The crop preview looks small and less sharp. Will my downloaded image look like that?
No. The preview is scaled down to fit the page, and so is the full image you move the box on. The file you download is drawn from the original image's pixels at the size shown in the 'Output:' line, such as 3000 × 3000. To judge sharpness, open the downloaded file itself and zoom in.
Three copies of your photo on screen
When you open a large photo in the Image cropper, the tool works with it at three different sizes, each with its own job:
- The workspace: the full photo you drag the box across. If its longest side is over 1400 pixels, a smaller copy is drawn for display, and the browser shrinks it further to fit your screen.
- The preview: the picture of the cropped area in the preview panel, with a longest side of at most 520 pixels.
- The download: drawn when you press 'Download cropped image', from the original photo at full resolution, with no scaling.
A 4000 × 3000 photo at 1:1: the 'Output:' line shows 3000 × 3000.
The workspace is shown from a 1400 × 1050 copy, and the preview is drawn at 520 × 520.
The downloaded file is exactly 3000 × 3000, and its name carries the size, such as ring-crop-3000x3000.jpg.
In that example the preview shows less than a fifth of the real file's width. It is normal for fine lines to look softer there, because several real pixels are merged into each pixel on screen.
How to check for yourself
- Look at the 'Output:' line under the preview before you download. That is the size the file will have.
- Press 'Download cropped image'. A 'Download started' line appears with the file name and size.
- Open the file from your downloads folder in an image viewer and zoom to 100%.
- Compare a small area with the same area of the original, also zoomed in. They should look nearly identical.
When the softness is real
If the downloaded file looks unclear at full size, the preview is not the cause. Check these possibilities:
- The original itself is not sharp, or it reached you compressed through a chat app. Cropping cannot improve what the camera did not capture.
- The area you cropped was small to begin with, so the file has small dimensions and looks soft when shown large.
- You saved as JPEG or WebP, which are written at quality 92, a slight loss. Choose PNG to keep the pixels with no loss at all.
Why the tool does not preview at full size
Redrawing a photo of millions of pixels on every movement of the box weighs the browser down, especially on a phone, and dragging becomes jerky. The small preview updates instantly as you drag, and full resolution is used once, at download.
Common questions
Are pixels thrown away when the preview is scaled?
No. Scaling is for display only; the download is drawn from the original photo.
How do I place the box precisely if the preview is small?
Type values in the X, Y, width and height fields, which are in the original photo's pixels, or nudge the box 1 px at a time with the arrow keys.
Do the size limits matter here?
The tested limits are 40 MB and 50 megapixels per photo. Within them, the crop downloads at full resolution.