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Crop it Close
Direct the eye by zooming in on what's important

By Jacci Howard Bear, About.com

crop it close

Those deadly talons are all that's needed to identify this as a bird of prey.

Crop out unnecessary elements and zoom in on the key parts of an image. You can also grab attention by cropping in unexpected ways: chop off a head, cut a person vertically down the middle, or crop it so close you have to really stare to figure out what is in the picture.

In the sidebar illustration, even without its head and wings, you know this is a bird of prey. In the context of the ad, it's those deadly claws swooping down on their prey that are the most important element.

Jacci Howard Bear
Guide since 1997

Jacci Howard Bear
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