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Guide: cropping photos to the right shape and size

What the cropper does with your file

The cropper is built on the CropperJS library, which loads in your browser when you add an image. A crop frame appears covering about 90 percent of the picture. You can drag its corners and edges, move the whole frame, and scroll or pinch to zoom the view. Zooming only changes what you see on screen; the downloaded crop always uses the real pixels of the area you selected.

When you click Apply crop, that area is copied onto a new canvas and saved in the same format you uploaded: PNG stays PNG, JPG stays JPG and WEBP stays WEBP. JPG and WEBP are re-saved at quality 0.92, while PNG is saved without loss. The result screen shows the new pixel size and how the file size changed, and the file name includes the dimensions, for example cropped-1080x1080.jpg. Your image is not uploaded anywhere.

Choosing a ratio for the job

Each ratio button locks the frame to a fixed shape, so you only decide what goes inside it.

• 1:1 for Instagram posts, WhatsApp display pictures and square product grids on your own store or catalogue.
• 16:9 for YouTube thumbnails, presentation slides and desktop wallpapers.
• 4:3 and 3:4 for the classic camera shape, in landscape or portrait. 3:4 is close to, but not exactly, the 35 by 45 mm passport shape, so check the final pixels if a form is strict.
• 9:16 for Stories, Reels, Shorts and phone wallpapers.
• Free for documents, receipts, screenshots or any shape a form asks for.

Cropping for an exact pixel size

The cropper fixes the shape and position, not the exact pixel count. If an application form asks for a photo of, say, 200 by 230 pixels, crop with Free to roughly that shape first, then set the exact numbers in the Image Resizer, and finally bring the file under the KB limit with Compress to Size. For common exam formats, the Exam Photo Size tool may save you these steps.

Rotating and flipping before you crop

The sidebar has 90-degree left and right buttons and horizontal and vertical flip buttons, and Reset puts the crop frame and flips back to the start. The buttons only turn the image in 90-degree steps. If a scan or horizon is tilted by a few degrees, straighten it first with the Rotate tool, which accepts any angle, then crop away the empty corners here. A horizontal flip is useful for undoing a mirrored selfie where the text on a shirt or sign reads backwards.

Quality and file size after cropping

Cropping does not stretch or resample the part you keep, so the remaining area looks the same as before. The only change for JPG and WEBP is the re-save at quality 0.92. To avoid stacking those re-saves, crop from your original file each time rather than cropping an already cropped copy. The Crop again button takes you back to the editor with the same image loaded, so you can adjust the frame without uploading again.

A crop usually makes the file smaller because there are fewer pixels, but a heavily compressed JPG can come out slightly larger, since 0.92 is a fairly high quality setting. If the size matters, compress the result afterwards.

Common mistakes

• Cropping profile pictures too tightly. WhatsApp and Instagram show them in a circle, which trims the corners, so leave space around the face.
• Cropping a small area and expecting it to look sharp when enlarged. If you need it bigger, use the AI Image Upscaler afterwards.
• Uploading an iPhone HEIC file. Convert it with HEIC to JPG first; the cropper accepts PNG, JPG and WEBP.
• Assuming a crop alone will meet a form's KB limit. Pixel size and file size are separate requirements.

Related guides

• How to Crop a Photo to Any Size Without Losing Quality
• How to Make a Picture Square Without Cropping It
• How to Change an Image Aspect Ratio Without Cropping