Image Cropper
Crop an image online, free
Trim a photo to the part that matters, cut a screenshot down, or shape an avatar to a perfect square. Drop an image, drag the box, lock an aspect ratio if you need one, and download. It all runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
Drop an image here, or click to choose
JPG, PNG or WebP. Everything happens in your browser.
- Files never leave your device
- Runs in your browser
- Free, no signup
How it works
- 1
Drop your image
Add a JPG, PNG, or WebP. It is decoded into a canvas in your browser, never uploaded, so private images stay on your device.
- 2
Set the crop
Drag the selection box and its handles to frame the area. Pick a ratio like 1:1 or 16:9 to lock the shape, or stay on Free for any rectangle.
- 3
Crop and download
Download the cropped image in its original format. JPG stays JPG, PNG keeps transparency, WebP stays WebP, with no quality loss in the kept area.
A precise cropper that stays on your device
Lock any aspect ratio
Pick 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and more, and the selection holds that shape while you size and move it. Choose Free to crop to any rectangle you like.
No quality loss
Cropping keeps the original pixels inside your selection and only discards the edges. JPG re-saves at high quality and PNG stays lossless.
Private by design
The crop is cut from a canvas in your browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, which matters for screenshots, scanned IDs, and other sensitive images.
Where this helps
Square avatars and profile photos
Lock 1:1 and crop a headshot to a clean square so a profile slot does not cut it off awkwardly. Resize to the platform's pixel size afterward.
Social posts and thumbnails
Crop to 4:5 for a portrait feed post, 16:9 for a video thumbnail, or 9:16 for a story, so the platform shows exactly the framing you chose.
Trimming screenshots
Cut a screenshot down to the part that matters before sharing. Freeform cropping removes the toolbars, margins, and anything you do not want seen.
Cleaning up scans
Crop the white border off a scanned document or photo. Because it runs locally, a scanned ID or statement never leaves your device.
Tips that help
- 1
Crop to shape, then resize to size
Lock the aspect ratio here to get the framing right, then use the resize tool for the exact pixel dimensions. The resize keeps the ratio you cropped, so nothing stretches.
- 2
Use Free for trimming, ratios for slots
Freeform is best when you just want to cut something out. Lock a ratio when the destination needs a specific shape, like a square avatar or a 16:9 thumbnail.
- 3
Drag the middle to reposition
Once the box is the right size, drag its interior to slide the framing over the subject without changing the size or ratio of the selection.
- 4
Need a round crop instead?
For a circular profile picture with transparent corners, use the circle crop tool, which masks the selection to a circle and exports a PNG.
Cropping images in the browser: framing, aspect ratios, and how it differs from resizing
Cropping is the simplest image edit and the most misunderstood. People reach for it to make a file smaller, to fit a square avatar slot, or to cut a distraction out of a photo, and those are three different jobs. This guide explains what cropping actually changes, how aspect ratios work and when to lock one, the difference between cropping and resizing, and why doing it in the browser keeps your images private. The tool above runs entirely on your device, so nothing is uploaded.
What cropping actually does to an image
Cropping selects a rectangle inside your image and throws away everything outside it. The pixels you keep are unchanged, so there is no quality loss in the kept region, you simply end up with fewer pixels overall because the discarded edges are gone.
That has two side effects worth knowing. The dimensions shrink, since the output is only as wide and tall as your selection, and the file usually gets smaller too, because there is less image to store. Cropping a busy edge out of a photo is a legitimate way to trim both the framing and the file size at once.
It is not the same as zooming. Cropping does not magnify the subject, it removes the surroundings, which makes the subject fill more of the frame. If you then need the result at a specific pixel size, resize the cropped image afterward.
Aspect ratio: when to lock one and when to stay free
Aspect ratio is the shape of the crop, the relationship between width and height. A 1:1 ratio is a perfect square, 16:9 is widescreen, and 4:5 is the tall portrait shape that social feeds favor. The ratio bar locks the selection to a shape so you cannot drift off it by accident.
Lock a ratio when the destination demands one. A profile photo slot wants a square, so crop at 1:1. A YouTube thumbnail is 16:9, an Instagram portrait post is 4:5, and a story is 9:16. Cropping to the exact shape up front means the platform will not crop it again and cut off something you wanted.
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Stay on Free when the goal is the framing rather than a fixed shape, like trimming a scan or cutting a stranger out of the edge of a holiday photo. You drag whatever rectangle looks right, and the output is exactly that shape.
Either way, crop for shape first and size second. Get the framing and ratio right here, then resize to the exact pixels the destination asks for. Doing it in that order avoids stretching, because the resize keeps the ratio you already locked.
Cropping versus resizing versus compressing
These three are constantly confused because they all make a file smaller, but they change different things. Cropping removes part of the image. Resizing keeps the whole image and changes its pixel dimensions. Compressing keeps both the image and its dimensions and only reduces the data used to store it.
A worked example makes it clear. Say you have a 4000 by 3000 photo and you want a square avatar. Crop it to 1:1, which discards the side strips and leaves a 3000 by 3000 square. Then resize that square to 400 by 400 for the avatar slot. Finally, if there is a file-size cap, compress it to a KB target. Each step does one job.
Running them in that order is the efficient path. Crop first so you are not resizing pixels you are about to throw away, resize second to hit the dimensions, and compress last to meet a size limit. Skipping straight to compression on a wrongly framed, oversized image wastes effort.
Common crops and the sizes they pair with
A few targets cover most needs. Square 1:1 is for avatars and Instagram grid posts, commonly finished at 400 by 400 for a profile photo or 1080 by 1080 for a feed image. Portrait 4:5 is the tall feed post that takes up the most screen space, usually 1080 by 1350.
Widescreen 16:9 is for video thumbnails and presentation slides, typically 1280 by 720 for a YouTube thumbnail. The vertical 9:16 is for stories and reels at 1080 by 1920. Cover and banner images each have their own ratios, so check the platform before you crop.
The pattern is always the same: crop here to the right ratio, then open the resize tool locked to those exact dimensions to finish. Because you cropped to the matching shape first, the resize fills the target cleanly with nothing stretched or letterboxed.
Why cropping locally keeps your images private
Many online croppers upload your image to a server, crop it there, and send it back. For a holiday snap that may not matter, but cropping is often used on exactly the files that should stay private: a screenshot with personal details, a scanned ID, a document where you want to cut off a signature or an address.
This tool never uploads anything. The image is decoded into a canvas inside your browser tab, the selection is cut from it on your device, and the result is handed straight back for download. The file does not touch a server at any point.
Everything else stays simple too. Drop an image, drag the box, pick a ratio if you need one, and download. Free, no account, no watermark stamped across your crop.
Frequently asked questions
Honest answers to what people ask before using this tool.
Further reading
Independent references if you want to go deeper on the formats and tradeoffs.
Crop to a ratio or platform
Open the cropper already set to the shape you need, with guidance for that ratio.