Digital essentials
Resize or crop? Choose the right edit for your image
A practical way to change image dimensions without stretching the subject or losing the wrong details.
Need a smaller picture or a different shape? Start with the job, not the download button. Resizing changes pixel dimensions; cropping removes part of the frame. Those are different decisions.
Keep the whole picture: resize
For a landscape photo that must stay landscape, keep its original proportions. A 2400 × 1600 image reduced to 1200 × 800 retains its 3:2 shape. Changing it to 1200 × 1200 without cropping would stretch the subject.
Open the Image Resizer (opens in a new tab), choose your image and set the dimensions. The quick-size buttons use 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the original width and height. For the example above, choose 50%. Check the preview before downloading. Keep your original so you can start again if the result is too small.
Change the composition: crop
A square post made from a landscape photo needs a framing decision. Use the Social Image Cropper (opens in a new tab) to choose the shape and keep the important subject inside it. Check faces, labels and text near the edges. For example, crop a 2400 × 1600 photo to a 1600 × 1600 square, then resize that square to 800 × 800 if you need a smaller copy. Cropping decides what remains; resizing decides how many pixels the final image uses.
Choose a suitable file format
JPEG is useful for photographs, but its lossy compression can soften sharp text. PNG uses lossless compression and supports transparency. Neither format restores details already removed from the source. See MDN’s image-format guide.
For further explanation, see Adobe’s guides to image size and resampling and cropping.
Before you share
Open the downloaded file, confirm its dimensions and inspect text at the size people will actually see. ToolKoru’s image tools edit in your browser; they do not publish your picture to a social account.