Crop & Aspect-Ratio Fit Calculator
Fit an image to a new aspect ratio — the biggest centred crop that fills it, or the canvas and bars needed to contain it.
Two ways to change an image’s shape
When a photo’s proportions don’t match where it needs to go — a square social tile, a widescreen banner, a vertical story — you have two honest options. Crop to fill, and the frame is covered edge to edge but some of the picture is cut away. Fit to contain, and the whole picture survives but sits inside bars. Knowing the exact crop size and bar thickness up front means fewer surprises in the editor.
To pick the target ratio in the first place, the Aspect Ratio Calculator reduces any size to a clean ratio; once cropped, the Image Resize Calculator scales the result to its final dimensions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between crop-to-fill and fit-to-contain?
Crop-to-fill (cover) trims the image so it completely fills the target ratio — you lose the edges that don't fit. Fit-to-contain pads the image onto a larger canvas of the target ratio so nothing is lost, adding empty bars. This tool gives both: the largest centred crop, and the padded canvas with its bar sizes.
What are letterbox and pillarbox bars?
They're the blank strips added when an image's shape doesn't match its frame. Letterbox bars run along the top and bottom when a wide image sits in a taller frame; pillarbox bars run down the left and right when a tall image sits in a wider frame. The tool tells you which applies and how thick each bar is.
How is the maximum centred crop found?
Compare the source ratio with the target. If the source is wider than the target, the full height is kept and the width is trimmed; if it's taller, the full width is kept and the height is trimmed. The crop is centred, so the offset is half the trimmed amount on each side — exactly what the calculator reports.
Will cropping change my image's resolution?
Cropping reduces resolution because you keep fewer pixels — a 1600×1200 photo cropped to a 1200×1200 square has fewer total pixels than the original. Fitting with bars keeps every original pixel but makes the overall canvas larger. Neither adds detail; both work from the pixels you already have.
Educational estimate only. Crop and canvas figures are rounded to whole pixels and assume a centred crop.