Image Cropper

Cropping discards pixels permanently

Unlike resizing, which resamples the whole image, cropping removes the area outside the selection entirely. There is nothing to undo once the file is saved, so keep the original. This also means cropping never reduces quality in the retained area: those pixels are untouched, which is why cropping then enlarging is far worse than cropping alone.

Aspect ratios worth knowing

1:1 for most profile images and Instagram posts. 16:9 for video thumbnails and presentation slides. 4:5 for the tallest image Instagram will show in feed without cropping it further. 1.91:1 for Open Graph and Twitter cards, which is why a square image shared to social media gets its top and bottom cut off. 3:2 is the standard from 35mm film and most DSLRs; 4:3 is what phones and older sensors produce.

Crop for the platform that will crop you

Social platforms crop uploads to fit their own layouts, and they do it centrally by default. An image with important content near an edge loses it. The reliable approach is to crop to the platform's ratio yourself so you control what survives, rather than letting an algorithm choose.

Circular crops are not really circular

A PNG with a circular crop is still a rectangle with transparent corners. Save it as JPEG and the transparency flattens, usually to black, producing the familiar avatar in a dark square. Keep circular crops as PNG or WebP, both of which support an alpha channel.

Check the resulting pixel dimensions

Cropping a 4000-pixel photograph down to a small region can leave an image too small for its destination. A profile picture displayed at 200 pixels wants at least 400 across for high-density screens. Cropping tightly then relying on the browser to scale up produces a soft result that no amount of sharpening fixes.

Metadata and orientation

Browser-based cropping strips EXIF, which removes GPS coordinates and camera details, usually a good thing before publishing. It also resolves the EXIF orientation flag, so an image that appeared rotated in some applications and correct in others comes out consistently oriented.