OK. I’ve been working with Photoshop for over a decade and today I discovered something for the first time that I WISH I had figured out years ago.

So. Imagine this. You have a big, multi-layered PSD. Only a specific part is of interest. You want to use this area for an image but want to retain the layer structure. Only way to do this is to Crop the image then Save As to create a new PSD. The PROBLEM with this is that the crop tool (C) is a totally visual tool. If you, for example, wanted to crop the image to a specific size you’ll be in bother. You’d have to create an new image of a desired size and then copy all the layers to the new document.

Today I discovered a solution to this.

Fixed Size

What to do is: Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M). In the Toolbar you’ll see an option that says ‘Style’. Select: ‘Fixed Size’, and input your desired size for the image after the Crop. Add the selection around the area of interest.

Now here is the cool part that I never realised. Instead of going to your Crop tool, go to the Toolbar, select Image > Crop with your previous selection still active. Hey Presto. You have a new image of a specific size and your layers are still intact.