Cropping (image)
Videos
Cropping is the removal of unwanted outer areas from a photographic or illustrated image. The process usually consists of the removal of some of the peripheral areas of an image to remove extraneous visual data from the picture, improve its framing, change the aspect ratio, or accentuate or isolate the subject matter from its background. Depending on the application, this can be performed on a physical photograph, artwork, or film footage, or it can be achieved digitally by using image editing software. The process of cropping is common to the photographic, film processing, broadcasting, graphic design, and printing businesses.
Wide view, uncropped photograph
Cropped version, accentuating the subject
Cropped image of Anemone coronaria, aspect ratio 1.065, in which the flower fills most of the frame
The original photo, aspect ratio 1.333, in which the flower uses only a small part of the frame
Open matte
Videos
Open matte is a filming technique that involves matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte for a full screen home video release. It is roughly equivalent to an uncropped version of the film.
A frame from a 35 mm film print. Here, the picture is framed for the intended theatrical aspect ratio (inside the yellow box). The picture outside of the yellow box is matted out when the film is shown in widescreen. For 4:3 television and home media versions, a large portion of the picture can be used (inside the red box) with an open matte.
Open matte example with a slight shift of the image section upwards.
Aspect ratio 2.35:1 versus 1.85:1