Crop an image to the part you want

Which shape for which place

Original keeps the shape the picture already has, which is useful when you only want to trim the edges evenly, and 5:4 is in the list too. Any shape lets each side move on its own; hold Shift while you drag to keep the box's current shape.

With a shape chosen, the box keeps it while you drag a corner. Drag inside the box to move it to the part you want, and pull a corner inward to tighten it.

Getting an exact pixel size

While the Crop tool is on, the bar above the picture shows the box's W and H, and you can type them. They are the picture's own pixels, so typing 1080 and 1350 cuts out exactly 1080 × 1350 pixels: perfect when the photo is about that size, but only a small part of a 4000-pixel photo.

To frame more of a large photo at a set size, pick the shape first and the size second:

• A 1080 × 1350 Instagram portrait: crop 4:5 portrait, then choose 1080 under Size when you export.
• A 1920 × 1080 slide or wallpaper: crop 16:9, export at 1920.
• A 1080 × 1920 story: crop 9:16 story, export at 1080.
• A 1280 × 720 video thumbnail: crop 16:9, export at 1280.

Export's list offers widths narrower than your crop, and the W box beside it takes any other. The aspect ratio calculator works out the shape of an unusual size.

A crop you can take back

In Octoolo a crop changes the canvas, not the photo: every pixel outside the box is kept in its layer. If you cropped too tight, Ctrl Z steps back, the History panel beside Layers jumps to any earlier step, and Image › Canvas size… with a larger size brings the cut-away edges back into view.

Text, logos and shapes on their own layers stay where they are on the picture, and the crop is applied to the full-size photo, never to the smaller view on screen. The exported copy has exactly the width and height shown in the bar under the picture.

Two more ways to crop sit in the Image menu: Crop to selection cuts the picture to whatever you have selected, and Trim transparent edges removes empty, see-through borders, handy after cutting out a subject.

Cropping well

A few habits make a crop look deliberate rather than accidental:

• Use the thirds. Put the eyes, the horizon or the main subject on one of the grid lines rather than dead center.
• Leave room in front. A person looking or walking to the right needs space on the right.
• Cut between joints. Crop across a thigh or an upper arm, not at a knee, wrist or ankle.
• Clean the edges. A stray elbow, half a sign or a bright spot at the border pulls the eye away; trim it off.
• Straighten in the same step. Drag outside the box, or type the Angle, to level a tilted horizon; see rotate an image.
• Watch the pixels. A tight crop of a small part of a photo leaves few of them, which shows when the picture is printed or viewed large.