If you’re looking for tips and tricks on how to crop a picture, you’ve come to the right place. Cropping an image can really emphasize the subject of your photo. A little bit of trimming can create a big visual impact by eliminating the excess background. 

The traditional way of cropping trims your photo in a square or rectangular fashion. Not everyone wants traditional, though! What if you’re looking for something different that would make your photo stand out? Look no further. PicsArt’s unique crop tools allow you to crop your photo using a ton of non-traditional shapes, guaranteed to give your image that extra wow factor. 

Before jumping into nontraditional crop shapes, let’s cover the basics of cropping a photo the traditional way.

1. Open the PicsArt app and tap on the plus sign at the bottom of your screen.
2. Upload the image you’d like to crop. You can also select any image from the library.
3. Click the Tools icon and notice the pop-up grid. Tap on Crop at the very top of the grid.
4. The Crop tool allows you to resize and reorient your image. Simply drag and drop any of the white dashes along the image border to crop out unwanted edges. If you want to retain the shape of your image, but simply trim it down, we suggest cropping using the corners of the image. If you want to crop out the top of your image, use the top right or left corner and drag either down or diagonally to achieve the desired crop. If you want to crop out the bottom of your image, simply drag the bottom left or right corners upwards. If you are looking to trim down the top, bottom, or sides of your image, use the white dashes placed in those areas. This will reshape your image and make it wider or narrower compared to your original image.
5. You can then reorient your image by swiping your finger across the ruler below the image (in either direction). Moving the ruler left or right will change the orientation of your image. You can also place two fingers on your screen and rotate your image manually.
6. Click Apply and either download or hit Post to share your cropped masterpiece!

Circle Crop Photo

You learned how to crop a photo in the traditional way. Now, let’s dive into our first nontraditional crop shape: the circle. The circle crop shape is great for placing emphasis on your face and cutting out the rest of the background noise. Let’s learn how to crop your image in a circle.

1. Open the PicsArt app and tap on the plus sign at the bottom of your screen.
2. Upload the image you’d like to crop (or select any image from the library).
3. Click the Tools icon and notice the pop-up grid. You’ll see multiple editing and crop tools.
4. Select Shape Crop from the top row.
5. Select the circle shape and move the crop region to the desired area. You can click and drag the two-way arrow below to resize and reshape the circle as you please. This will reshape the circle in any way you’d like and still keep its perfectly round edges. For a more long and narrow shape, stretch the circle down vertically. For a wider, more oval shape, drag the arrow horizontally. 
6. Once you achieve the desired shape and size, click on the Next arrow on the top right.
7. The Preview screen shows that your newly cropped image will look like. You can add a border and adjust its thickness and color. If you don’t want a border, slide over the Size scale all the way left.
8. Click Save and voila! Download or click Post to share your circle crop image!

Before clicking the circle crop shape, we know you noticed the impressive collection of crop shapes available on the PicsArt app. If not, scroll through and we promise you will not be disappointed! From clouds and snowflakes to cute little animal shapes, and everything in between, PicsArt’s collection of crop shapes remain unmatched! Give the other crop shapes a go. Simply repeat the circle crop shape instructions above, and select any other shape in your editing process.

Free Crop Tool

The Free Crop tool is a great option if you want to use freehand to remove a piece of your image, such as the background or an object. You can even crop everything out but your main subject. Unlike the other crop tools which provide a specific crop shape, the  Free Crop tool gives you the ability to customize the shape and size of what you are cropping. Bonus option: If you upload a portrait-style image, the app can detect and crop a person, face, hair, head, or background of your image. In some cases, you don’t want to keep the entire image intact and need to crop out certain areas or objects. The Free Crop tool is your go-to in these scenarios, allowing you to totally customize your crop! Take a look at these easy steps to create a customized crop using Free Crop.

1. Open the PicsArt app and tap on the plus sign at the bottom of your screen.
2. Upload the image you’d like to crop (or select any image from the library).
3. Click the Tools icon and you’ll see a grid of editing tools pop up.
4. Select Free Crop from the top row.
5. If you’re looking to crop out your face, hair, head, background, or your entire self, select the appropriate options listed under the Select tool.
6. Select the Brush option if you want to manually select the area you want to crop with a brush. We suggest you adjust the Brush size first by double-tapping the Brush icon. 
7. Made a mistake? No problem. The Erase tool is there to fix those extra lines or areas you may have brushed too far. You can also double-tap the Erase icon to adjust the size of the tool.
8. Similar to the Brush tool, the Lasso tool also allows you to select an entire area (in a lasso or circular shape) to manually crop out. The Lasso tool, however, fills in the area you select, giving you the ability to crop out chunks of your photo.
9. Once you’re done cropping, tap on the Next arrow on the top right. If your Preview looks good, click Save. Now your image is free of unwanted background clutter!

Social Media Precision

Trying to perfectly crop your photo for social media can be time-consuming and frustrating. Who wants to memorize the exact aspect ratio of each platform? Instagram and Facebook alone have a variety of aspect ratios within their platforms. For example, an Instagram story and an Instagram post require different ratios. A Facebook cover photo and a Facebook profile picture also have different aspect ratios. It’s hard to keep up! And you shouldn’t have to.

Luckily, PicsArt takes all the second-guessing out of social media cropping. The app has a variety of preset ratios for each platform and will automatically crop your photo without affecting picture resolution. 

Follow these easy steps to perfectly crop your photos for social media.

1. Open the PicsArt app and tap on the plus sign at the bottom of your screen.
2. Upload the image you’d like to crop (or select any image from the library).
3. Click the Tools icon and select Crop.
4. Select any of the preset ratios depending on which social platform you are posting to. PicsArt provides aspect ratios for Instagram (square, portrait, and story), Facebook (post and cover photo), Pinterest, Twitter (post and header), and Youtube.
5. Tap Apply on the top right.
6. Download or Post to social media!

 Perspective Crop

If you’re looking to put a unique twist to your photo (literally), check out the Perspective crop tool. This feature allows you to look at your picture from a different perspective and crop accordingly. You’re probably accustomed to looking at your images from a straight forward, head-on perspective. While that’s the standard way of taking pictures, the Perspective tool gives you the ability to change the angles and produce a completely different picture! Take a look at this step-by-step to learn how to change the perspective of your photo.

1. Open the PicsArt app and tap on the plus sign at the bottom of your screen.
2. Upload the image you’d like to crop (or select any image from the library).
3. Click the Tools icon and select Perspective. 
4. The first option allows you to change the horizontal perspective of your photo. Move the scale to the right or left to see the angle of your photo tilt in either direction. To change your picture’s perspective vertically, simply click the vertical grid icon to the right and scale back and forth. You’ll see your picture’s angle change to a bird’s eye view or a bottom-up angle.
5. Click Apply and either Download or Post!

Today we covered a ton of user-friendly and unique crop tools available to you. PicsArt’s Template Editor also provides a free online crop tool for all of your desktop cropping needs. Upload easily, crop accurately, and share with the world! 

Make Awesome

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