Image Cropper

Cropping images to the right shape

Cropping removes parts of an image you do not need and changes its shape to fit where it will be used. Social platforms, websites and documents all expect particular shapes. A square works for profile pictures and many posts, a tall 4:5 frame fills more of the screen in Instagram feeds, a 9:16 frame suits stories and reels, and 16:9 is the standard for YouTube thumbnails and widescreen slides. Passport-style photos use their own proportions, which are included here as well.

Choose a ratio, then adjust the size and position of the crop with the sliders while the preview shows exactly what will be kept. Pick the free option if you only want to trim edges without a fixed shape. Cropping does not reduce the quality of the pixels that remain, but it does reduce the total number of pixels, so heavy cropping of a small photo can leave too little detail for printing or large displays.

A few composition tips make a cropped photo look better. Leave a little space above a person's head rather than cutting through it, and keep eyes roughly a third of the way down the frame. Avoid cropping at joints such as wrists, knees or ankles, which looks awkward. For product photos, keep consistent margins around the item so a set of images looks tidy together. If you need an exact pixel size after cropping, run the result through the resizer. Your photos are processed in your browser and never uploaded, so private images remain on your device.