Not just for photographers, photo cropping is an indispensable tool for anyone who creates content: small business owners posting on social media, professional creatives sharing their work through print, and DIY creators making personal mementos for friends and family.
There’s an art and science to great photo cropping. Fortunately, it’s not hard to master!
Follow the guidelines below to learn how to crop images online, from basic cropping essentials to more advanced techniques involving shapes and text.
4 Quick Tips for Finding the Right Crop
No matter the subject of your photo, these tips will help you get a professional-looking crop.
1. Use the Rule of Thirds
The “rule of thirds” is a quick and easy way to create better photo compositions. One reason for its ubiquity is that it’s super-simple to follow!
Divide your image area into thirds, both vertically and horizontally, so that you end up with nine sections of a grid (if you’ve ever edited a photo on Instagram, you’ll know exactly what we mean!). Then, place your photo’s subject anywhere the lines intersect.
By relying on the rule of thirds, you’ll avoid the all-too-common beginner mistake of always centering your subject.
2. Guide the Eye
Another rule of thumb for effective photo cropping is to always think about where you’re guiding the viewer’s eye.
When we look at images, we’re naturally drawn first to the primary subject—but then where do our eyes go? Well, the answer depends on where you’ve led them!
A good photo composition will subtly lead the viewer’s eye in a particular direction, taking the viewer on a dynamic and active journey, even through a completely still shot.
The photo above is a nice example of guiding the eye. Thanks to its composition, you start by looking at the woman, especially her sunglass-shaded eyes. Then, you’re naturally drawn in the direction she’s gazing, which is further reinforced by the geometric lines of the train and railway.
3. Don’t Forget the Words
One consideration to make when cropping photos that are being used (rather than displayed in a photo gallery) is whether or not you’ll need to leave space for copy.
For instance, images for social media will often have text overlaid on the photo, which can affect how tightly you should or shouldn’t crop the image itself.
If you’re planning to add text (like a headline, call-to-action, or contact information), then good practice is to first choose an image with natural white space and then add the text before cropping the final design.
4. Think About Aspect Ratios
Posting your photo on social media? Don’t forget about aspect ratios! The term “aspect ratio” is just another way of saying “dimensions.” It’s a measure of width by height and is often expressed with a colon, as in the most common TV aspect ratio of 16:9.
The reason why aspect ratios matter for photo cropping is that every social media platform has its own rules and recommendations for image sizes. The image crop that works best for Facebook probably won’t work as well for LinkedIn.
For more detail, check out this complete guide to social media image sizes. At the very end of this article, we’re also sharing tips on Create’s smart resize feature—which takes the guesswork out of social media dimensions by automatically resizing any design.
How to Crop Images in Shutterstock Create
It’s quick and easy to crop a picture in Create! Here’s how.
1. Start a Project
Start a new project in any way you prefer:
- By choosing a pro-designed template
- By opening a blank canvas from the Create homepage
- By finding an asset through the Shutterstock library and clicking Edit in Create
2. Add a Photo
If you started with a template or blank canvas, then upload your own photo by clicking Images > Upload. You can also choose from Shutterstock’s millions of professional assets instead.
3. Crop It
There are two different ways to crop a photo in Create.
The first way is crop the photo itself:
- Click on the photo from your canvas.
- From the top menu, click Crop layer.
- Drag the image handles to get the perfect crop.
- Click Apply.
This method will only crop the selected image without impacting any other elements on the canvas, such as text, graphics, or background.
The second way is to crop the entire canvas:
- Click Canvas from the left menu.
- Click Crop canvas.
- Drag the image handles to crop freeform, or enter your desired dimensions for width and height.
- Click Apply.
This method will crop everything on your canvas, including any text or images. However, one benefit is that you can set specific dimensions and also see a grid to help you follow the rule of thirds.
4. Make Other Edits (Optional)
Once you’ve finished cropping your image, you can export it right away if the crop was all you needed, or you can use Create’s tools to make other edits!
Whether you’re creating social media content or print marketing materials, some of the most popular image editing options include:
- Adding text
- Applying one-click photo filters and effects
- Removing the background of images
- Layering graphics, hand brushing, or other creative details
- Adding a frame
Whether you make additional edits or not, you can download your design at any time by clicking Download from the top menu.
How to Crop Pictures into a Shape
Basic photo cropping is an essential step for all kinds of content—but how about something a little more advanced, like cropping images into a shape?
In design software like Photoshop or Illustrator, this technique is typically called “masking” and requires a decent understanding of layers and masks. In Create, the steps are much simpler.
Here’s how to crop an image in a circle, as shown in the template above:
- Click Shapes from the left menu.
- Drag a circle from the submenu onto your canvas.
- Select the circle on your canvas and then click Fill with image from the top menu.
- Choose where you want to fill from: An image on your device (Computer) or an image from Shutterstock’s library (Stock Photos).
- Select your preferred image and click Add fill.
Once the image has been cropped into the circle, you can resize it, reposition it, or adjust its saturation by selecting the circle on your canvas and then clicking Edit image fill from the top menu.
How to Crop Pictures into Text
Another even fancier cropping option that’s super easy in Create? Cropping your images into text! The steps are very similar to those above:
- Click Text from the left menu.
- Type in your text and choose your font. (It’s best to use a bold, heavy, large font so that the image will shine through the letters.)
- Select the text on your canvas and then click Fill with image from the top menu.
- Choose where you want to fill from: An image on your device (Computer) or an image from Shutterstock’s library (Stock Photos).
- Select your image and click Add fill.
3 Alternatives to Photo Cropping in Create
If you’re looking to crop pictures not due to their inherent framing or composition but rather due to the size constraints of your design, then you may find it helpful to consider these alternatives to photo cropping.
1. Scaling
You can easily scale an image (sizing it up or down while maintaining its aspect ratio) by clicking the image on your canvas and dragging the corner handles inward or outward.
2. Skewing
To scale an image free-form without maintaining its aspect ratio, click the image and hold Shift while dragging the corner handles.
Keep in mind that skewing images can look amateurish, so there are few instances in which you’d want to do this. Maybe for some kind of scary funhouse Halloween design or a nonsensical Gen Z meme—but probably not your typical marketing materials.
3. Smart Resizing
Create’s Smart resize tool is the perfect solution when you need to create multiple formats, but don’t want to take the time to manually adjust each one.
Once you’ve cropped your photo and created the one design you love, just click Smart resize from the left menu. Then select all of the formats you’d like: Facebook carousel ads, LinkedIn covers, Instagram posts, and many more.
Create will then automatically resize your design to fit the required dimensions with no additional cropping work from you!
Photo Cropping Made Easy
Whether you’re going for a basic photo crop to improve composition or looking for dozens of correctly-sized assets for every social media channel, Shutterstock’s Creative Flow has simple tools to streamline the process—while making sure every design is on-point.
Start by uploading your own photos to Create or by choosing a pro-designed template.
You got this!
License this cover image via oneinchpunch.
