How to crop a picture into a circle with a transparent background

Open Crop image, switch Shape to Circle, drag the circle over the face or logo, and download. The file saves as a PNG whose corners are transparent, so it sits cleanly on any background. The circle crop page opens the same tool with Circle already on.

Steps

1. Open Crop image and drop in your picture. JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF and AVIF work.
2. Under Shape, choose Circle. The crop box becomes a circle, and the aspect ratio locks to square.
3. Drag the circle over what you want to keep, and drag a corner to make it larger or smaller.
4. Save as now shows only PNG, with the note that circle crops save as PNG so the corners stay transparent.
5. Check the result, then press Download.

Why the corners need PNG

Every image file is a rectangle. A "round" picture is really a square whose corners are transparent. PNG stores that transparency; JPG has no way to, so a JPG fills the corners with a solid colour, usually white or black. That is why a round logo saved as JPG shows a white box behind it on a dark page.

The tool avoids the mistake by allowing only PNG once Circle is on. If you later convert the PNG to JPG in another app, the corners will fill in again.

Where you need a transparent circle, and where you don't

Social apps round your picture themselves, so a plain square is the simpler upload there; see cropping a photo to a square.

For a website icon, the favicon generator has its own Circle shape and makes every icon size at once, which is easier than cropping each one.

Getting a clean edge

• Start from the largest version of the picture you have. The circle keeps the original resolution inside it, so a bigger source gives a smoother edge at large sizes.
• Centre the subject with a little space around it. The edge of the circle cuts into anything close to it.
• To make the circle smaller in pixels afterwards, for example 400 × 400, open the PNG in Resize image, choose Pixels, type the size, and keep Save as on Keep or PNG so the transparency stays.

Removing the background behind a person

A circle crop keeps whatever is behind your subject inside the circle. To take the background away as well, use the Background tool in the photo editor. It finds a person by itself, or anything else you tap, and Remove leaves the rest transparent; save as PNG to keep it.

Questions

Can I save the circle as a JPG?

Not from this tool. A JPG cannot keep transparent corners, so circle crops always save as PNG.

Why does my round picture show a white square in Word or on my site?

The file was saved as JPG somewhere along the way, or the page puts a background colour behind images. Use the PNG straight from the download.

Does cropping into a circle lower the quality?

No. The pixels inside the circle are kept at their original resolution; only the corners are made transparent.

Is my picture uploaded?

No. The circle is cut out in your browser and the picture stays on your device.