Visual learning is the in thing now so it shouldn’t be too surprising that things like images and videos are one of the major channels through which information is passed now. As such, as you would only expect, more and more people are embracing this particular style of communication.
Now, while we would certainly wish that this weren’t the case, when it comes to taking pictures or images, most people typically won’t always get what they’re going for on the first try. In the same vein, the argument can be made that, on some occasions, you mightn’t need everything that a particular image is presenting; what you might find more relevant to you at that point in time may be certain, specific portions of it.
Typically, when cases like this occur, the first thought of the average Mac user is often that they need a big (and most times pretty expensive) tool like Adobe Photoshop for editing the image in question to their taste.
Of course, would having such a resource at your disposal help your cause?
It most certainly will.
But, do you need the resource in question?
Actually, in most cases, you don’t!
What you need is relevant tips on how to crop image on Mac!
One thing that even the most ardent Mac can forget from time to time is the fact that these particular devices come with numerous great features that, when properly utilized, can often perform a wide variety of functions for you almost effortlessly. For most basic exercises like trimming, editing, and resizing image files, there are several simple and highly effective tactics that you can employ on your Mac device to get the job done with minimal fuss.
We’ll be going into all the details that you need on that front now.
How to Crop Image on Mac with Ease
Knowing precisely what to do when it comes to quickly and efficiently editing images on your Mac device can make all the difference when you least expect it. This is one reason why learning how to crop image on Mac is a skill that every user simply needs to add to their arsenal.
In saying that, you should know that there are several approaches you can take to accomplish this task. Having said that, we will be going over the simplest and most efficient methods that you can trust to get things done in record time.
Without further ado, let’s get into the thick of things now!
Approach One – Using Preview to Edit the Images
The argument can be made that using Preview is perhaps one of the simplest ways that you can use Mac to edit images. With makes this particular method of approach so widespread, especially at this time is the fact that the app in question doesn’t even need to be downloaded and installed. As it comes preinstalled on your device, every Mac device user has immediate and unfettered access to it from the very moment that they complete the setup of their device!
For us, we consider the best part of using this tool to be the fact that, in addition to offering you some truly awesome image-cropping functionalities, you also get access to several other pretty useful markup tools with it as well.
How to Use Preview to Crop Images on Mac
Using this app to crop your images on Mac is as simple as it gets too! It’s quite literally as easy as making your way to the app on your device and launching it and then using the “Finder” window that it affords you to identify and select the specific image that you want to edit.
Next, select the “Open” window option. This you can find at the lower right corner of the opened window. Then, make your way to the “Markup” tool. You can easily find this function at the top of the Preview window. The next step then becomes using your trackpad pointer (or mouse) to carefully select the portion of the image that you want to keep.
You’ll see the “Crop” button the moment that you’re done identifying the section of the image that you want to keep. You then just need to click that button and your selection will be saved! And, just like that, you know how to crop image on Mac!
One major point of note you might want to keep in mind here is that you should be very sure that you’ve captured all that you want to before hitting the “Crop” button. This is because that process is essentially irreversible on Preview.
Approach Two – Using the Photos App
Yet another built-in resource that you can always readily turn to when you have some image editing to get done is the Photos app. Just like with its predecessor, much of what you have to do here has been extensively streamlined so you won’t have to sweat bullets to get anything done.
How to Use Photos App to Crop Images on Mac
As we’ve said, it really doesn’t take all that much effort to get the best out of your Photos app. That being said, there are a couple of things that you might want to keep in mind here.
What to Know Before You Can Use Photos App
For you to use the Photos app at all, you should know that you’ve got to play by a specific set of rules. The first of these is that any image that you plan to edit with this tool MUST be located in the Photos library specifically. So, if for example, you want to crop a particular image that you downloaded, you would need to either drag it from Finder and deposit it in the “Imports” section of your Photos app or use Finder to move it to your Photos app “Library”.
In saying the above, it must be pointed out that when you add an image to your Photos, you essentially make a duplicate of it. This means that, in the case of the example above, the image you dragged to your Library will still be present in your downloads folder. The good thing about this is that should you make any mistake when using the Photos app to crop, you have a readily available backup at hand.
Using Photos App to Crop Your Images
All that you have to do here is launch the Photos app program and select the image that you moved to your “Library” or “Imports” section. Next, make your way to the top-right corner of your Photos app. There, you’ll find the “Edit” button. Click on it. This will show you the “Crop” function which you have to select as well. Now, you only need to drag your “Crop” frame around the portion of the image that you want to use. After you must’ve captured all you need, just select “Done” and the image will be saved immediately.
Approach Three – Downloading and Installing Third-Party Programs
As you must have clearly seen by now, there are several benefits that you can enjoy simply by relying on the built-in programs of your Mac. However, for any number of reasons that may be best known to you, you might not consider options one and two worth leveraging when it comes to learning how to crop image on Mac.
If that happens to be the case with you at this time, that’s perfectly fine. You don’t have to feel down about that fact either!
The main reason for this is that there are several reliable free and paid third-party programs that you can still take advantage of to get the job done with minimal stress. Two major names that spring to mind here are CameraBag Pro and Luminar. With either of these applications downloaded on your Mac device, you can easily have all of your image editing needs taken care of.
Pro Tips to Keep in Mind When Cropping Images on Mac
Now that you know some of the best resources that you can rely on when it comes to learning how to crop image on Mac, the next thing becomes knowing the best way to utilize these tools.
Along these lines, the first and most important thing you want to do is ensure that you have a backup copy of the image you want to crop. Don’t forget that mistakes can happen and you might be forced to start from scratch. In that instance, it would help if you had a spare copy of the image to fall back to.
Secondly, you have to be sure to carefully adjust the image before, not after you crop so you get the best results.
Finally, make sure that you look through all that you’ve done thoroughly and extensively before you hit the “Crop” button.
Conclusion
And that’s pretty much it when it comes to learning how to crop image on Mac in this day and age. We admit that certain aspects of this process might take some getting used to. But even with that, you’re sure not to have any issues if you stick to our guide!
See here for more Mac device tips and tricks.