What is cropping, and how is it different from resizing?
Cropping removes the outer parts of a picture and keeps a rectangular region. Nothing is scaled: the pixels inside the selection stay at their original size, and the image simply gets smaller because part of it has been cut away.
Resizing is the opposite idea. It keeps the whole picture but changes its width and height. Cropping is the right tool when you want to focus on a subject, remove distracting edges, or trim a screenshot down to the part that matters.
When cropping helps
You might crop to cut out a person from the edge of a group photo, remove a taskbar or browser frame from a screenshot, trim whitespace around a product, or frame a photo so the subject sits where you want it.
Cropping before sharing also keeps private details out of view, such as a street sign or notification in the corner of a screenshot. If you plan to change the dimensions of the cropped result afterwards, the image resizer is the natural next step.
How to crop an image with this tool
- Drag your image onto the upload area, or click to choose one.
- A preview appears with a highlighted box over it. Drag the box to move it over the area you want to keep.
- For finer control, use the four number fields below the preview: x and y set the box's position, and w and h set its width and height. These values are percentages of the image, not pixels.
- Click Crop to see the cropped result.
- Click Download to save it.
The cropped file is saved as your original name plus "-cropped" with a .png extension. All processing runs in your browser, so the image is not uploaded.
Limits and practical advice
The box is moved by dragging, not resized by dragging. To change its size, type new w and h values. Keep in mind that the box also cannot be positioned outside the image when you drag it.
Values are percentages. A w of 50 means half the image's width, whatever its pixel size. The crop is calculated from these percentages against the full-resolution original, so you do not lose resolution when previewing a scaled-down version.
Output is always PNG. That keeps the crop lossless, but for photographs the file may be larger than the original JPG. Convert it with PNG to JPG if you need a smaller file.
No fixed aspect-ratio presets. If you need a specific shape, such as square, set w and h so the resulting pixel proportions match, remembering that percentages are relative to the image's own width and height.