How to Crop in Photoshop (and Straighten a Crooked Photo)

Cropping is the first edit most people make in Photoshop, and the one that makes the biggest difference. It removes distractions, fixes the framing and gets a picture ready for a specific space. Here's how to crop, how to rotate and straighten while you do it, and the difference between cropping and resizing that trips up beginners.

Crop a photo in Photoshop

1. Open your photo.
2. Select the Crop tool from the toolbar. Adjustable crop borders appear around the image.
3. Drag a corner or edge handle to resize the crop area, or drag across the image to draw a new crop box around the part you want.
4. Press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS), or select Done.

Adobe adds a handy tip for adjusting as you go. Hover outside a corner of the crop box until a curved arrow appears, then drag to rotate. To move the box without resizing it, drag from inside it.

Straighten a tilted photo

A crooked horizon spoils an otherwise good photo, and Photoshop handles it inside the Crop tool.

1. Select the Crop tool in the Tools panel.
2. Choose the Straighten tool in the Options bar.
3. Drag a line along something that should be level or upright, such as a horizon, a shelf or a door frame.
4. Adjust the crop boundary with the handles if you need to.
5. Select Done in the Contextual Task Bar, or press Enter or Return.

Choose a long, clear line. The longer the line you draw, the more accurate the correction, because a short line gives the tool less to work with.

Crop is not the same as resize

Tool	What it does	Use it to...
Crop	Cuts away part of the picture	Change the framing or shape
Image Size	Changes the dimensions of the whole picture	Make a picture smaller or larger for web or print

The two are often confused. If your picture is the right shape but too big, you want Image, then Image Size. Enter new Width and Height values, and use the Constrain aspect ratio icon so the picture doesn't get stretched. Adobe's guidance on resolution is simple: screen and web images typically use 72 to 96 PPI, while print needs 300 PPI for the best quality. My separate guide to using Photoshop Generative Fill is a good next step when your crop leaves gaps to fill.

Crop to the right shape for where it's going

• Profile photos usually need a square crop, with your face in the middle.
• Social posts and thumbnails have preferred shapes, so check the space before you crop.
• Print is fussier. Keep enough picture around the subject so nothing important is trimmed at the edge.
• Web banners are wide and short, so leave empty space for text if you plan to add any.

Common cropping mistakes

• Cutting off hands, feet or heads at the joints. Crop through the body in the middle of a limb and a picture looks awkward.
• Cropping too tight. You can always cut more later, but you can't add picture back.
• Cropping the original file. Save a copy and crop that, so you can start again.
• Forgetting to commit. Until you press Enter, Return or Done, the crop hasn't been applied.

Keep the composition simple

A good crop usually makes the subject bigger and the background quieter. Place the subject slightly off-centre, leave a little space in the direction they're looking and trim anything that pulls the eye away. If you design marketing images, my notes on key graphic design terms explain words like balance and negative space.

Crop for the right file size

A crop reduces the number of pixels, because you're throwing away part of the picture. If you crop a small area from a big photo, you may end up with an image that looks fine on screen but is too small for print. Check the result in Image Size before you export. Adobe's guidance is that print images need 300 PPI for best quality, so a heavy crop may mean you need a larger original.

A quick crop routine

1. Duplicate the original and work on the copy.
2. Straighten first, if the horizon is crooked, because rotating changes the edges.
3. Crop to the shape you need for the destination.
4. Check the size, then export in the format you need.

Cropping a photo you plan to use in more than one place

If the same photo will appear as a square, a wide banner and a tall story, don't crop once and hope. Keep the uncropped original and make a separate crop for each destination, saving each under its own name. That's the habit that stops a tall crop being stretched into a banner. It also means that if you rebrand or a layout changes, you can go back to the full picture and recrop it in a minute, without hunting for the file.

My verdict

Use the Crop tool for framing, the Straighten tool for crooked horizons and Image Size for changing dimensions. Always work on a copy, confirm with Enter or Return, and crop for the destination before you start.

Frequently asked questions

How do I crop in Photoshop?

Select the Crop tool, drag the handles around the area you want to keep and press Enter or Return, or select Done.

How do I straighten a photo in Photoshop?

Select the Crop tool, then the Straighten tool in the Options bar, and drag a line along an edge or horizon that should be level.

How do I rotate the crop box?

Hover outside a corner until a curved arrow appears, then drag.

What's the difference between crop and resize?

Crop cuts away part of the picture. Image Size changes the dimensions of the whole picture.

What resolution should I use?

Adobe says screen and web images typically use 72 to 96 PPI, while print images need 300 PPI for best quality.