Crop an image to any area or aspect ratio
Drag a box, type exact pixels or lock a ratio, and keep every pixel of the part you choose.
- Processed on your device. Your photos are never uploaded. How we know
- Free, no sign-up, no watermark
Drop an image to crop
Drop files, paste with Ctrl+V, or choose them from your device.
PixWrench’s code runs on your device. We don’t receive your files, file names or their contents.
PixWrench’s code runs on your device. We don’t receive your files, file names or their contents. What happens to your files
How to crop an image to an exact size or ratio
Cropping removes the edges you don’t want: a stranger at the side of a group photo, a cluttered desk under a product shot, or the extra sky that makes a portrait the wrong shape for a profile slot. This tool works on one image at a time so you can frame it carefully.
Social platforms each favor particular shapes; our guide to social media image sizes lists them. Once the shape is right, the image resizer can bring it to an exact pixel size.
- 1
Open your image
Drop a JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF or HEIC file onto the page. Photos stored sideways are turned upright before you start.
- 2
Frame the crop
Pick a ratio or Free, then drag the box and its handles, nudge it with the arrow keys, or type X, Y, width and height.
- 3
Save the result
Download the cropped picture in its original format, cut straight from the full-size image rather than from the on-screen preview.
What this tool does
- Drag the crop box or any of its 8 handles
- Aspect presets: Free, 1:1, 4:5, 3:4, 2:3, 9:16, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 1.91:1
- Exact X, Y, width and height inputs in pixels
- Arrow keys move the box; hold Shift for 10 px steps
- Rule-of-thirds grid while you frame
- Crops at the full resolution of the original
- Saves in the original format; HEIC comes out as JPG
The largest crop of a 1600 × 1200 photo at each ratio
For our 1600 × 1200 (4:3) test photo, this is the biggest box each preset allows. The numbers are plain arithmetic: the side that runs out first sets the other.
| Preset | Largest crop | Pixels kept |
|---|---|---|
| 1:1 | 1200 × 1200 | 75% |
| 4:5 | 960 × 1200 | 60% |
| 9:16 | 675 × 1200 | 42% |
| 16:9 | 1600 × 900 | 75% |
| 1.91:1 | about 1600 × 838 | about 70% |
We then measured two crops with the same MozJPEG build at quality 92 (our Node script measure-t1.mjs): the 1200 × 1200 square came to 198 KB and the 1600 × 900 widescreen crop to 200 KB, both from a 399 KB original.
What “full resolution” means here
The picture on your screen is a scaled-down preview, so a box you drag is first translated back into the coordinates of the original file. The tool then cuts that rectangle from the full-size decoded image. A 4000-pixel-wide photo cropped in half gives you 2000 real pixels, not a copy of the preview.
Because the photo is turned upright first, X and Y always count from the top-left corner of the picture as you see it. The crop is encoded once: JPG and WebP at quality 92, using MozJPEG or libwebp compiled to WebAssembly, and PNG losslessly. HEIC input is saved as JPG.
Which ratio to pick
A ratio describes shape only: 1:1 is square, 4:5 a slightly tall portrait, 9:16 as tall as a phone held upright, 16:9 a widescreen frame and 1.91:1 a wide banner. Width comes first, so 3:4 and 4:3 are the same shape turned on its side. A locked ratio keeps the shape fixed as you drag, so you can concentrate on what goes inside.
The rule-of-thirds grid divides the box into nine parts. Placing eyes, a horizon or a product on one of those lines tends to look more deliberate than dead center.
Pixel-exact crops with the keyboard
Dragging is quick, typing is exact. Enter X, Y, width and height to match a spec to the pixel, or move the box with the arrow keys, holding Shift for 10-pixel jumps. Nothing here needs a mouse.
Good to know
- Cropping removes pixels for good in the saved file, so keep the original if you might want a different framing later.
- One image at a time. To bring a batch to one shape quickly, the resizer’s crop to fill option trims every photo from the center.
- A JPG crop is re-encoded once at quality 92, which is very close to the original but not bit-identical.
- If you are hiding something at the edge of a photo, cropping it out is the cleanest option; for things in the middle, use the blur and pixelate tool.
What happens to your files
Processed on your device. Your photos are never uploaded. PixWrench’s code runs on your device. We don’t receive your files, file names or their contents.
The image is opened, framed and cut inside your browser, and the cropped file is built on your device. Neither the picture nor its name is sent to PixWrench. Metadata is handled by the setting you choose, and your preferred ratio is remembered in local storage; the photo is not.
As our privacy policy explains, the page also runs ad and analytics scripts that are separate from the cropping tool.
Related tools and guides
Questions people ask
How do I crop a photo into a square?
Choose the 1:1 preset, drag the box over the part you want, and download. On a 1600 × 1200 photo the biggest square is 1200 × 1200.
Can I crop to an exact pixel size?
Yes. Type the width and height into the inputs, then set X and Y or drag the box into place.
Does cropping reduce quality?
The pixels you keep are untouched; they are saved once more in the same format, at quality 92 for JPG and WebP, losslessly for PNG.
Why is my cropped file smaller than the original?
It contains fewer pixels, and metadata may have been removed. The detail inside the crop is the same.
Can I crop an iPhone HEIC photo?
Yes. The result is saved as a JPG. To convert many HEIC photos without cropping, use the HEIC to JPG converter.
How do I fix a crooked or sideways photo?
Sideways photos are handled by the rotate and flip tool. Cropping doesn’t straighten small tilts.
Sources and review
- MDN: Image file type and format guide
- MDN: image-orientation (EXIF rotation in browsers)
- jSquash: WebAssembly image codecs (GitHub)
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