I want a 2000 px square, but the cropper rejects the number or sets it back to 1000. Why can't I crop a square bigger than my photo?

What the cropper does with a number that is too big

Take a supplier photo measuring 1500 × 1000 pixels, and say you want a 2000 px square. In the Image cropper one of two things happens, depending on what you type:

• Type a width larger than the photo, such as 2000, in 'Width (px)' and the field shows 'The value must be at most 1500.' The download button stays disabled until you fix it.
• Type 1500 with the 1:1 ratio selected and the field accepts it, but a square needs a height equal to its width and the photo is only 1000 tall, so the box shrinks to 1000 × 1000 and the field returns to 1000.

This is not a bug. Every value is measured in the original image's pixels, and the tool cannot cut out an area that does not exist.

The shorter side sets the ceiling

With any fixed ratio, the largest box is limited by whichever side runs out first. On a landscape photo the height runs out; on a portrait photo the width does. To know in advance how big a square you can get, look at the line shown above the image once it loads: it lists the file name, its dimensions and its size. The smaller of the two dimensions is the biggest side your square can have.

With the 'Free' ratio the ceiling is simply the photo itself. You can type a width of 1500 and get 1500 × 800 if the box is currently 800 tall, but you will never go past 1500 × 1000.

When a platform wants a larger file

Some platforms and themes ask for a minimum size. Check your platform's current guidance, then work in this order:

1. Crop to the ratio you need in the cropper and move the box so the product sits where you want it.
2. Download the result, for example 1000 × 1000.
3. Open the Image resizer and type the larger size, such as 2000 × 2000. It will warn you that you are enlarging.
4. Open the new file zoomed in and decide whether the softness is acceptable for your store.

An honest word on enlarging

Taking a 1000 × 1000 square to 2000 × 2000 doubles each side. The new pixels are calculated from their neighbors, so no detail appears that the camera did not capture, and edges look softer. That can be fine for an image shown small, but it shows on product photos that shoppers zoom into to check the material.

The better fix is always a bigger starting image: ask the supplier for the original file instead of the copy sent over WhatsApp, or shoot the product yourself at your phone's full resolution, then crop from that.