Rotate image question

[Frank Leahy]

I've successfully rotated an image.  But, my newly rotated image -- 
that was 650wide x 433high -- is now 650wide x 650high, with newly 
added white space on the left and right edges of the (now vertical) 
image.  The docs say this is going to happen, so I have no problem 
there.

What I want to know is: is it possible to select just the 650high x 
433wide portion of the image, without using the paint tools?  I can't 
seem to find a command that will let me select a portion of an image.  
Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance,
-- Frank

p.s. There's more FAQ fodder here, as rotate doesn't work unless the 
image is visible. Is anybody keeping an FAQ?

p.p.s. Don't  you wish the docs were online and allowed user comments 
like both MySQL and PHP do?