Image Cropper

About Image Cropper

Cropping throws pixels away; resizing recalculates them. This tool only crops. The pixels inside your selection are copied one-to-one onto a new canvas, so what you keep is exactly as sharp as the original, and the output resolution is simply the size of the selection.

There are eight ratio presets: free, 1:1, 4:5, 9:16, 16:9, 1.91:1, 4:3 and 3:2. Picking a preset discards the current selection and places the largest rectangle of that ratio in the center of the image. If you rotate in 90° steps first, the math is redone on the rotated canvas. You can save as JPEG, PNG or WebP, and the filename records the cropped size, for example -crop-3024x3024.

How many pixels survive each ratio

Most phone photos are 4:3, such as 4032×3024. Cropping that to a 4:5 portrait keeps the full 3024 px height and narrows the width to 3024 × 0.8 = 2419.2 px, so 60% of the original area remains. A square keeps 75%, and 9:16 keeps about 42%. The further the target ratio is from the original, the more you lose, which is why leaving space around the subject when you shoot pays off later.

As long as the remaining image is larger than the platform needs, nothing is lost in practice. Instagram scales anything wider than 1080 px down to 1080 px, so a 2419×3024 crop ends up as 1080×1350 anyway. The problem case is the opposite one: cropping a small area out of a small photo leaves something narrower than 1080 px, and when the platform stretches it to fill the screen it looks soft.

What Instagram actually accepts

According to the Instagram Help Center, a feed photo keeps its aspect ratio when it falls between 1.91:1 (landscape) and 4:5 (portrait), and keeps its original resolution when it is between 320 and 1080 px wide. At 1080 px wide that means a height between 566 and 1350 px. Photos outside that range are cropped by the app, so cropping them yourself lets you decide what stays in frame.

This tool has a 1.91:1 (Instagram landscape) preset. To land exactly on Instagram's recommended 1080×566, it actually crops at 1080 ÷ 566 ≈ 1.908, so a 1080 px wide photo comes out exactly 566 px tall. A 16:9 crop (1.78:1) also sits inside the allowed range. For full-screen formats such as Stories and Reels, use 9:16.

• 1:1 — 1080×1080, the square that matches the profile grid best
• 4:5 — 1080×1350, the tallest option and the one that fills the most feed space
• 1.91:1 — 1080×566, the widest landscape the feed allows

Crop or resize: picking the right operation

People often crop to make a file smaller, but cropping also changes the composition. If you want the same framing in a smaller file, resize or compress instead. The reverse mistake is forcing a ratio by resizing, which squashes or stretches faces. Use cropping to set the ratio and resizing to set the pixel count, in that order.

Enlarging a crop afterwards does not bring discarded detail back; upscaling only interpolates between the pixels you kept. If the image might be printed later, keep the original file. This tool never overwrites your original; it downloads a new file.

Output format matters more than it seems

PNG is lossless, so the quality slider does nothing and photos come out large. JPEG and WebP are re-encoded at the chosen quality (92% by default), so even a pure crop can shift pixel values slightly. The tool encodes a preview in the selected format and shows the expected file size, which is the easiest way to compare.

JPEG has no transparency. A logo or sticker with a transparent background loses that background when saved as JPEG, so use PNG or WebP for those.

Common framing mistakes

Because a new preset always re-centers the selection, a subject standing off to one side can end up half cut. Drag the selection sideways after choosing the preset rather than shrinking it, since shrinking throws away more resolution than necessary.

For portraits in 4:5 or 9:16, check the top of the head and the chin after cropping. Platforms overlay usernames, captions and buttons near the bottom of full-screen formats, so keep important content away from the bottom edge.

Worked examples

How to use it

1. Load an image and apply any 90° rotation first.
2. Choose a ratio preset, or stay on free, and drag the corner handles.
3. Move the selection into place, then pick a format and quality.
4. Check the estimated file size and download.

Frequently asked questions