Social Image Cropper — Crop to 3:4, 4:5, 9:16 with Reels & Story Safe Zones

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All free, all private — everything runs in your browser.

Crop to an exact aspect ratio — inside the Reels and Story safe zones

How to use Social Image Cropper

1. 1Add one photo, then click an aspect chip — 3:4, 4:5, 1:1, 9:16, 16:9, 3:2, or Free with your own W:H.
2. 2Drag the crop window over the preview, or click the preview and nudge with the arrow keys (Shift moves 10px). The aspect stays locked unless you chose Free.
3. 3Check the live readout: source size, crop size in pixels, and the aspect label.
4. 4Click “Crop image”, then download — either the crop box as-is or scaled to an exact output size like 1080×1440.

Social Image Cropper FAQ

How do I crop a photo to 3:4 or 4:5?

Add your photo, click the 3:4 or 4:5 chip, and drag the crop window until it frames the shot. The aspect stays locked while you move it; download at crop size or scale to an exact pixel size such as 1080×1440.

Can I set a custom aspect ratio?

Yes. Pick the Free chip and enter any W:H ratio — 16:10, 2:3, whatever your platform wants. The crop box follows it freely.

How do the keyboard controls work?

Click the preview once so it has focus, then use the arrow keys to nudge the crop 1 pixel at a time; hold Shift to move 10 pixels. Fine framing without touching the mouse.

What is the Instagram Reels safe zone?

Meta's unified 9:16 safe zone on the 1080×1920 canvas keeps content 270 px from the top, 65 px from each side, and 670 px from the bottom (Reels) — a safe area of exactly 950×980. Stories use the same top and sides but only 380 px at the bottom (950×1270 safe). Turn on the Reels or Stories guide here and the exact bands are drawn over your preview.

Do the overlays change my export?

No. The safe-zone bands, the cyan safe-rect stroke, and the rule-of-thirds lines are preview guides only — the export draws exactly the crop window and nothing else, so the downloaded file is identical with guides on or off.

Is my image uploaded when I crop it?

No. The crop preview and the final render both happen in your browser on canvas. The file never leaves your device.

Can I export the safe-zone preview for client approval?

Yes — turn on a safe zone and phone chrome, and the marked-up preview downloads as a PNG with the blocked bands dimmed, the safe area outlined, and mock profile/caption/CTA chrome drawn where Instagram puts it. It is watermarked "safe-zone preview" so nobody mistakes it for a posting file — the clean crop is the other button and stays untouched.

What does the phone chrome show?

The fixed UI Instagram overlays on Reels and Stories: the profile icon bottom-left, the caption and handle block above it, and (optionally) the CTA sticker zone on ad Reels — each placed inside the zones Meta's safe-zone spec blocks. It is drawn from the same Meta-exact numbers as the guides, so what the mock covers is what the real UI covers.

Why does my text get cut off when I upload as a Reel?

Instagram re-frames some uploads — TikTok-exported videos in particular get enlarged and shifted, pushing edge text off screen. The safe-rect stroke shows the area that survives every re-frame; keep headlines inside it, then use the marked-up preview to prove to yourself (or a client) where the text lands.

How is this different from a safe-zone checker?

A safe-zone checker previews a file you already exported — you upload a finished 1080×1920 image and it draws the bands over it. This page works one step earlier: you crop to the ratio here with the Meta safe-zone bands over the preview, mock the phone chrome where the profile icon and caption will sit, and export. One session produces both files: the clean crop for posting, and the watermarked marked-up preview for client approval. Checking after you export tells you what went wrong; cropping with the zones in view is what prevents it.

Can I download the safe-zone overlay as a template?

Yes. With a Reels or Stories guide on, two buttons download the same overlay as a standalone template — a transparent PNG you can drop over your design in Canva, and an SVG for Figma. Both are drawn from the same Meta-exact numbers as the on-page guides (270 px top, 65 px sides, 670 px bottom for Reels; 380 px bottom for Stories), so the template bands sit exactly where the guides draw them. It is a blank template you drop over your own design — not a render of your photo; that is the separate marked-up preview button.

Does the mock include the like, comment, and share counts?

Yes, as a mock — the engagement rail shows WHERE the counts sit, not live numbers. The interactive preview draws placeholder pill shapes; the marked-up export fills them with example short-form counts (12K, 86, 2.1K) so a client can read the layout at a glance. The rail and the sound disc beside it are Reels-only pieces and never appear on the Stories guide, and the clean export never contains any chrome at all.

What should I send a client to prove the safe zones are respected?

One session here yields three artifacts, and together they are the hand-off. (1) The clean posting crop — the download with the guides off, exactly the crop window and nothing else. (2) The marked-up preview PNG — blocked bands dimmed, safe-rect stroke, the phone chrome with the real handle and caption, example engagement counts (12K, 86, 2.1K), and a "SAFE-ZONE PREVIEW — NOT FOR POSTING" corner label so nobody mistakes it for the posting file. (3) The standalone overlay template — a transparent PNG for Canva and an SVG for Figma, so their designer can run the same check in their own tool. The trust line: every band is drawn from the same Meta-exact numbers as the on-page guides, and the page carries a "Safe-zone spec last checked Sep 2026" stamp, so a designer knows how current the guide is rather than trusting a stale screenshot. The honest limit: the markup shows WHERE the Reels/Stories UI sits on the 1080×1920 canvas — mock positions and example counts, not a live render of the platform. TikTok-style shifting caption boxes are out of scope; if the placement is high-stakes, verify the final post in the app before it goes live.

Is the Reels safe zone different from Stories?

Yes — and the difference is only at the bottom. Both placements share the same top band (270 px) and side bands (65 px each); the Reels bottom band is 670 px against Stories' 380 px, which leaves a safe area of 950×980 on Reels versus 950×1270 on Stories on the same 1080×1920 canvas. That makes a 290-px strip (y 1250→1540) that is blocked ONLY when the file runs as a Reel, sitting above the 380-px strip both placements block. The taught rule is design for Reels: one file framed inside the tightest placement clears both. The Both-zones guide here draws the two bottom bands in different shades with a dashed line at the Stories boundary, so the difference is visible in one glance instead of toggling between guides and remembering.

Does the safe zone change from phone to phone?

The margins do not, the physical size does. Meta's unified 9:16 safe zone is proportional on the 1080×1920 canvas — the top band is about 14% of the height and the Reels bottom band about 35% — so on any screen the bands scale with the panel: a small iOS display and a large Android display show the same proportions at different physical sizes. What people remember as phone-to-phone differences is mostly older third-party renderers and device-specific app builds showing quirks, not the spec; the zone itself has been unified since March 2026. The guide here draws the unified spec — design to it on the 1080×1920 canvas and the proportions carry to every device that renders the placement correctly.