Nikon NX Studio - Adjust your composition

Cropping tools in post offer opportunities to correct or re-envisage our images. Neil Freeman explains how

- Neil Freeman

Using the Crop, Straighten and Perspective Control tools allow us to create new images, correct minor flaws and explore new ways of presenting photos. These tools can be found under the Adjustments tab, then under the Adjust Composition sub-menu.

There are three main sections to the Adjust Composition menu, Crop, Straighten and Perspective Control. They all feature a dropdown option that displays Original Value. This is the setting used for NEF files imported from most cameras and gives you the option to Record Adjustments or Edit Recorded Adjustments, enabling you to create a ‘profile’ for a specific camera that you could apply to images in future.

When you have selected an image to crop, you will see that a sub-menu showing Free Crop will activate. Click the crop symbol in the menu header. Click-drag the crop rectangle across your image to size the crop, then double-click to confirm.

The Straighten tool allows you to level any horizontal or vertical lines in images. Click the Straighten icon, now click-drag the cursor parallel to the lines you want to be horizontal or vertical in the image. If you select Include Areas with No Image Data, the empty corners of the rotated image will be filled with black.

The Perspective Control tool allows you to adjust an image’s perspective. On the Vertical slider, lower values stretch the image at the bottom, higher values stretch the top part of the image. With the Horizontal slider, lower values move the image left, higher values move the image to the right.