Crop video
Crop a video to a new shape without uploading it. This video cropper works on MP4, MOV, MKV and WebM files: to crop MP4 or any of them, pick a ratio, set how much of the frame to keep and where, then download the cropped file.
Runs on your device. Your files never leave your browser.
How to use the video cropper
- 01Choose your video file, or drop it onto the box.
- 02Pick a shape: the video's own, 16:9, 9:16, 1:1 or 4:5.
- 03Set the size, and the horizontal and vertical position of the crop, and check the outlined area on the preview frame.
- 04Click Crop video, then download the result.
How the size and position settings work
The shape sets the crop's proportions. At a size of 100%, the crop is the largest rectangle of that shape that fits inside your video: a 1:1 crop of a 1920 by 1080 video is 1080 by 1080, and a 9:16 crop of the same video is 608 by 1080 once rounded to even numbers. Lowering the size shrinks that rectangle, down to 10% of it, which zooms in.
The two position settings place the rectangle within whatever space is left over. 0% puts it against the left or top edge, 50% centres it, and 100% puts it against the right or bottom edge. When the crop already fills the frame in one direction, that direction's position has no room to move and makes no difference.
The cropped pixels keep their original resolution rather than being stretched back up, so a small crop of a large video gives a small frame. Every measurement is rounded to an even number of pixels.
Cropping for vertical and square posts
Turning landscape footage into a 9:16 vertical or 1:1 square clip is the most common reason to crop. A fixed crop works well when the subject stays in one place, such as a single speaker at a desk; set the horizontal position so they sit inside the frame and leave the size at 100% to keep as much of the picture as possible.
A fixed crop does not follow movement, so a subject who walks across the frame can leave it. For that kind of footage, a crop that is planned per shot is the better tool.
Why cropping always re-encodes
Cropping changes what every frame contains, so it cannot be done by copying the compressed video as it is. The tool re-encodes to H.264 video with AAC sound in an MP4 file, or to VP9 and Opus in WebM when your browser cannot make MP4. A single re-encode costs a small amount of quality that is usually hard to see.
Sizes are measured on the video as it plays, which are the dimensions shown in the file details once you choose a file.
When you need more than a tool
Reframing a speaker for vertical video?
Anjin Media plans vertical crops from detected face positions, so the people talking stay in frame.
Questions about the video cropper
- Can I crop a landscape video to vertical 9:16?
- Yes. Choose 9:16 vertical, leave the size at 100% to keep as much height as possible, and set the horizontal position so your subject is inside the frame.
- Does cropping lower the resolution?
- The output is exactly the size of the cropped area, at the original pixel density: nothing is scaled up or down. A smaller crop therefore gives a smaller frame.
- Does cropping lose quality?
- It re-encodes the video, which costs a small amount of quality, usually hard to see after a single pass. Cropping cannot be done without re-encoding, because it changes every frame.
- Is my video uploaded?
- No. The crop runs in your browser; your video, and the cropped copy, never leave your device.
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