How To Crop A Picture Into A Circle [Easily]

Are you trying to crop your picture into a circular shape?

The rectangular image you took with your camera is often adequate for most personal, professional, and business situations, but there is a wide range of reasons why you may want to edit your photo into a circle.

The most common reason is that you need a circular photo for your profile picture.

You could also need the shape for an advertisement or your business card.

Often, the challenge is in finding a tool that is easy to use and supported by the operating system that powers your device.

That’s why I wrote this guide.

In this article, I will show you how to crop a picture into a circle using apps and in-built tools available on any device at your disposal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the questions people are asking on Google about creating cropped circular images:

How To Crop A Picture Into A Circle: Step-By-Step Instructions

There are several tools and apps that you can use to crop your photo into a circle.

The best solution for you will depend on the type of device you are using and your design needs.

I have structured this section with that consideration in mind.

Here are three ways you can create a circular image:

1. Use in-built editing tools on your device
2. Use an online photo editing tool
3. Use downloadable design software

Method 1: Use In-Built Editing Tools On Your Device

Here I will explain how to crop images into a circle on Android, Windows, and Apple devices.

Android

You can use Google Slides or Google Docs, but I will only explain how to use Google Slides in this article.

Here is how to use the crop tool on Google Slides to create circular photos:

1. Click on Insert > Image on the toolbar to upload the photo from your computer  
2. Select the image on your page by clicking on it, then tap the Crop icon from the toolbar.
3. Click the arrow next to the icon to open the dropdown, tap Shapes, then select the circle icon.
4. You should see an oval shape on your picture and active borders. To get the circular shape you want, double-click on the image and drag the borders to cover the desired area.
5. When you are done, tap the Enter button on your keyboard or hit somewhere else on your page.

Windows

Microsoft Word, Microsoft Paint, and Microsoft Powerpoint are the in-built tools you can use on Windows-powered devices.

Here I will only show you how to create circular images using Microsoft Word.

1. Click on Insert > Picture to upload the image
2. Select the image, and then look for Picture Tools in the toolbar. Click on the Format tab just underneath it.
3. This will add the Crop feature to the options available in the toolbar. Click the arrow beside crop icon, then tap Crop to Shape.
4. Select the circle icon from the list of shapes and your picture will be automatically reshaped into a circle.

macOS

Apple provides MacBook users with the Photos and Preview apps for editing and cropping images.

Here I will explain how to crop your image using the Preview app.

1. Open the image you want to edit with the Preview app
2. Select Elliptical Selection from the toolbar to your left
3. Drag your cursor around the photo to cover the desired area. You should see a circular crop outline on your image.
4. Once you are satisfied, press Command plus K to fix the cropped shape in place.
5. Click on the file menu to save your image

iOS

You can’t create circular images using the in-built Photos app on iPhones and you must download a third-party app like Adobe Photoshop Express or Round Photo.

Here is how to crop a picture into a circle using Adobe Photoshop Express:

1. Download the app from the app store
2. Open it and tap the plus icon to import the image you want to crop
3. Click Cut Out > Shape on the toolbar. Then select the circle icon
4. Drag your finger on your screen till you cover the desired area. You can also pinch the image to get the circle to the size you want
5. Once you are satisfied with the image, click on the checkmark at the bottom right corner of your screen.

Method 2: Use An Online Tool

Sophisticated online graphic design and photo editing tools give you access to features and templates that may not be available on your device’s in-built tool.

I recommend using either Canva or Figma.

Canva is very intuitive and more suitable for anyone that is not a professional designer.

Figma is a bit more complex, but this added layer of features is to ensure all the needs of web designers are met.

This platform is also very ideal for collaborative design work.

Both tools are available for free, but I will only explain how to use Canva to crop your photos.

1. Navigate to the platform’s website to create an account or log in if you already have one
2. Select a template, then upload the photo you want to crop from your gallery
3. On the sidebar to your left, navigate to Elements > Frames
4. Click “See all” to view all the available circular frames, then select one of them
5. The circular shape will be added automatically to your template. Now, go to Uploads in the sidebar and drag your photo over to the circular frame
6. Edit the borders and template to your satisfaction, then save your image to complete the process

Method 3: Use Downloadable Design Software

They offer the same robust editing and design features as online platforms, but they have the added advantage of being accessible even when you don’t have an internet connection.

There are lots of design software tools on the market and I highly recommend Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paintshop Pro, and Gimp.

Gimp is an open-source software tool, and it is not the best graphic design software out there, but it is adequate and completely free to use.

Below, I will show you how to crop your image using the platform.

1. Download the latest version of the software from the platform’s website, then run the installer on your computer to set it up.
2. Start the program and click on File > Open to import the image you want to edit
3. Click on the Ellipse Selection icon at the top-left corner of the screen just below the main toolbar.
4. To reshape your image, drag the cursor diagonally on the canvas to create a circular shape. I recommend holding down the Shift button on your keyword while dragging the cursor to avoid movements that will alter your frame into an ellipse shape.
5. When you get a perfect circle, choose Edit > Copy from the toolbar
6. Select Edit again, and then click Paste As. Gimp will paste the circular image as a new image.
7. To view your new circular image, go to File > New Image. You can then save it as a PNG or GIF file.

Similar Tutorials To Check Out

• How to add a White Outline to a Photo: this article will show you how to use free tools like Canva to add a silhouette that highlights the central object of a picture.
• How to Curve Text in Canva: discover how to use the nifty curved text generator on Canva to add flair to your texts.
• How to Remove GIF Backgrounds: discover how to use free online background removers to replace a GIF’s background with another color, graphic, or video.

Wrapping Up

In-built editing tools and online apps are perfect for the casual editing of a few images.

For professionals that edit lots of photos every day, sophisticated cloud-based platforms and software tools like Figma and Photoshop are ideal.

If you have any questions about this topic and image editing in general, reach out to me in the comments section.