How to Crop Images on an iPad

Published October 4, 2022

For younger folks, cropping an image on an iPad, iPhone or any other piece of mobile technology is a no-brainer. Oh, to be young again. For some of us older folks, cropping an image is not intuitive and we would like someone to explain it to us without the heavy sighs, head smacking and eye-rolling.

Why I Wrote these Image Cropping Instructions

I was texting with my sister and she sent me an image. The image had a large black border and my buddy didn’t like the fact that the border was there. Along with the image came the statement, “I wish I knew how to get rid of the border.”

Hmmm, that statement alone is evidence that my people and I are no longer spring chickens. Any person under a certain age would laugh at such a comment, but I didn’t. I knew that my generation seems to have a tough time doing tech things that younger folks find simple. So, instead, I decided to explain how to edit the image by creating a short video.

Cropping an Image

Let’s take, for instance, this Jazz concert flyer screenshot. By the way, to take a screenshot using the tablet I pressed Cmd + Shift + 3. Or, I could use the Apple Pencil and drag the pencil point from the lower left-hand corner diagonally towards the upper right-hand corner. I’d give instructions on how to take screenshots with an iPhone, but there are too many variations between iPhone models.

Once I have the photo I can edit it immediately or save it to my photos app and edit it later.

Written Image Cropping Instructions

Some of us like reading instructions, while others of us are visual learners. To accommodate both, I’ve written the steps below and created a short video that follows the written instructions.

Steps for Cropping an Image on the iPad

1. Navigate to the desired photo in the Photos app


2. Tap on the photo.


3. Tap Edit (located In the upper right-hand corner of the screen). This will invoke several editing tools. We’re only interested in the cropping tool that looks like this:


4. Tap on the cropping tool. The cropping tool encloses the image in a thin rectangular outline. You’ll note the corners of the rectangular have thicker lines.



5. Tap, hold and move one of the corners inward. Note how the items on the outside of the rectangular are cropped out of the photo.


6. Repeat the tap, hold and move process on the other corners until you have cropped the image to your liking.

Congratulations! You now have a cropped image.

Once the image is cropped, you can save or share the image. If you save the image, it will overwrite the original uncropped image. However, if you don’t like the cropped changes, don’t worry. Tap Edit again and you’ll be given the option to Revert the image to its original setting.

Easy Peasy!

Now for those who prefer visual instructions, see the short video below:

Cropping Image - Video

In the video, you will note that I changed the default iPad mouse color. If you'd like to change yours, check out How to Change iPad's Mouse Pointer Color. Also, as mentioned in the video, here's the article about changing the actual image size. There might be a better way, but until I find that way, this is how I do it.

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Last Modified: 4 October 2022