Crop Image to Passport Size: in cm, Pixels or KB (Phone, Mac, PC)

To crop an image to passport size, lock the crop box to the 3.5:4.5 passport ratio (or 1:1 for a US 2 x 2 inch photo), frame your face with a little space above the head and shoulders at the bottom, and crop. Then resize the cropped photo to the exact size, such as 3.5 x 4.5 cm at 300 DPI. Our crop image tool has the passport ratio built in, and passport size photo does the final sizing, both in your browser.

Cropping and resizing are two separate jobs. Cropping chooses the shape and framing. Resizing sets the cm, pixels and DPI. Doing them in that order gives the best result.

How to crop an image to passport size (step by step)

1. Open crop image and choose your photo. On a phone, pick it from the gallery; HEIC photos from iPhone work too.
2. Set the aspect ratio to "Passport 3.5:4.5". For a US passport or visa photo, choose "Square 1:1" instead.
3. Drag the box and its corners. Aim for:
   • Face centred left to right.
   • A small gap above the top of the hair.
   • Chin roughly two thirds of the way down, with the tops of the shoulders visible.
   • The face filling most of the height (guides commonly say about 70–80% for Indian passport-style photos).
4. Press Crop and download. The tool shows the pixel size of the crop box as you drag and keeps the full original resolution.
5. Resize to the exact size. Open passport size photo, choose the cropped file and download a 35 x 45 mm, 300 DPI JPG. For any other size, use resize image in cm.

The passport tool can also crop automatically from the centre, but doing the crop yourself first means you control where the face sits.

Crop image in cm

People often search for a way to "crop to 3.5 x 4.5 cm". A digital image has no centimetres, only pixels, so a crop tool cannot cut "4.5 cm" of a photo. What it can do is cut the right shape. Once the shape is right, resizing to 3.5 x 4.5 cm is just a matter of choosing a DPI:

For sizes without a preset ratio, crop with "Free" to roughly the right shape, then use resize image in cm with Crop to fill, which trims any small difference evenly. Our guide to resizing in cm and KB explains the cm to pixel conversion.

Crop image in pixels

The crop tool shows the size of your selection in pixels (for example 1240 x 1594 px) while you drag. That is the size of the cropped file. If a form wants an exact pixel size, such as 200 x 230 pixels for IBPS:

1. Crop with "Free", dragging until the shape looks right.
2. Open resize image, enter 200 and 230 with unit Pixels, and keep "Crop to fill".

For Indian exam forms, the exam photo resizer has presets that crop, resize and compress in one go.

Crop image in KB

Cropping removes part of the picture, which usually makes the file smaller, but it does not aim for a KB number. If your form wants a photo under 50 KB, crop first and then compress with compress image to 50 KB or whichever target you need. Resizing to passport pixels before compressing keeps the face much sharper than squeezing a full-size crop.

How to crop an image on a Mac

Preview (built into macOS):

1. Open the photo in Preview.
2. Click and drag on the image to draw a selection rectangle. If you do not see a selection, choose the Rectangular Selection tool from the markup toolbar.
3. Choose Tools > Crop or press Command-K.
4. Use File > Export to save a copy as JPEG.

Preview does not offer a passport ratio lock, so judge the shape by eye and then fix it precisely with the resize step, or use our crop tool in Safari or Chrome on the Mac for the locked ratio.

How to crop an image on a laptop (Windows)

Photos app in Windows 11: open the photo, click Edit image (or press Ctrl+E), and use the crop handles. The crop panel has an aspect ratio option with common presets such as square; passport 3.5:4.5 is not usually among them, so either crop freely by eye and fix the shape in the resize step, or use our tool, which has 3.5:4.5 built in. Save as a copy so the original stays untouched.

Paint: draw a rectangle with Select, then click Crop. Paint shows the selection size in pixels at the bottom of the window, which helps you hit an exact pixel shape.

Crop without losing quality

Cropping itself does not reduce quality; the cropped area keeps its original pixels. Quality is lost later if you enlarge a tiny crop or compress too hard. So:

• Start from the original photo, not a forwarded or screenshot copy.
• Do not crop so tight that the face is only a couple of hundred pixels tall and then enlarge it.
• Crop and resize before compressing.

Common mistakes

• Cropping in free mode and then stretching, which distorts the face. Lock the passport ratio.
• Face too small in the crop, with lots of wall around it.
• Cutting off the top of the hair or the chin. Leave a small margin above the head.
• Expecting cropping to set cm or KB. It sets shape only; resize and compress afterwards.
• Cropping a circle. Passport and form photos are rectangles. Our crop tool does not cut circles, and forms do not want them.

Questions