Crop Image

How to crop an image

1. Drop an image into the box above, or click to choose one.
2. A crop box appears over the middle 80% of the picture. Drag inside it to move it.
3. Drag any of the four corner handles to resize it. The opposite corner stays fixed, so you can grow or shrink from one side.
4. To get a fixed shape, pick an aspect ratio. The box jumps to the largest centred box of that shape, at 90% of the space, and keeps that shape while you resize.
5. Watch the label in the box. It shows the crop size in real image pixels, such as 2273 × 2273.
6. Pick a format and, for JPG or WebP, a quality. Then click Crop image and Download.

Dragging works with a mouse, a trackpad or a finger on a phone. The saved file ends in -cropped, so the original is never overwritten.

Aspect ratio presets and where they fit

A ratio only fixes the shape, not the size. To get an exact pixel size such as 1080 × 1080, crop here first and then set the size in the image resizer.

Worked example: one photo, four crops

We loaded a 3840 × 2525 photo of the Taj Mahal into the cropper’s code in Chrome on 19 October 2026, picked each ratio without dragging anything, and saved each crop as JPG at 90% quality:

The box starts slightly inside the edges so the handles are easy to grab. Drag a corner outwards to use the full height: a 1:1 crop of this photo can go up to 2525 × 2525. Notice how little of a landscape photo survives a 9:16 crop. For vertical posts, shoot in portrait if you can.

The crop is saved at full resolution. If the label says 2273 × 2273, the file is 2273 × 2273 pixels. Nothing is scaled down unless you resize it afterwards, which is why a crop on its own rarely gets a photo under a form’s KB limit. That’s the resizer’s job.

Fixing common crop problems

• The box won’t get any bigger. With a ratio locked, the box stops growing when it reaches an edge, because the opposite corner stays fixed. Drag the box towards the centre first, then pull the corner again.
• The box jumped when I changed the ratio. Picking a ratio resets the box to the largest centred box of that shape at 90% size. Choose the ratio first, then position the box.
• The photo is sideways. Some phones save photos turned and rely on a tag to display them upright. Fix it with rotate image before cropping.
• The file is still too large for a form. Cropping keeps full resolution. Open the crop in the image resizer and set a target KB, or shrink several files at once with the image compressor.

Cropping a photo or signature for a form

Exam portals such as SSC and UPSC set KB limits, and SSC rejects blurred or miniature signatures. A tight crop helps with both, because every pixel of empty paper or background takes space you could spend on detail.

1. Signature: sign on plain white paper, take a photo, and crop with Free so the box hugs the signature with a small margin. The SSC CHSL 2026 notice (opens in new tab) asks for a signature of about 6.0 cm × 2.0 cm, a 3:1 shape, so aim for a box about three times as wide as it is tall. The live pixel label makes this easy: 1500 × 500 is exactly 3:1.
2. Photo: use 3:4 for a head and shoulders shot, centred on the face.
3. Size: open the cropped file in the image resizer to set the exact pixels and a target KB, such as 19 KB for a 20 KB limit.

As of October 2026, SSC CHSL captures the candidate’s photo live during the application, so only the signature needs uploading for that exam. Check the notice for your exam, since rules differ.

Crop, resize or change the ratio: which one you need

Cropping removes pixels, so the file nearly always gets smaller. Resizing keeps the whole scene and changes how many pixels describe it. When the subject is off-centre, crop here. When it’s centred and you need an exact size fast, the resizer’s preset ratios do both jobs at once.

Tips for better crops

• Leave a little breathing room. Cropping right at the edge of a head or signature makes it look cramped, and some portals check that nothing is cut off.
• Use PNG for screenshots so text stays crisp, and JPG for photos.
• Turn the photo first if it was taken at an angle. Rotate it, then crop away the corners.
• Crop before you enlarge. Enlarging only the part you need keeps the file lighter and avoids browser size limits.

Limitations

• No number boxes. You set the crop by dragging and reading the pixel label. There are no width, height or X and Y position fields.
• Six ratios. Free, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 16:9 and 9:16. For shapes like 3:1, use Free and read the label.
• Rectangles only. No circle or freehand crop.
• One image at a time. Each image needs its own crop box.
• Smallest crop is 16 × 16 pixels.
• Transparency in JPG. Transparent areas turn white if you save a PNG crop as JPG. Keep PNG or WebP to keep them.
• Metadata is dropped, such as EXIF camera details and location, and animated GIFs become a single still frame.