Crop any photo into a circle or rounded square with a transparent background.
Cropped in your browser — exports as PNG with transparency.
How do you make an image round?
Take the largest centred square from the photo, then draw it through a circular clipping path so everything outside the circle has an alpha of zero. Export as PNG — saving as JPG fills the transparent corners with solid white and defeats the crop entirely.
Understanding your result
The output has to be PNG. Saving a circular crop as JPG fills the transparent corners with solid white, which looks fine on a white page and obviously wrong anywhere else — it is the single most common mistake with round avatars. Note also that many platforms apply their own circular mask to whatever you upload, so for those a square image works equally well; a pre-cropped circle matters most when you are placing the image yourself, in a document, email signature or website where no mask is applied.
Formula and method
The largest centred square is taken from the source, then drawn into a square canvas through a circular or rounded-rectangle clipping path. Everything outside that path keeps an alpha value of zero, which is what makes the corners transparent.
Assumptions and limitations
The crop is always taken from the exact centre of the image, so if your subject is off to one side you will need to crop the photo first with a rectangular cropper. Output is PNG only, which is necessary for transparency but produces larger files than JPG for photographic content. There is no zoom or reposition control.
Worked example
A 3000 × 2000 landscape photo yields a 2000 × 2000 centre square, scaled down to a 512 × 512 circular avatar with transparent corners.
How to use this tool
- Choose your image.
- Pick a circle or rounded square, and set the output size.
- Add a border if you want a ring around the edge.
- Download the transparent PNG.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Saving as JPG, which fills the transparent corners with white.
- Using an off-centre subject without cropping the photo first.
- Exporting far larger than needed, producing an unnecessarily heavy file.
- Adding a thick border that eats into the subject.
About the Circle Crop
This tool crops a photo into a perfect circle or a rounded square, ideal for profile pictures and avatars. A centre square is taken from the original first, so rectangular photos crop to their middle, and the area outside the shape is fully transparent.
Who should use this tool
Anyone making a profile picture, an avatar for a team page, or a round logo mark.
Benefits
- Exports transparent PNG, so the corners really are see-through.
- Takes the centre square automatically from rectangular photos.
- Optional border ring in any colour.
- Choose the exact output resolution.
Practical use cases
- Creating a round profile picture for social media.
- Making consistent avatars for a team or about page.
- Preparing a circular logo for an app.
- Cropping a headshot into a rounded square for a card layout.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the output always PNG?
Because JPG cannot store transparency. Exporting a circle as JPG would fill the corners with solid white, defeating the point of the crop.
Can I choose which part of the photo is used?
The centre square is used automatically. If your subject is off to one side, crop the photo rectangularly first and then run it through here.
What size should a profile picture be?
512 × 512 suits almost every platform and stays sharp on high-density screens. Going much larger rarely helps, since sites downscale on upload anyway.
Will the circle show on every website?
Wherever transparency is respected, yes. Some older email clients and document formats composite transparent PNGs onto white, which is usually fine but worth checking.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The crop happens entirely in your browser using canvas, so the photo never leaves your device.