When you are using an Art Upload Store, you may also be using our cropping tool. This tool is quite robust and can allow your customers to custom crop their images or follow cropping guidelines that you have previously set forth.
Below we will be walking you through the features of the cropping tool and addressing some of the problems that you may face.
How To Set Up the Cropping Tool
In this section we will walk you through how to use the cropping tool and set it up so it is available in your Art Print Store.
Log in to your Art Storefronts Control Panel and click on the Upload Store you want to use. In our example, we are using the store titled Upload Store.
Next, click on the tab labeled Cropping.
On the next page you will be confronted with a number of options. The first is Availability. If this is set to on, the Cropping Tool will be available on your site. If it is set to off, this tool will not appear in your Upload Store.
Allow Custom Crops is next and this will allow your customers the ability to crop their image to any size they would like. If you cannot offer odd or one-off size, we do not recommend using this.
Allow Exact Size allows customers to choose the original exact size of the image that was uploaded. This feature is in BETA and may not have full functionality.
If you have chosen to ALLOW ACTUAL SIZE, you MUST ensure that your STOREWIDE DEFAULT MEDIUM has the SMALLEST size restriction. If the actual size is smaller than your storewide default minimum, the actual size will be rejected by the cropping tool. Please check your STOREWIDE DEFAULT MEDIUM if the actual size feature is not able to be selected.
Display Teaser Pricing can be turned on or off. This displays the prices for the product.
Under Cropping Sizes, you must enter sizes here so that visitors can have a basis from which to crop their images. Please follow this format: 8x12,12x16,16x20. Normally, print studios enter the standard sizes in here, so that visitors crop their images to common sizes that can be framed. This way, if they don't purchase a frame from you, they can easily purchase one from a local art store and not have size incompatibilities.
After you are satisfied with your changes, press Save.
A Common Issue To Be Aware Of
If you have custom media types with restricted sizes, this may cause issues with the cropping tool. If your restricted sizes are larger than your smallest crop size, you will not be able to offer that smaller cropped size.
Take for example the following situation: In the Shop Art store, we have Fine Art Paper and Canvas.
If we navigate into the Fine Art Paper option and scroll down, we can see that, in the Restricted Sizes section. There is a minimum size of 6x4 and a maximum size of 50x50. This specifically means that no size under 6x4 or over 50x50 can be offered for prints using the Fine Art Paper.
Next, we want to navigate to the Cropping tool. In the section labeled Cropping Size, you’ll notice that 5x5 is entered.
Next, we’ll click on Preview site and we’ll upload an image.
On the next page it will ask you to select your size. You will see that 5x5 is not available. The reason this is not available is because the smallest size a print can be is a 6x4. So, while a 5x5 is technically larger, the smallest width accepted is a 6x4.
In order to resolve this issue, you will need to return to your upload store. Navigate to the media where you have restricted sizes input and change the smallest size offered to something that has a width of 5 or smaller.
Once you have completed this, you should be able to return to the Upload Store on the front end and choose a 5x5.
