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How to crop an image
To crop an image here, load a photo, drag the box over the part you want to keep and press Download. The photo never leaves your device.
- Load the photo. Choose a file, drop it on the editor, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V. JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, SVG and iPhone HEIC all work, and phone photos are turned upright using their EXIF orientation.
- Pick a ratio or a preset. Free lets you draw any shape. The presets lock the ratio and, for ID photos and social media, also set the exact output size in pixels.
- Place the box. Drag inside it to move, pull a handle to resize, or drag outside it to draw a fresh one. With the box focused, the arrow keys nudge it by 1 px (10 px with Shift).
- Fix the angle if needed. Rotate in 90° steps, flip, or use Straighten for a slightly tilted horizon.
- Choose the format and download. JPG for photos, PNG when you need transparency, such as a circle crop.
How do I crop an image to a square?
Press 1:1 and the tool draws the biggest square that fits. On a 4000 × 3000 px phone photo that is 3000 × 3000 px; on a 1920 × 1080 screenshot it is 1080 × 1080 px. Slide it sideways to frame your subject, then download. If the file is only going to a profile picture, switch Output size to Exact and type 1080: the square is scaled down once, cleanly, and the file is a fraction of the size.
Want a landscape 3:2 or 4:3 instead of the portrait versions on the buttons? Pick 2:3 or 3:4 and press the ⇄ button to swap the orientation.
What size should I crop photos for social media?
Each platform shows images at a fixed shape and quietly crops anything else. Cropping yourself means you decide what is cut. These are the sizes the presets use:
| Use | Ratio | Pixels | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram portrait post | 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | Takes the most space in the feed |
| Instagram square post | 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | The classic grid format |
| Instagram Story, Reels cover | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | Keep text away from the top and bottom 250 px |
| YouTube thumbnail | 16:9 | 1280 × 720 | YouTube’s recommended size; under 2 MB |
| Facebook cover | about 2.6:1 | 1640 × 624 | Twice the 820 × 312 desktop display, so it stays sharp |
| X (Twitter) header | 3:1 | 1500 × 500 | Your profile photo covers the lower left |
| WhatsApp profile | 1:1 | 640 × 640 | Shown as a circle |
For a phone wallpaper pick 9:16; a 16:9 crop will be cut on both sides. The Facebook cover is the awkward one: phones show a narrower slice of the same image, so keep faces and text in the middle 60% of the width.
How do I crop a passport photo to 35 × 45 mm?
Choose Passport 35×45 mm. Print sizes become pixels with one formula, and the tool uses 300 dpi, the usual resolution for photo prints:
| Photo | Print size | Pixels at 300 dpi |
|---|---|---|
| Passport, Schengen and UK visas | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 |
| US passport and visa | 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm) | 600 × 600 |
| Small ID photo | 2 × 3 cm | 236 × 354 |
| ID photo | 3 × 4 cm | 354 × 472 |
| Large ID photo | 4 × 6 cm | 472 × 709 |
When you save as JPG, the file is tagged as 300 dpi, so a print shop or Word places it at the real size without guessing. PNG files don’t get that tag, which is one reason to stay with JPG here.
The crop size is the easy part; head size is where photos get rejected. The UK asks for 29 to 34 mm from chin to crown on a 45 mm photo, the Schengen rules 32 to 36 mm, and the US 1 to 1⅜ inches on its 2-inch photo. Leave a little space above the hair, keep the eyes level, and use Straighten if your head is tilted. This tool does not change the background, so take the photo against a plain light wall.
How do I crop a picture into a circle?
Tick Circle crop. The box becomes a square with a circle inside, and the download is a PNG with transparent corners, so the round picture sits cleanly on a website, slide or signature. If you switch to JPG, the corners are filled with the background colour you pick instead, because JPG cannot store transparency. The WhatsApp preset does the same at 640 × 640 px. Most apps already round profile photos, so the circle file matters mainly for slides, websites and email signatures.
Straighten, rotate and flip
Rotating by 90° swaps width and height, so the crop box resets to fit. Straighten works differently: it tilts the photo by up to 45° and zooms in just enough that no blank corners appear. The zoom grows quickly. On a 4:3 photo, 3° needs about 7% zoom, while 10° needs about 22%, so the result loses detail at the edges. If a photo needs more than a few degrees, retaking it is often the better fix.
Flip is useful for selfies, which many phones save mirrored. Don’t flip ID photos or anything with text.
Limits worth knowing
- Cropping can’t add detail. If you crop a 600 × 600 px area and ask for 1080 × 1080, the picture is stretched and looks soft. The tool shows a warning when that happens.
- Metadata is removed. The browser redraws the image, so EXIF data such as GPS location and camera model is not kept.
Frequently asked questions
How do I crop an image to a square?
Pick 1:1, move the box over the part you want and press Download. On a 4000 × 3000 photo the largest square is 3000 × 3000 px; type 1080 under Exact if you want a smaller file for social media.
What size should I crop a photo for Instagram?
Use 1080 × 1350 px (4:5) for portrait posts, which take up the most room in the feed, 1080 × 1080 for square and 1080 × 1920 for Stories and Reels. The presets set both the ratio and the exact pixels.
How do I crop a passport photo to 35 × 45 mm?
Choose Passport 35×45 mm. The tool crops at 413 × 531 px, which is 35 × 45 mm at 300 dpi, and writes 300 dpi into the JPG so it prints at the right size. Rules on head size differ by country, so check them before printing.
How do I crop a picture into a circle?
Tick Circle crop, place the circle and download as PNG. The corners outside the circle are transparent, so the round picture sits cleanly on any background. JPG can’t do this and fills the corners with a colour instead.
Does cropping reduce image quality?
No. Cropping only removes pixels at the edges; the rest is saved at the size shown. Quality only drops if you save JPG at a low setting or set an output bigger than the cropped area, which the tool warns about.
Are my photos uploaded anywhere?
No. The photo is loaded into the page and cropped with the Canvas API on your device. Nothing is sent to a server, and the page keeps working offline once loaded.
How do I straighten a crooked photo?
Drag the Straighten slider until the horizon or a door frame lines up with the grid. The image zooms in slightly as you tilt, about 7% at 3° on a 4:3 photo, so no empty corners appear in the result.