Is it possible to trim away surrounding transparent space when saving to web?

Question

I know how to trim a document to get rid of surrounding transparent space, but is there a way to do this only for saving off to web & devices, without impacting the actual document?

Answer 1

Solution A: Duplicate Image

When you want to save a web copy, you could duplicate the image (Image -> Duplicate), then do the adjustments for the copied (and possibly flattened) image.

I usually do it that way so the original image stays untouched, while the web save gets little color tweaks and watermarks. After saving I discard the copy, since there's really no need for it.

Solution B: Slices

You could also use Slices for this.

• Use the Slice tool to select the area of the image to be saved.
• Go to Save for Web and Devices, and use Slice Select tool to choose the right slice of the image.
• After clicking Save, there's a Slices selection box in the very bottom of file dialog, where you'd choose "Selected Slices".

Personally I think it's a bit clunky way to do it, since it likes to create extra folders, and slices get in the way on the image side. But maybe it'll work with your work flow.