Fit vs crop: resize without distortion

A wide landscape and a square image have different proportions. To turn one into the other without stretching, you need to choose between keeping the whole picture and filling the whole square.

Aspect ratio is the shape of the image

A 1,536 × 1,024 picture has a 3:2 aspect ratio. If you resize it to 900 pixels wide while keeping its proportions, its height becomes 600 pixels. PixelDesk's aspect lock calculates the other dimension for you.

Unlock the aspect ratio when you need an exact box with a different shape, such as 800 × 800. Fit and Center crop then give you two deliberate ways to fill that box without distorting the subject.

Fit keeps the whole picture

Fit scales the image until all of it fits inside the requested dimensions. The unused area becomes padding. For a wide picture in a square box, this usually creates bands above and below the image.

Choose PNG or WebP with transparency enabled for clear padding, or select a solid background. JPEG always uses a solid background because its format has no alpha channel. Fit is useful when all edges matter, such as artwork, product images or a photograph you do not want to cut.

Center crop fills the box

Center crop scales the image until the output box is completely filled. Some content outside that box is removed. The center stays in view, but subjects near the edges can be lost.

The resizer uses a centered crop. For a positioned selection, use the image cropper to draw a rectangle or enter its coordinates first. Use Fit when you need to retain every edge.

Try both with the same image

1. Open the resize tool with the coastal sample.
2. Unlock the aspect ratio and set both dimensions to 800.
3. Process once with Fit and once with Center crop.
4. Compare the padding and the content at the left and right edges.

Enlarging is different from adding detail

Resizing a 400-pixel photo to 1,600 pixels creates more pixels through interpolation. It cannot recreate detail that was never captured. Avoid unnecessary enlargement and compare the result at the final display size.