Beginner's Guide: How to Crop in Photoshop

Final product image — What You'll Be Creating

Do you want to know how to crop in Photoshop? Today we’re going to learn everything about cropping in Photoshop, from how to crop a photo in Photoshop to how to crop a GIF in Photoshop!

If you are looking for a free crop Photoshop alternative, take a look at Placeit's Free Image Cropper. It’s a great tool which can help you to crop your pictures right in your browser.

What You'll Learn in This Ultimate Guide to Cropping in Photoshop

How to crop a photo in Photoshop
How to use the Photoshop Crop to Selection function
How to crop an image in a circle shape in Photoshop
How to crop a picture in Photoshop using a clipping mask
How to crop an image in Photoshop without cropping the background using a layer mask
How to use a batch crop Photoshop action
How to crop a GIF in Photoshop

Follow along with us over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

Tutorial Assets

The following assets were used during the production of this “How to crop in Photoshop ultimate guide”:

1. How to Crop a Photo in Photoshop

Step 1

Let’s start with an easy way to crop an item in Photoshop: the crop tool. Let’s open any image you want to use, and after that just hit C to activate the crop tool Photoshop function (you can also find it in the Tools panel).

how to activate the Crop tool in Photoshop

Step 2

Now all you need to do is drag the Markers of the Crop Frame which you can see on the screen to fit your purposes.

Step 3

Finally, just press Enter (or hit the Check Mark in the Top Panel) and voila! This is how to crop out a background in Photoshop in a few moments!

2. How to Use the Photoshop Crop to Selection Function

Step 1

Let’s open any other image and then select the Rectangular Marquee Tool (or just press M).

how to activate rectangular marquee tool

Step 2

Now just make a selection of the area which you would like to crop with this tool.

Step 3

Once you've finished with the selection, go to Image > Crop.

Here's a result of the crop to selection method:

3. How to Crop an Image in a Circle Shape in Photoshop

Step 1

If you're wondering how to crop a circle in Photoshop, the answer is easy: use the same Marquee Tool as in previous steps, but this time select the Elliptical Marquee Tool. This can be useful for creating rounded avatars, so let's try this technique with a portrait.

Step 2

If you want to select a perfect circle, hold Shift while you create a selection.

Step 3

Now let's go to Image > Crop and, as you can see, Photoshop cropped our image to a rectangle, which is not exactly what we need. I will show you how to avoid this in the next step.

Step 4

To create a circle crop Photoshop layer, you need to press Control-X and then Control-V and then Delete the Background layer. In this way, we'll cut the circle from the background.

4. How to Crop a Picture in Photoshop Using a Clipping Mask

Step 1

If you want to know how to crop a single layer in Photoshop, we can use a Clipping Mask for this purpose. So let's say we have a few layers in the document and we want to crop the second layer to a circle.

Step 2

To crop an item in Photoshop with a clipping mask, you need to create a circle shape. Press U or select the Ellipse Tool and then create a shape above the area which you would like to cut.

Step 3

After that, put the Ellipse Layer below the photo and then Right Click > Create a Clipping Mask.

Step 4

This method is non-destructive, so you can change the position of the mask just by moving the Ellipse layer, but don't hesitate to use the previous methods for a single-layer crop, as they will work as well.

5. How to Crop an Image in Photoshop Without Cropping the Background Using a Layer Mask

Step 1

Want to learn another way to crop an image in Photoshop without the background? Let's try a layer mask this time! Select the second layer and hit Add a Mask.

Step 2

Now select the Mask of the layer in the Layers panel and make a selection using the Rectangular Marquee Tool, as we did before.

adding a layer mask selection with rectangular marquee tool

Step 3

Once you've finished, hit Shift-Control-I (or go to Selection > Inverse) to invert the selection.

Step 4

Press Shift-F5 (or go to Edit > Fill), set the Contents to Black, and hit OK.

Step 5

And finally, just press Control-D (or go to Select > Deselect) to deselect.

6. How to Use a Batch Crop Photoshop Action

Step 1

If you need to crop a few files in one go, you can try this Auto Crop Photoshop Action from GraphicRiver. Let's try this action to circle crop Photoshop images.

Step 2

First of all, you need to install the action. In the latest versions of Photoshop, you can do it just by opening the .atn file (Control-O or go to File > Open).

If you want to learn more about Photoshop actions and how to install and use them, check out this amazing tutorial:

How to Install Photoshop Actions
Installing Photoshop actions only takes a few moments. Learn how to install and use these incredible assets with this quick video.
Melody Nieves
14 Dec 2018
Adobe Photoshop

Step 3

Once you've installed an action, you can find it in the Actions panel (Window > Actions or Alt-F9). To use it for multiple files, you need to put all the pictures in one folder and then go to File > Automate > Batch.

Step 4

In the newly opened window, select the Crop Image Set from the Set Picker and select Decrease - Shape (Circle) Crop.

Step 5

Check the Suppress File Open Options Dialogs option and choose the Source Folder with your images and the Destination Folder where you want to save your results. After that, just press OK.

Here's a result of the batch crop action:

7. How to Crop a Layer in Photoshop if It's a GIF File

Step 1

Let's try to crop a GIF in Photoshop. Open your GIF file in Photoshop and then go to Window > Timeline, to see all the frames.

Step 2

After that, you can use any of the previous methods to crop the image. Let's use the free crop Photoshop tool, so press C and crop the image as you like.

As you can see, all the frames of our GIF animation are cropped, so there is no big difference between cropping static images and GIF files.

Awesome Work: Today You've Learned How to Crop a Layer in Photoshop

Today we've covered everything about how to crop a photo in Photoshop, from a simple crop to making a selection to using clipping masks. Let's consolidate all our knowledge into a list:

How to Free Crop in Photoshop

How to free crop in Photoshop: you can do it with the Crop Tool (C), which you can find in the Tools panel.
How to crop a single layer in Photoshop using the crop to selection: all you need to do is use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (M), select the area you want to crop, and go to Image > Crop.
How to crop a circle in Photoshop: use the Elliptical Marquee Tool from the Tools panel and press Control-X> Control-V.
How to crop one layer in Photoshop with a clipping mask: create any shape you want and put it below the layer, and then Right Click on the top layer and select Create a Clipping Mask.
How to crop an image in Photoshop without a background using a layer mask: add a layer mask to your layer, select the area on the mask with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (C), and then hit Shift-Control-I to invert the selection and Fill it with black.
How to crop multiple images: use a Photoshop action and the Batch function.
How to crop a layer in Photoshop if it's a GIF: you can do it just the same way as with static images, so try the Crop Tool (C) or the crop to selection method.