Circle Crop Image
Crop a photo into a perfect circle for profile pictures.
By Syed Mubashir Ali · Last updated
Getting a good round profile picture
Most sites store a square photo and show it in a circle: WhatsApp, LinkedIn, X, Slack, Zoom and Google accounts all do. If you upload a rectangle, the site picks the crop for you, and the corners of a square photo are cut off. Cropping it yourself means you decide exactly what's inside the circle, and a transparent PNG also looks right on sites that show it as a square or on a coloured background.
Drag the photo so your face sits slightly above the centre, with a little space above your head, and zoom until it fills most of the circle. 512 px suits most profile uploads, and 1024 px keeps it sharp on high-resolution screens; sites scale it down anyway. A thin border in a brand colour helps a logo or avatar stand out against busy backgrounds. The photo is cropped in your browser and never uploaded.
What size do the big platforms want?
You don't need to match these exactly (every platform scales your upload) but starting near the recommended size keeps things sharp.
| Platform | Recommended | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 640 × 640 px | Shown small; faces should fill the frame | |
| 400 × 400 px minimum | 400 px is the floor, larger is fine | |
| X / Twitter | 400 × 400 px | Displayed at 200 px, retina needs 400 |
| Slack | 512 × 512 px | Also used at tiny sizes in threads |
| Zoom | Square, 256 px+ | Shown in a circle in meetings |
| Google account | 512 × 512 px | Used across Gmail, Meet and Drive |
How to Use Circle Crop
- 1Upload your photo, or several: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or BMP. For an iPhone HEIC photo, convert it with HEIC to JPG first.
- 2Choose a shape: circle, heart, star or rounded square. Drag the photo inside it to frame the face or subject, and zoom with the slider until it fills the frame nicely. Arrow keys nudge the position one step at a time for fine control. With several photos, click a file name to frame that one: each keeps its own zoom and position.
- 3Pick an output size: 128, 256, 512 or 1024 px presets, or type any size you need. The result is always square with the circle filling it.
- 4Turn the photo with the Rotate slider (or the [ and ] keys) to straighten it. Add an optional border: choose its thickness and colour. It follows the shape's edge, just inside it, so it never gets clipped.
- 5Choose PNG or WebP (both keep the transparent corners) and download, or download a set as a ZIP. Outside the circle there's nothing to show, so transparency is automatic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I choose which part of the photo goes in the circle?
Yes. Drag the photo to position it and zoom in to fill the circle with a face or logo; it doesn't have to be in the centre. Arrow keys nudge it precisely.
Why is the background transparent?
Outside the circle there's nothing to show, so it's transparent. That needs PNG or WebP, which are the two formats offered: JPG can't do transparency. WebP files are smaller; PNG opens in every app.
Can I crop to a heart or a star instead?
Yes. Pick Heart, Star or Rounded square instead of Circle. Everything outside the shape is transparent, the border follows its outline, and the file name says which shape it is (photo-heart-512.png).
Can I rotate the photo inside the shape?
Yes. The Rotate slider turns the photo from −180° to 180° around the middle of the shape, for a tilted horizon or a sideways phone photo; [ and ] nudge it a degree at a time. 'Straighten' puts it back.
Can I crop several photos into circles at once?
Yes. Drop in as many as you like and frame each one separately: every photo keeps its own zoom and position. The size, border and format apply to all of them, and they download together as a ZIP.
Can I add a border?
Yes. Choose its thickness and colour. It's drawn just inside the circle edge, so the full border stays visible.
What size should a profile picture be?
512 × 512 px suits most profile uploads and 1024 px is plenty for high-resolution screens. Choose a preset or type any size; the result is always square with the circle filling it.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The cropping happens in your browser and the PNG is created on your device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
My photo is a rectangle: will faces get cut off?
Only if you let the site do it. Uploading a wide photo to WhatsApp or LinkedIn lets their uploader pick the crop, usually the centre. Cropping it here first means you decide exactly what lands inside the circle.
Can I use this for a logo, not a face?
Yes. It works for any square-ish artwork: drag and zoom until the logo fills the circle, add a border in a brand colour if you like, and download. The transparent background sits cleanly on any page or app background.
About Circle Crop
Almost every profile picture on the internet is a circle: WhatsApp, LinkedIn, X, Slack, Zoom, Google accounts. But the file you upload is square, and if you hand a site a rectangle it picks the crop for you: usually dead centre, which is rarely the most flattering framing. Circle Crop puts you in charge: drag the photo, zoom it, and see exactly what the circle will contain before you download.
The output is a transparent PNG (or a smaller WebP) at the size you choose. Transparency matters more than people expect: the same file works as a round avatar and, on sites that show it square or on a coloured background, there's no white box around it. A thin border in a brand colour is drawn inside the edge so it never gets clipped, and it helps a logo or avatar stand out on busy backgrounds.
Framing is the whole skill. Put the face slightly above the centre of the circle with a little headroom, and zoom until the face fills most of the frame: tiny faces in big circles read as thumbnails of thumbnails. For group photos, zoom right in on one person rather than shrinking everyone. The crop runs entirely in your browser; the photo never leaves your device.