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WGX

Image Cropper

Keep the part of the picture you want.

Choose a picture

JPEG, PNG or WebP. The file is read by your browser and never uploaded.

CroppedExample

800 × 800

draw a rectangle, then press Crop

Choose a picture to get started.

Cropping is not resizing

The two get confused constantly, and choosing the wrong one is how people end up with a stretched picture. Cropping decides what is in the frame and discards the rest at full size. Resizing keeps everything and changes how big it is. If somebody is standing at the edge of the shot, crop. If the file has to be 800 pixels wide, that is the Image Resizer.

The shapes, and what they are for

  • Square (1:1) — profile pictures almost everywhere, and album art.
  • 4:5 — the tallest an Instagram feed post is shown at.
  • 4:3 — what most phone cameras and older screens produce.
  • 3:2 — the classic photographic frame, and what 6 × 4 prints expect.
  • 16:9 — video, thumbnails, banners and any widescreen slot.
  • Free — no shape held; the two sides move independently.

Choosing a shape places the largest rectangle of it that fits, in the middle. From there the drag and the number fields both hold the shape, so it cannot drift.

Cropping costs almost nothing

The pixels you keep are copied at their original size — not scaled, not resampled — so a crop does not soften a picture the way enlarging does. The only cost is the re-encoding: a JPEG or WebP has to be written again and loses a little in the process, and a PNG, being lossless, loses nothing at all. The file is saved in the format it arrived in; changing that is a different question, and a different tool.

You do not have to drag

Every crop can be made by typing four numbers: the left and top corner, then the width and height, all in the picture's own pixels. They are not a fallback hidden behind a link — they sit under the preview and always hold the rectangle you can see. Dragging is a convenience for people who can drag comfortably, which is not everyone.

If the file is still too big

A crop usually makes the file smaller simply by removing pixels, but it is not a compressor. If the file has to come under a limit, crop first, then run it through the Image Compressor.

Nothing is uploaded

The picture is opened, drawn and saved by your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, and the test suite for this page records every network request made while a file is processed and fails if one of them could carry it.

Questions

How do I crop an image to a square?

Choose the file, press Square, and the largest square that fits is placed in the middle of the picture. Drag inside it to move it where you want it, or type the numbers, then press Crop.

What is the difference between cropping and resizing?

Cropping throws part of the picture away and keeps the rest at its original size. Resizing keeps the whole picture and changes how big it is. If the problem is what is in the frame, crop; if the problem is the dimensions, resize.

Does cropping reduce the quality?

The pixels you keep are not scaled or resampled, so nothing is softened. A JPEG or WebP has to be encoded again to be saved, which costs a little; a PNG is lossless and costs nothing.

Can I crop without dragging?

Yes. The four numbers below the picture — left, top, width and height — are the same rectangle the overlay shows, and typing into them is a complete alternative to the drag. That is deliberate: a tool that can only be used by dragging cannot be used by everyone.

What size should a profile picture be?

Square, almost everywhere: press Square and drag it onto the face. Instagram portraits are 4:5, video thumbnails and banners are 16:9, and photographic prints are usually 3:2 — all four are presets here.

Is my file uploaded?

No. Your browser opens the file, draws the part you kept onto a canvas and encodes it again on your own machine. The test suite for this page fails if any request the cropper makes could carry the file.

  • Image Editor

    Crop, resize, turn, fix the light and add text to a picture in one place, with every step undoable — without uploading it.

  • Image Resizer

    Change an image to the exact dimensions you need.

  • Image Rotator

    Turn a photo the right way up.