How to Crop a Photo on Mac

How to Crop an Image on Mac Using Preview

Another way to crop an image on Mac is to use the Preview app. What’s great about this option is that you can edit an image even if it’s in the Downloads folder or any other folder, for that matter; in other words, it can be anywhere, not just in the Photos library. However, you need to be aware of the fact that cropping in Preview is slightly different from the previous option.

You have to select and adjust the cropping area manually. There are no fixed aspect ratios and no straightening tools. You simply select a part of an image that you want to keep with the cursor and get rid of everything else.

The quickness and simplicity of this option is probably its main advantage. For example, if you need to crop a screenshot on Mac, it’s better to do this in Preview. But if there’s a specific aspect ratio that you need to crop your image to, or if you want to fix a compositional mistake, you will need a basic set of editing tools which the Preview app doesn’t provide. Therefore, this option won’t be good for you.

Let’s see how to crop a photo on Mac in Preview:

1. In the Preview app double-click the image you want to crop on Mac.
2. Select the Show Markup Toolbar button.
3. Next click the Rectangular Selection button. If you want to crop an image into a circle, click on the small arrow next to the icon of the rectangle. It will open a small drop-down menu. In this menu, you will need to choose the Elliptical Selection.
4. Select the area of the image that you want to keep. Everything outside the selection will be cropped out. If you want to get a perfect square or a perfect circle, hold the Shift key while making your selection. Also, please note that it’s possible to adjust your selection after you make it.
5. Once you are done, click the Crop button. You can also press Command + K.

You can save your edited image by going to File > Save or simply close the Preview. Your edited file will be saved automatically.

If you don’t like the cropped version and you want to undo the changes immediately, before exiting the app, go to Edit > Undo Crop. However, if you decide to undo the changes later, you will need to find the original. In the Preview, go to File > Revert To > Browse All Versions. Then you will need to search for the original.

As you can see, with this tool, you can crop an image on Mac quickly and easily. However, there isn’t much room for experimentation, and you won’t be able to crop with a fixed aspect ratio. In the Preview app you can also reduce image size, change its dimensions, flip and rotate.

Crop an Image on Mac: Watermarkly vs Built-In Options

As you can see, each of the three options doesn’t require much time or effort and involves only a few simple steps. You won’t need to pay or install anything to crop an image on Mac. You can use either of these options even if you are a complete beginner.

So, which one should you choose?

Well, your choice will depend on whether cropping an image on Mac is a one-time task or something you will need to do on a regular basis. Plus, what if you’ll need to crop a large number of photos? This might be somewhat challenging to do in the built-in apps because they don’t support batch-processing and you will have no other choice but to crop each image separately.

If you need to crop a single image on Mac every now and then, the Photos or the Preview will probably be more than enough for you. But if you need batch-processing and an extensive toolkit, then Watermarkly will be a better choice.

Here are the main advantages of Watermarkly over the built-in apps:

You don't have to worry about the original images

If you want to crop a photo on Mac using either of the built-in apps, it’s better to make a copy of your image first, then crop it. As it has already been mentioned, the editing in Photos app is non-destructive. Therefore, you’ll be able to revert back to the original if necessary. That said, if you revert back to the original, all your cropping will be undone; thus, you will need to create a copy of your image anyway, if you want to have both the cropped version and the original.

This isn’t the case for the Preview app. You will need to have the original image to revert back to it.

This is where Watermarkly stands out. This app never changes the originals – it automatically creates copies and crops them. You won’t have to do this manually, and the original files will always be at hand. What’s more, you can duplicate your image while it’s in the app and set the cropping area differently on the duplicated version. As a result, you will crop a single image on Mac in two different ways at the same time, which will allow you to experiment with cropping.

A great choice of cropping presets

Unlike the Preview app and similarly to the Photos app, Watermarkly offers some cropping presets. For instance, you can select one of the common aspect ratios. Moreover, you can enter not only your own aspect ratio but pixel dimensions, too.

What is unique about Watermarkly compared to the built-in apps is that it offers ready-made presets for social networks like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and more. If you select any of these presets, your cropped image will meet the requirements for both aspect ratio and pixel dimensions. If you tend to crop your images on Mac for social media, this will dramatically speed up your workflow.

Different shapes

Watermarkly allows you to select the shape of your cropping area with a single click. Depending on how you adjust it, you can get a rectangle, a square, an oval or a circle. In the Preview app, you can utilize the Elliptical selection tool, but it’s not very convenient. If you don’t want to spend much time or effort on prepping your images to post them on social media or use them as advertising materials, you can crop images into a circle easily and efficiently with Watermarkly.

Batch cropping

This might be the main advantage that Watermarkly has over the built-in apps. If you are wondering how to crop photos on Mac in one go, Watermarkly’s photo cropper is the tool that you need. Its free version allows you to process up to 10 images per day. There is no need to crop your photos one by one. Just upload all the images you want to crop into the app and get to work. Watermarkly supports the majority of popular image formats – you can crop JPG, crop PNG, and even crop GIF files. It’s possible to set the cropping area in one and the same way for the whole batch. Alternatively, you can set the cropping area on each image differently. If you don’t like the limit of 10 images per day, consider purchasing a license and getting access to the full version of Watermarkly. You can check the pricing here.

Previously used crop presets

If you need to crop photo on Mac in a similar way and on a regular basis, this feature will make your workflow much faster and easier. The app remembers the last 10 presets that you used to crop images; even if you entered your custom aspect ratio or pixel dimensions. What’s more, if you purchased a license, your crop settings will be synchronized between all your devices. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a Mac, iPhone, iPad or even Android.

Summary

If you do any work online, it’s highly likely that you will need to crop an image at least once or twice in your life. Maybe you will need to crop a screenshot to get rid of unnecessary information. Maybe you will want to share an image on Instagram which will require you to change the aspect ratio and pixel dimensions of your photo.

Either way, cropping an image on a Mac is not as complicated as you might think. Even if you’ve never cropped a photo before, you will definitely be able to do this easily. It might be a good idea to try each app that was mentioned in this article to figure out which one is the best for you.