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Cut Photos to Square, Portrait or Widescreen

Cropping trims the edges of a photo to change its shape and focus. Instagram feeds favour 4:5 and 1:1, YouTube thumbnails and slides use 16:9, stories and reels use 9:16, and prints often need 3:2 or 4:3. PDFWix Crop Image cuts JPG, PNG and WebP photos to the exact ratio you choose, keeps the largest possible area, and lets you anchor the crop to the centre, top, bottom, left or right — with a live preview before you download.

Cut Photos to Square, Portrait or Widescreen

Cropping trims the edges of a photo to change its shape and focus. Instagram feeds favour 4:5 and 1:1, YouTube thumbnails and slides use 16:9, stories and reels use 9:16, and prints often need 3:2 or 4:3. PDFWix Crop Image cuts JPG, PNG and WebP photos to the exact ratio you choose, keeps the largest possible area, and lets you anchor the crop to the centre, top, bottom, left or right — with a live preview before you download.

Why crop photos with PDFWix

• Exact ratios, zero maths: Pick a ratio and PDFWix calculates the largest crop that fits.
• Live preview: See the kept area highlighted before you download.
• Batch cropping: Crop a whole set of product photos to the same shape in one pass.
• Full resolution: Cropped pixels are copied as-is — no quality loss from resampling.
• Private and free: Photos never leave your device and there is no watermark.

When to crop an image

• Making square profile pictures and marketplace listing photos
• Cropping portrait photos to 4:5 so they fill the Instagram feed
• Turning landscape shots into 9:16 story backgrounds
• Creating 16:9 thumbnails and slide images
• Standardising product photos to one shape for a shop catalogue
• Trimming scanned receipts before merging them with [JPG to PDF](https://www.pdfwix.com/jpg-to-pdf)

How to Crop a Picture to Any Aspect Ratio

1. Add photos — Drop one or several images. The first one is shown in the preview.
2. Choose an aspect ratio — Pick 1:1, 4:5, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 or 9:16.
3. Choose what to keep — Anchor the crop to the centre, top, bottom, left or right. The highlighted box shows exactly what stays.
4. Crop and download — Click Crop images. Every photo in the batch is cropped the same way at full resolution.

Tips for cropping photos

• Anchor to the subject — Portraits usually look best anchored to the top so heads are not cut off.
• Crop, then resize — Cropping sets the shape; [Resize Image](/resize-image) sets the pixel size.
• Straighten first — Rotate sideways phone photos with [Rotate Image](/rotate-image) before cropping.
• Keep the uncropped original — Cropping removes pixels permanently from the copy you download.

Common crop sizes by platform

Recommended ratio for popular destinations.

Related tools

• Resize Image
• Rotate Image
• Watermark Image
• Compress Image
• Remove EXIF Data
• Circle Crop Image
• Round Image Corners
• Split Image
• Flip & Mirror Image

Quick answer

To crop an image free: open PDFWix Crop Image, add your photo, choose a ratio such as 1:1 or 16:9, pick which part to keep (centre, top, bottom, left or right) while watching the preview, then click Crop images to download.

How PDFWix Crop Image works

PDFWix Crop Image computes the largest rectangle of the chosen aspect ratio that fits inside the original photo, positions it by the selected anchor (centre, top, bottom, left or right) and copies only that region onto a new canvas at full original resolution — no resampling, so cropped pixels are identical to the source. Processing happens in the browser; images are not uploaded.

Aspect ratios and where each one is used

An aspect ratio is the relationship between width and height. 1:1 is square — profile pictures, marketplace listings and classic Instagram posts. 4:5 is the tallest portrait Instagram shows in the feed and takes up the most screen space. 4:3 is the native shape of most phone cameras and tablets. 3:2 matches DSLR sensors and standard 6×4 inch prints. 16:9 is widescreen — YouTube thumbnails, presentations, desktop wallpapers. 9:16 is full-screen vertical for stories, reels and TikTok. Cropping to a ratio before resizing is the only way to reach exact dimensions without stretching. Crop to 1:1 here, then resize to 1080×1080 with Resize Image for a pixel-perfect Instagram post.

At a glance

Ratios: 1:1 · 4:5 · 4:3 · 3:2 · 16:9 · 9:16 · Resolution: Full original pixels · Processing: 100% in your browser

The bottom line

Next steps: size the crop exactly with Resize Image, brand it with Watermark Image, or crop a document instead with Crop PDF.

Frequently asked questions

How do I crop an image to a square?

Choose the 1:1 ratio, anchor the crop to the part you want to keep, and click Crop images.

Does cropping reduce image quality?

No. PDFWix copies the kept pixels at their original resolution without resampling.

Can I crop several photos at once?

Yes. Every image in the batch is cropped to the same ratio and anchor.

What ratio is best for Instagram?

4:5 for portrait feed posts, 1:1 for square posts and 9:16 for stories and reels.

Are my photos uploaded?

No. Cropping happens entirely in your browser.

Is the image cropper free?

Yes, free with no watermark.