be a good addition to the cropping tool development feature for next rev.

- Crop Width: 24

- Crop Height: 48

- Bleed perimeter: 4"

(drop down box for Left Right Top Bottom like setting margin)

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Answer 3

Mar 7, 2014 7:13 PM in response to MiguelL

The problem (I think) is that one crops to an aspect ratio (not to a measured size), but you need a fixed size for the bleed margin. You can't say "Crop this at 2:1, and include a 2" border on all sides," because until you crop there is no way to define how many pixels equals 2 inches. Digital images are sized in pixels. A pixel has no real-world dimension until it is mapped to something in the real world that has a measurable dimension, such as a sheet of paper.

Suggestions for feature enhancements for Aperture are accepted by Apple at only one place:

Aperture ▹ Provide Aperture Feedback.

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Answer 4

MiguelL Author

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Mar 8, 2014 8:36 AM in response to Kirby Krieger

I follow. See if this works around the problem you describe:

If you need a 2:1 ratio, and you are printing to 48 inches on the long axis for the visual plane, and need a 4" bleed on all sides, why not specify (in our imaginary tool) an Aspect 24 and 48; then the bleed, at 4, is proportional to the aspect ratio in units. That would resolve the difference.

I am basically inputting whole units now with the crop tool, inputting for Aspect Ratio 32 x 56, and "centering" the image with some external markers and relative measuring tools.

If you are exporting the file at 300 dpi, it should come out as envisioned.

Thanks for the feedback link. I will use it.

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Answer 5

Mar 8, 2014 9:04 AM in response to MiguelL

Not sure if this will help but BorderFx has the ability to apply a uniform border around an image.

See BorderFX - Home

Message was edited by: Frank Caggiano - Especially check it out as an export plugin. The plugin works differently if it is an edit or export plugin.

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