Cropping vs resizing
These two get mixed up all the time. Cropping cuts away part of the picture: you keep a rectangle of the original pixels and throw the rest away. Resizing keeps the whole picture but changes how many pixels it has. If a form wants "1080 × 1080", you usually need both — crop to the right shape (1:1), then resize to the exact pixel count.
This tool does the first part, and does it without resampling: the pixels inside your box are copied one to one, so the cropped area is exactly as sharp as it was in the original.
How to crop here
- Drop a JPG, PNG, WebP or iPhone HEIC photo.
- Choose a ratio — Free, 1:1, 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9.
- Drag inside the box to move it; drag the round handle in the bottom-right corner to make it bigger or smaller. With a ratio selected the box keeps its shape.
- Watch the size readout under the image: it shows the selection in real pixels of the original, e.g.
2400 × 1800 px. - Press Crop, check the preview, and download. The file gets a
-croppedsuffix.
The box can't be smaller than 5% of the image width — tiny crops of a huge photo would be blurry anyway once you view them at a normal size.
Which ratio for what
| Ratio | Typical use |
|---|---|
| 1:1 | Avatars, profile pictures, square posts, product thumbnails |
| 4:3 | Most phone photos already are 4:3; presentations on older projectors |
| 3:2 | Prints of 10×15 cm / 4×6 in, DSLR photos |
| 16:9 | Video thumbnails, widescreen slides, desktop wallpapers, website banners |
| Free | Removing a border, cutting a screenshot to one window, documents |
The presets are landscape (wider than tall). For portrait shapes like 4:5 or 9:16, use Free and set the box using the pixel readout — for 4:5, make the height 1.25 times the width. If the exact pixel size matters, the resize presets do the cropping for you: Instagram Portrait (1080 × 1350) and Instagram Story (1080 × 1920) fill the frame from the centre.
What happens to format and quality
- JPG stays JPG, re-saved at 92% quality. One re-save at this level isn't visible; avoid cropping the same JPG ten times in a row.
- PNG stays PNG, lossless, and transparent areas stay transparent.
- WebP stays WebP in browsers that can write it; Safari saves PNG (if there's transparency) or JPG instead.
- HEIC is decoded in the browser and saved as JPG.
Because the image is redrawn on a canvas, the cropped file no longer carries EXIF data or GPS location. Very large images (over about 16.7 megapixels) are scaled down when you open them, since browsers can't draw bigger canvases; a note appears if that happens.
Tips for a better crop
- Rule of thirds. Place eyes, a horizon or the main object about a third of the way in from an edge rather than dead centre — it usually looks more natural.
- Leave headroom for avatars. Sites often display profile pictures as circles, which cut off the corners. Keep the face in the middle with some space around it.
- Crop before compressing. Fewer pixels means a smaller file, so cropping first makes it easier to hit targets like 50 KB without visible artefacts.
- Straighten first. If the photo is sideways, fix it with Rotate Image before cropping.
Related tools
- Resize Image — set exact width and height after cropping.
- Circle Crop — round avatar with transparent corners; crop to 1:1 here first to choose which part ends up in the circle.
- Remove Background — cut the subject out instead of cropping around it.
- Pixelate Image — hide a detail you can't crop out.
- Instagram Grid — split one wide photo into tiles for your profile.