SizeSpec

How to crop a photo on iPhone

Updated · 3 min read

Short answer

Open the photo in Photos, tap Edit, tap the crop icon, drag the corners of the frame, then tap Done. The original is kept, so you can go back any time with Edit > Revert.

Want to see the actual Photos controls? Open Apple's illustrated iPhone cropping guide. It shows the crop screen and the Edit, Crop and aspect-ratio icons. Select your iOS version on Apple's page to match your phone.

Crop a photo in five taps

  1. 01Open the Photos app and tap the picture you want to crop.
  2. 02Tap the Edit button. Its position and icon can vary with your iOS version.
  3. 03Tap the crop icon, the square with two arrows around it, in the row of tools.
  4. 04Drag the corners or edges of the frame. Pinch to zoom the picture inside the frame.
  5. 05Tap Done to save the crop.

Menus change a little between iOS versions. If a button sits somewhere else on your phone, look for the same icons.

Crop to a set shape: square, 3:2, 16:9

In the crop screen, tap the aspect ratio button (a rectangle with arrows) to pick a fixed shape. The list includes Freeform, Original, Square and common ratios such as 3:4, 3:2 and 16:9. After you pick one, you can switch the frame between portrait and landscape.

For a square, see how to crop a photo to a square. It also shows how much of the picture a square crop removes.

Crop without making the photo smaller

A crop always cuts away the edges, so the result has fewer pixels than the original. That is what cropping means. If you meant something else, there are two common cases:

  • You want to keep everything and still get a square. Cropping cannot do that. You need to add borders around the picture instead. The Photos app has no tool for that.
  • You want the same pixel size afterwards. That is resizing, not cropping. See crop vs resize.

Undo or change a crop later

Edits in Photos do not touch the original file. Open the photo, tap Edit, then Revert and Revert to Original. To adjust a crop instead of removing it, open Edit, tap the crop icon again and drag the frame back out. More options are in how to undo a crop.

Crop several photos

The Photos app crops one picture at a time. For many photos at the same size, see how to crop multiple photos at once.

Frequently asked questions

How do I rotate a photo while cropping on iPhone?
In the crop screen, drag the dial below the photo to rotate by a few degrees, or tap the rotate icon in the top-left corner to turn the photo 90° at a time before you drag the frame.
Can I crop to an exact pixel size in the Photos app?
No. The Photos app has no field for pixel sizes. Use an editor that lets you type a width and height. The method is in how to crop a photo to a specific size.
How do I crop a screenshot on iPhone?
Open the screenshot in Photos and use the same steps: Edit, the crop icon, drag, Done.

Sources

Rules change. Check the source before relying on a figure.

Selling online? Do a whole batch at once

SizeSpec crops and resizes a batch of product photos to the size each marketplace asks for and gives you one ZIP. It crops from the centre or pads the image on white, and it works in your browser, so your files are never uploaded. It does not offer free-hand cropping of a single picture.

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