We are pleased to announce the customization of the FASO image editor's Transform tool to include preset options for numerous common aspect ratios as well as button presets to allow you to crop an image based on the specs and preferences of Instagram and Facebook. Additionally, this upgrade includes an image ratio cropping template or mask, that will allow you to select and crop the image based on a specific and common image ratios. Included in the common ratios are square, 4:3 (and 3:4), 16:9 (and 9:16). You also have the ability to make a custom selection as well if you would like to chose a specific portion to crop.

Let’s take a look. In your control panel, click Artwork, then select one of your artwork records and click on the thumbnail or image link to enter the details of the record. Beside the image, click the Edit this image link and that will open your image in the image editor. If your plan or end goal is to crop/resize one of your artwork records to have an image you can utilize on social media, this would be a perfect time to utilize our recent feature to Copy this artwork and save it as an image. Utilizing the copy feature creates a copy in your Non-Art Images where you can use the image editor to make a custom crop/adjustments without altering your original artwork image. The editor works the same in your Artwork Portfolio as it does in your Non-Art Images.

Regardless of whether you do this from the Artwork or Non Art Images, once you click Edit this Image it opens to this view by default in the Transform tool.

You will see gridlines on the image which represent it's current default state. Additionally, there are tabs for Crop Size, Flip & Rotate and Resolution along with the pixel dimensions of the image. Below the pixel dimensions are preset options, Common, Instagram and Facebook. The below those options are the remaining image editor tools, Filters, Adjust, and Frames.

If you click the Common option, it will give you a custom crop, along with options for the most common image ratio formats. 

You can collapse the Common options by clicking the Common button again or one of the other buttons. Then if you click the Instagram button, it will show you the options for Instagram images based on their use on the Instagram Platform; profile picture, square, and story.

Likewise you can collapse the  Instagram crop options by either click the Instagram button again, or by clicking one of the other buttons. Now if you click the Facebook button, you will reveal the preset options for the image roles on Facebook which include Post, Profile, Title, and Ad.

While the presets all function the same way, it is important to give an extra clarification regarding the custom cropping. This will also bring the Resolution tab into play. If you clicked on the Common button and then clicked the option for a Custom crop, there are two options you can choose from to create the crop. First you can click and drag from any of the corners to the desired crop. This is essentially a freehand crop. It will allow you to continue dragging or adjusting until you get the grid positioned the way you want it. If you make a misstep, you can always click the Reset to Default button to reset the image and start over. 

The second option if you know the specific pixel dimension you need, is entering the desired pixel dimension in the width field, then tab and enter the height pixel dimension in the height field then tab again. Doing this you will see the grid change according to the dimensions you entered. If you click over to the Resolution tab, there is only one option which is to Keep Resolution. 

If you click the check box, then go back to the crop size options, you can enter the pixel dimension in the width then tab, and the Keep Resolution option will automatically populate the height based on your width entry in order to keep the existing proportion.

As previously mentioned aside from the custom cropping, all of the remaining preset crop options work the same. Select the preset option you wish to use and it will apply the grid to the image, then you simply click the green Update Image button in the upper left portion of your screen. Once you click to update the editor will give you a before and after comparison, which you can either click to confirm the image edit or click cancel to reject it.