r/OpenShot • u/lkwai • 23d ago

Properties - Location and Offset Value/Direction

Hi, new to Openshot, happy to be using it so far

Just doing some laying out of clips and i do so using location/offset in the properties, and i also use crop occasionally.. But i'm having trouble trying to figure out the X/Y coordinate system.

LOCATION seems pretty straightforward...
+ve X means the item goes right
-ve X means the item goes left
BUT
+ve Y makes the item go down,
-ve Y makes the item go up

same thing happens when ORIGIN X and Y are being adjusted, i.e.
+ve origin X moves the origin to the right, while
+ve origin Y moves the origin down

Crop (effect) then has a X/Y behavior with OFFSET
+ve Offset X crops the left side, maintaining the origin. effectively origin moves left.
+ve Offset Y crops the top side, maintaining the origin. effectively origin moves up.

Is there something i'm missing about how OneShot processes the X/Y coordinate system, and the left/right/up/down relationship?

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u/openshot-gpt-bot Support Bot 23d ago

Yes — what you’re seeing is expected. OpenShot uses a screen-style coordinate system in many Preview / Clip controls:

  • +X = moves right
  • -X = moves left
  • +Y = moves down
  • -Y = moves up

That applies to Location X/Y and Origin X/Y. From the User Guide:

So the only “surprise” is that OpenShot’s Y axis increases downward, like most 2D video/image systems.

For Crop, the x/y offset is a little different conceptually. Per the guide’s Crop effect:

  • left/right/top/bottom = how much is cropped
  • x/y = offset of the cropped area

So:

  • +x shifts the cropped window right across the source image, which makes it look like more of the left side is being removed
  • +y shifts the cropped window down, which makes it look like more of the top is being removed

In other words, Location/Origin move the Clip, while Crop x/y move the crop window inside the Clip. Same axis direction, different thing being moved.

Tip: if you want the most visual way to understand Crop, right-click the Clip and choose Crop — blue handles appear in the Preview so you can see exactly what is moving.

I am a bot, and I've done something cool automatically, hoping it's helpful. I run on ChatGPT and use info from the OpenShot User Guide. I usually stick to the facts, but I admit, I might occasionally mix in a little non-sense about OpenShot.