How to crop an image online
- Open the photo. Drop it on the box above, click to browse, or copy an image and press
Ctrl+V(⌘+Von a Mac) anywhere on the page. - Pick a ratio and shape. Choose an aspect ratio such as 1:1 or 16:9, or a size preset like “Instagram portrait post”, which locks the ratio and fills in the output size for you. Switch Shape to Circle for a round crop.
- Frame the subject. Drag inside the box to move it, drag the corner and edge handles to resize it, and scroll or pinch to zoom the photo underneath. If you need a precise region, type X, Y, width and height instead.
- Fix orientation. Rotate by 90°, straighten a tilted horizon with the slider, or flip a mirrored selfie.
- Download. Choose JPG, PNG or WebP, set the quality, and save. The file name ends in the final pixel size so you can tell versions apart.
Aspect ratios and social media crop sizes
Most “wrong size” uploads are really wrong shape uploads: the platform accepts any resolution but crops anything that does not match its ratio. Set the ratio first, then the pixels. These are the sizes the presets above use.
| Where it is used | Aspect ratio | Recommended pixels | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram square post | 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | Safe choice for carousels where every slide must match. |
| Instagram portrait post | 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | Tallest feed format, takes the most screen space. |
| Instagram profile grid | 3:4 | 1080 × 1440 | The grid now shows 3:4 thumbnails, so 3:4 posts are not trimmed there. |
| Stories, Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikTok | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | Keep text away from the top 250 px and bottom 340 px, where the app overlays UI. |
| YouTube thumbnail | 16:9 | 1280 × 720 | Under 2 MB. The time stamp covers the bottom-right corner. |
| YouTube channel banner | 16:9 | 2560 × 1440 | Only the central 1546 × 423 area shows on every device. |
| Facebook / LinkedIn / X link preview (Open Graph) | 1.91:1 | 1200 × 630 | The image a page shows when its URL is shared. |
| Facebook cover | ~2.7:1 | 851 × 315 | Mobile trims the sides; keep the subject centred. |
| LinkedIn profile banner | 4:1 | 1584 × 396 | Your profile photo covers the lower-left area. |
| X (Twitter) header | 3:1 | 1500 × 500 | In-feed images display best at 16:9 (1600 × 900). |
| Pinterest pin | 2:3 | 1000 × 1500 | Taller pins get cut off in the feed. |
| WhatsApp / profile picture | 1:1 | 640 × 640 | Shown as a circle; leave space around the face. |
| Passport photo (India, UK, Schengen, Australia) | 7:9 | 35 × 45 mm = 413 × 531 px at 300 DPI | For head-size guides and a print sheet use the passport photo maker. |
| US passport and visa | 1:1 | 2 × 2 in = 600 × 600 px at 300 DPI | Online DV/visa uploads accept 600–1200 px squares. |
| Classic photo prints | 3:2 / 4:3 / 5:4 | 4×6, 5×7, 8×10 in | 4×6 is 3:2; 8×10 is 5:4; 5×7 needs a custom 5:7 crop. |
Circle crop: round images and profile pictures
To crop an image to a circle, pick Circle / oval under Shape. The crop box becomes round and snaps to 1:1; pick 4:5 or another ratio afterwards if you want an oval. Save as PNG and everything outside the circle is transparent, so the round photo sits cleanly on any background. The same control makes rounded-corner crops (set the radius from a subtle 5% to a pill-like 50%), plus heart and star shapes for stickers and greetings.
Most apps already display your avatar inside a circle, so what matters is keeping the face centred with some space around it. Crop a circle yourself when the picture will be placed on a page that does not round it for you: an email signature, a slide, a team page, a Canva design, or a website where you do not want to rely on CSS border-radius: 50%.
| Where the round photo is used | Upload at | Shown at |
|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn profile photo | 400 × 400 px or larger | Circle, about 200 px on the profile |
| X (Twitter) profile photo | 400 × 400 px | Circle, 48–134 px |
| Instagram profile photo | 320 × 320 px | Circle, 110–150 px |
| Facebook profile picture | at least 180 × 180 px (400+ recommended) | Circle, 170 px on desktop |
| YouTube channel icon | 800 × 800 px | Circle, 98 px |
| WhatsApp profile photo | 640 × 640 px | Circle |
| GitHub avatar | 460 × 460 px or larger | Circle, up to 260 px |
| Slack, Teams, Discord avatar | 512 × 512 px | Circle or rounded square |
The size menu has circle presets for LinkedIn/X, Instagram, YouTube and chat apps; they switch the shape to circle and set the output pixels in one step.
Crop an image to exact pixel dimensions
There are two separate numbers in any crop: the crop box, which is the region you keep measured in pixels of the original photo, and the output size, which is the size of the file you download. The fields in the tool map directly to those two things.
Worked example: phone photo to Instagram portrait
A typical phone photo is 4032 × 3024 px (4:3 landscape). For a 4:5 portrait post, the tallest crop you can fit is the full 3024 px height, so the widest 4:5 box is 3024 × 4 ÷ 5 = 2419 × 3024 px. Slide that box sideways to frame your subject. Because Instagram displays 1080 × 1350, set the output to 1080 × 1350 — the crop is scaled down by a factor of about 2.24, which keeps it sharp and makes the file roughly five times smaller than uploading the full-size crop.
Worked example: cutting out a region by coordinates
Say a 1920 × 1080 screenshot has a dialog you need from x = 640 to 1280 and y = 300 to 780. Enter X 640, Y 300, Width 640, Height 480. Leave the output fields empty to keep the exact 640 × 480 pixels, which matters for documentation and bug reports where you do not want any resampling blur.
Cropping vs resizing vs compressing
- Cropping removes the edges and changes the shape. The remaining pixels are untouched.
- Resizing changes the pixel count of the whole picture without removing anything. Use the image resizer when the framing is already right and you only need smaller dimensions.
- Compressing keeps the size but lowers the file weight. Use the image compressor when a form insists on “under 100 KB” or “under 1 MB”.
The order that preserves the most quality is crop first, resize second, compress last.
Which format to save in
| Format | Best for | Transparency | Typical size for a 1080×1350 photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPG (quality 85–92) | Photos, anything uploaded to social media or a form | No — empty areas use the fill colour | 250–450 KB |
| PNG | Screenshots, text, logos, graphics with flat colour | Yes | 1–2.5 MB for photos, small for flat graphics |
| WebP (quality 80–90) | Websites and blogs | Yes | 150–300 KB |
When you rotate by a small angle to straighten a horizon, the corners of the canvas become empty. JPG fills them with the colour you pick; PNG and WebP leave them transparent. To avoid empty corners entirely, shrink the crop box slightly inward after straightening. Need another format later? The image converter switches between JPG, PNG, WebP and more without re-cropping.
Composition tips that survive the crop
- Place eyes or the horizon near a third of the frame rather than dead centre, unless the platform shows the image as a circle.
- Leave “lead room” in the direction a person is looking or a car is moving.
- Crop between joints (mid-thigh, mid-forearm), not exactly at a knee, wrist or ankle.
- For products, crop every photo in a listing to the same ratio so the gallery lines up.
- Crop generously and scale down, instead of cropping tight and scaling up — enlarging a small crop is what makes images look soft.
FAQ
Is my image uploaded when I crop it?
No. The image is opened from your device and cropped on a canvas inside the page. Nothing is sent to a server, so the cropper also works for private photos and ID documents.
How do I crop an image to an exact pixel size?
Type the width and height you want into the crop box fields (they are in pixels of the original image), or choose a social-media preset. To get a fixed output such as 1080 × 1350, set the output size fields; the crop is then scaled to exactly that size when you download.
Does cropping reduce image quality?
Cropping itself only removes pixels at the edges; the pixels you keep are unchanged. Quality can drop in two places: saving as JPG or WebP at a low quality setting, and enlarging a small crop to a bigger output size. Save as PNG, or JPG at 90 or higher, and avoid upscaling for the sharpest result.
What aspect ratio should I use for Instagram?
Use 4:5 (1080 × 1350) for portrait feed posts, which take the most screen space; 1:1 (1080 × 1080) for square posts; 3:4 (1080 × 1440) to match the profile grid; and 9:16 (1080 × 1920) for Stories and Reels.
How do I crop an image into a circle?
Choose Circle / oval under Shape. The crop box turns round and locks to 1:1, so drag it over the face and download as PNG: the corners outside the circle are transparent. For a JPG, the corners are filled with the background colour you pick, such as white.
Why is a circle crop saved as PNG and not JPG?
JPG has no transparency, so a round crop saved as JPG always sits on a coloured square. PNG and WebP keep the area outside the circle transparent, which lets the round image blend into any page or app background. Pick JPG only if you want a solid background behind the circle.
Why is the downloaded file larger than the original?
The original may have been a heavily compressed JPG, while PNG is lossless and JPG at 92% keeps more detail. Lower the quality slider, choose WebP, or run the result through an image compressor if you need a smaller file.