How to crop an image
- Press Choose image (or drop a photo on the box). The whole picture appears with a crop box around it.
- Drag the box to move it, or drag a corner or edge to resize it. Pick a shape such as 1:1 or 16:9 to lock the proportions.
- Fine-tune with the X, Y, width and height boxes. They change as you drag, and dragging changes as you type.
- Press Crop image, then Download. A photo called
holiday.jpgcomes back asholiday-cropped.jpg.
Crop a picture to a circle
Tick Circle crop to cut the picture into a round shape. The box becomes a square (1:1) with a round outline, and the saved file is a PNG with a transparent outside, because a JPG can't be transparent. Upload it to a site that shows round profile pictures, or place it on a coloured slide. The corners are fully transparent, which you can see on the checkerboard in the preview.
If you want an oval, pick a different shape (for example 4:5) after ticking the circle. The outline then follows the box.
Aspect ratios explained
An aspect ratio is the width divided by the height, written as two numbers. 1:1 is a square. 4:3 is slightly wider than tall, like most compact cameras and older screens. 3:2 is the shape of a full-frame camera photo and a 4 × 6 inch print. 16:9 is a widescreen video frame. Putting the larger number second makes it portrait: 4:5 is a tall Instagram post and 9:16 is a phone-sized story or reel.
| Ratio | Common use | Example size |
|---|---|---|
| 1:1 | Profile pictures, square posts | 1080 × 1080 |
| 4:5 | Tall Instagram posts | 1080 × 1350 |
| 4:3 | Compact camera photos, slides | 1600 × 1200 |
| 3:2 | DSLR photos, 4 × 6 in prints | 1800 × 1200 |
| 16:9 | Video thumbnails, banners | 1280 × 720 |
| 9:16 | Stories, reels, vertical video | 1080 × 1920 |
Cropping decides what stays in the picture. If you also need an exact output size, crop first, then use the image resizer to scale the result.
Cropping on a phone, a tablet or with a keyboard
- Touch. The handles are a 40-pixel target, bigger than the dots you see. Drag inside the box to move it.
- Mouse and pen. The same dragging works, and the cursor changes shape over each handle.
- Keyboard. Tab to the crop box. Arrow keys move it by about 1% of the image; Shift + arrow keys grow or shrink it from the bottom-right corner.
- Exact numbers. The X and Y boxes set the top-left corner in pixels, and Width and Height set the size. A value outside the picture is flagged instead of silently changed.
Quality, file type and privacy
The part inside the box is copied pixel for pixel, without scaling, so it is exactly as sharp as the original. When the file is saved, JPG and WebP are compressed again at 92%, which is close to invisible once but adds up if you re-save the same file many times. PNG is lossless. Redrawing the picture also drops EXIF metadata, including GPS location and camera details, so a cropped copy is safer to share than the original.
Phone photos are often stored sideways with a rotation flag. This tool turns the picture upright before showing it, so the crop box, the numbers and the result all agree. If the picture itself is the wrong way round, flip or rotate it first. iPhone HEIC photos are not supported yet: choose Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible to save JPGs.
Common uses
- Profile pictures and avatars, as a circle or a square.
- Trimming a screenshot to just the part that matters.
- Cutting a photo to a platform shape (4:5, 16:9, 9:16) before posting.
- Hiding something at the edge of a picture. To cover details inside it, use pixelate or blur instead.
Frequently asked questions
How do I crop an image?
Press Choose image and pick a photo. A crop box appears over it. Drag the box to move it and drag its corners or edges to resize it, then press Crop image and download the result. You can also type exact X, Y, width and height values in pixels.
How do I crop an image to a circle?
Tick Circle crop. The box snaps to a square and shows a round outline. Position it, then press Crop image. You get a PNG in which everything outside the circle is transparent, ready for profile pictures and avatars. If you choose a non-square shape with the circle ticked, the result is an oval.
Is it free, and is my picture uploaded?
It is free, with no sign-up or watermark. Your picture is never uploaded: it is cropped by code running in your browser and stays on your device. You can switch off your internet connection after the page has loaded and it still works.
Can I crop on my phone?
Yes. The crop box and its handles respond to touch, a mouse or a pen, and the handles have a large touch area so you can grab them with a finger. Choose image opens your photo library. If a handle is hard to hit on a small box, type the numbers in the X, Y, width and height boxes instead.
Can I use the keyboard?
Yes. Tab to the crop box, then use the arrow keys to move it. Hold Shift with the arrow keys to make it larger or smaller. The pixel boxes below the picture stay in sync, and you can type into them directly.
What aspect ratio should I choose?
Use 1:1 for profile photos and square posts, 4:5 for tall Instagram posts, 4:3 and 3:2 for standard camera photos and prints, 16:9 for video thumbnails and slides, and 9:16 for stories and reels. With a ratio chosen, the box keeps that shape while you resize it. Free lets you drag any shape.
Does cropping lose quality?
Cropping copies the pixels inside the box exactly, with no scaling, so the part you keep is as sharp as the original. The file is saved again though: JPG and WebP are compressed once more (at 92% quality here), which costs a very small amount of detail. PNG stays lossless. Keep your original photo.
What format is the cropped file, and is the location removed?
You get the same format as the original (JPG, PNG or WebP), or PNG for GIF and BMP files and for circle crops. Because the picture is redrawn on a canvas, metadata such as GPS location, camera model and date is not copied to the new file. If you share the crop, it does not give away where the photo was taken.
Can I crop an iPhone HEIC photo?
Not directly yet, because most browsers cannot decode HEIC. On iPhone, set Settings, Camera, Formats to Most Compatible so new photos are saved as JPG, or export the photo as JPG from the Photos app first.
My phone photo looked sideways. Will the crop be wrong?
No. Phones often store a photo sideways and add a rotation flag. This tool applies the flag when it opens the picture, so what you see, the pixel numbers and the cropped result all match the upright photo.