fbpx

How To Crop Images In A Circle Shape Using Photoshop


It’s not super obvious how to crop images in a circle shape using Photoshop. There are a ton of ways to crop your photo to a smaller size, but what about cropping it into a circle? Whether you’re needing it for a website, advertisement, or profile picture, there are a ton of reasons you may need to crop an image into a circular shape.

This post will teach you how to crop images in a circle shape using Photoshop. I’ll be sharing the best non-destructive way to crop your image while still being able to make adjustments to the crop. It doesn’t matter what version of Photoshop you are using, you’ll still have the same tools available!

Video Tutorial

How To Crop Into A Circular Shape In Photoshop

To crop an image into a circular shape, select the Elliptical Marquee Tool and create a circular selection on your image. With the selection active, select your image layer and apply a layer mask. Now go to Image > Trim and check the Transparent Pixels option to remove any excess pixels.

Step 1: Import Your Image Into Photoshop

Import your image by clicking ‘open image’ when you first open Photoshop.

Screen Shot 2020-05-03 at 2.45.32 PM

Your image will appear as a locked layer in your layers panel. To make any adjustments, you need to unlock it. This is easily done by clicking on the lock icon. Notice how your layer name changes from ‘background‘ to ‘layer 0

Step 2: Select Your Elliptical Marquee Tool

The Elliptical Marquee Tool can be found underneath the Rectangular Marquee Tool at the top of your toolbar. To access it, click and hold on the Rectangular Marquee tool, and then drag your cursor over to the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Alternatively, press M on your keyboard.

Screen Shot 2020-05-03 at 2.47.50 PM

Step 3: Create A Circular Selection With The Elliptical Marquee Tool

With the Elliptical Marquee Tool selected, click and drag a circular selection around the area of your photo you want to crop. If you want to make the crop a perfect circle, hold down your SHIFT key while creating the selection. If you want to move the entire selection, press and hold the SPACEBAR to move it around.

Screen Shot 2020-05-03 at 2.49.42 PM

If you are unhappy with your selection and want to start all over, press Command + D (Mac) or Control + D (Win) to deselect the selection.

Step 4: Add The Circular Selection To A Layer Mask

Once you’re happy with the position of your selection, add a layer mask to your image by pressing the layer mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Step 5: Adjust The Image Position As Necessary Within The Mask

The beauty of using a layer mask is that you can make adjustments to the position of your circular crop at any time! If you want to adjust the position of your image within the circle, first click the chainlink icon between your layer thumbnail and the layer mask. This allows you to adjust them individually from one another.

Next, click on your layer thumbnail and grab the Move Tool by pressing V. Now, you can move your image independently from the circular crop.

Step 6: Go To Image > Trim To Remove Excess Pixels

To eliminate the excess space on your canvas, go to Image > Trim, and a new dialogue box will open. Tick ‘Transparent Pixels’ and make sure all sides are selected. See below for an example.

Screen Shot 2020-05-03 at 2.54.47 PM

Now you’ve successfully learned how to crop an image into a circular shape using Photoshop! The next step is learning how to export this image out of Photoshop while maintaining a transparent background.

How To Export A Circular Crop With A Transparent Background

If you want to make sure your image stays in a circular crop, you need to export your photo with a transparent background. Luckily this is really easy to do by exporting your image as a PNG file.

Step 1: Go To File > Save As

Once you’re happy with your circular cropped image, go up to the menu bar and select File > Save As or File > Save A Copy.

Screen Shot 2020-05-03 at 2.55.03 PM

Step 2: Change Your Format To .PNG

Select your destination folder and rename your file to whatever you’d like. Then change your format option to .PNG in order to export your circular image with a transparent background.

Screen Shot 2020-05-03 at 2.56.07 PM

Step 3: Click Save

When everything looks good to go, hit save to export your image.

Screen Shot 2020-05-03 at 2.57.28 PM

The Result

Circle-Crop-Example

You’ve now successfully created and exported an image with a circular crop! Since it’s a .png file, you can place it over top of any other photo, and it will maintain its shape. If you were to export the file as a JPEG, there would be a white box around the circle since transparency was not preserved. That’s why those final steps for exporting are so important!

Now, if you run into any issues while trying to export your PNG file, my PNG troubleshooting guide will help sort any of your problems.

Happy Editing!

Article By

Brendan Williams

Hey, I'm Brendan! I'm a professional photographer and photo retoucher who has spent the majority of his career shooting or retouching outdoor lifestyle and social media campaigns for brands like G-Adventures, xoxo Bella, P&G, Fitbit, Chevy, Tourism California, and more. These days I primarily focus my efforts on this site, creating guides and tutorials that I wish I had earlier in my career. Each week I publish new tutorials on Photography, Photoshop, Lightroom, and Canva to help you unlock new skills and bring your creativity to new levels! Everything you learn here is backed by real experience, so you can finally skip the fluff and focus only on what matters.


Continue Reading:

How To Invert Colors In Photoshop

Learn how to quickly invert the colors of an image or a layer mask in Photoshop along with tips to selectively invert your colors instead!

How To Invert A Selection In Photoshop

Learn the importance of learning to invert a selection in Photoshop with the help of simple keyboard shortcuts and several other methods.

How To Use The Gradient Tool In Photoshop

Learn the ins and outs of how to use the gradient tool in Photoshop with useful tips to help make the most of this impressive tool!

Adobe Lightroom System Requirements For Mac & PC

Here's a breakdown of the system requirements for Adobe Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC to make sure it will run smoothly on your computer.

How To Add A Watermark In Lightroom Classic & CC

Learn how to add a text or graphic watermark to a photo in Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC to protect your photos from theft.

How To Use Dehaze In Lightroom

Learn how to use dehaze in Lightroom along with five different ways you can use the dehaze tool to improve your images in Lightroom.

35+ Best Fonts For Logos In Canva

Here's a list of the best fonts for logos in Canva to help give you inspiration in your next logo design!

How To Create Curved Text In Canva

Learn how to quickly create curved text in Canva desktop and mobile with just a few clicks to spruce up any design!

35 Best Fonts For Teachers In Canva

Discover the best fonts for teachers in Canva to help with your next worksheet or presentation for your class!

The 9 Best SD Cards For Sony

Discover the best SD cards for Sony to find the most reliable and best valued memory cards for your photo and video needs.

The Best Canon Lens For Low Light (10 Top Picks)

Get a complete view of the best Canon lenses for low light photography and video along with tips to make the right buying decision.

Affinity Photo VS Photoshop – Which Should You Choose?

Let's take a deep look at the similarities and differences between Affinity Photo and Photoshop to see which program you should pick.