When to use them in a photo

If you’ve ever taken a photo and thought it could use a little tweaking, you’re probably familiar with cropping and resizing. These two techniques are essential for editing the look and feel of your images, whether you’re sharing them online or printing them. Although they may seem similar, cropping and resizing play different roles in shaping a photo.

Crop vs. Resizing: What’s the Difference?

Cropping and resizing are two ways to edit an image, but they work differently. Cropping is about achieving the perfect composition. When you crop a photo, you cut out parts of it to zoom in on a certain area or remove distracting elements from the background. It’s like cropping the edges of a picture to focus more on what matters to you.

This is great for shifting focus to the main subject, but it also reduces the overall pixel count. So cropping too much can affect the quality of the image, especially if you plan to print it.

Resizing, on the other hand, changes the dimensions of the entire image, either shrinking it to fit specific display requirements or enlarging it if needed (although enlarging may reduce quality). Unlike cropping, resizing keeps the entire image intact, but changes the number of pixels, which affects storage size and how it displays on different screens.

Resizing is ideal when you want your photo to fit a specific size without losing the original composition.

When should you crop an image?

Cropping is perfect when you want to change the focus or composition of your shot. Let’s say you’ve taken a photo that captures more than you intended—perhaps there’s more space around your subject, or some clutter in the background that distracts from what’s important.

Cropping is also useful for adjusting the aspect ratio of a photo. If you want to change a rectangular image to a square for Instagram or need a specific aspect ratio for printing, Quick Crop can meet these requirements.

You can use the built-in photo editor to crop a photo on your smartphone. On most iPhones and Android devices, simply open an image and tap Edit and then look for the crop tool (usually represented by a square). You can drag the edges of the frame to focus on the part you want to keep, or choose from preset aspect ratios if you need specific dimensions.

When to resize an image

Resizing is ideal when you need to change the physical dimensions of a photo without changing its content. For example, if you’re uploading an image to a website that requires a certain size, resizing allows you to adjust the photo to fit those dimensions without cropping any details.

One common reason for resizing photos is to prepare them for sharing. High-resolution images look fantastic, but they can take up a lot of space and use additional data when sent via text or email. Resizing allows you to keep the entire image while reducing its file size, making it easier to share.

The iPhone’s built-in editor lacks a dedicated resizing tool. An easy solution is to send the photo to yourself using the Mail app. When uploading an image, it prompts you to resize it. Select your preferred file size from the drop-down menu and send the email. Open the email and download the resized image.

On the Samsung Galaxy, the process is more straightforward. Open a photo in the Gallery app and tap Edit icon and then tap More options (three vertical dots). Choose Change sizechoose a percentage and tap on Done.

Knowing when to crop and when to resize can make a big difference in how your photos look and feel. Cropping is great for refining a composition, removing distractions, or adjusting the aspect ratio of an image. It’s a simple but effective way to highlight what’s most important in a photo.

Resizing keeps the entire image intact but changes its dimensions, making it ideal for situations where you need to accommodate a specific size requirement or reduce file size for easier sharing.