Cropping and resizing are different jobs, and mixing them up is why pictures end up stretched or cut in the wrong place. Crop first to choose what is shown, then resize to set how big it is.
Crop versus resize
- Crop removes the parts of the picture you do not want. The remaining pixels are not changed.
- Resize makes the whole picture larger or smaller. If the shape changes, the picture is stretched, which looks bad.
So the correct order is: crop to the right shape, then resize to the right size.
Common aspect ratios
| Ratio | Used for |
|---|---|
| 1:1 | Profile pictures, Instagram posts |
| 4:5 | Instagram portrait posts |
| 3:4 | Passport-style and ID photos |
| 4:3 | Standard photos, presentations |
| 16:9 | YouTube thumbnails, video, banners |
| 9:16 | Stories, Reels, Shorts |
Steps
- Open crop image and add your photo.
- Choose a ratio, or leave it free.
- Drag the frame over the part you want. Drag the corners to make it larger or smaller.
- Press Crop and download.
Then set the exact size
If a site wants specific pixels, such as 400 × 400 or 1280 × 720, open resize image and type the width and height. Because you already cropped to the correct ratio, nothing gets distorted. For social networks, social media image resizer does both in one step.
Tips
- Leave room around faces. Profile pictures are often shown as circles, so keep the face centred and away from the corners.
- Crop at the highest resolution you have. Cropping a small picture and then enlarging it makes it blurry.
- Keep the original. Cropping creates a new file, so you can always start again.
Cropping a passport-style photo
For forms that want a 3:4 passport shape, choose the 3:4 ratio and centre the face. Then use exam and visa photo resizer to hit the exact pixel and KB limits.