How to Crop Pictures into Shapes in Canva (Desktop and Mobile Apps)

Canva is a beautiful and helpful tool for creating graphics. It has everything one expects for creating social media-friendly graphics, but it is missing one feature.

We are talking about crop shape. Instead of using a simple square or rectangular image, sometimes we want to use a different shape. For example, let’s say you’re creating a card for your friend in Canva and you want to crop an image into a heart shape. Canva doesn’t provide a direct option for that, but there is a workaround. Whether it’s a heart, circle, or any other shape, I’ll show you how to crop images into shapes in Canva. Let’s start with the basic crop first.

Basic Crop in Canva

The method varies for websites and mobile apps. We’ve included instructions for both platforms.

There are two ways to crop an image – one method for replacing an existing image and another for adding a new image.

To crop a new image in your template, select it and click on the Crop option at the top. Then, drag any corner of the image to crop it. Click Done when finished.

Your image will be cropped. Pressing the Crop option again will show you the original image. Canva saves the original image, so you can go back to it anytime.

If you select a template and want to replace its image, Canva will crop your image to fit the template. However, if you’re not satisfied, click on Crop. Then drag and crop the image as needed. Click Done to save the changes.

Crop on Canva Mobile Apps

On mobile apps, tap the image and hit the crop icon at the top. Use the pinch and zoom gesture to crop your image. Tap the checkmark icon to save the changes.

Crop into Shapes

For the tutorial, we will crop the image into a circular shape. The steps are the same for other shapes too.

Step 1: Open the template. Click on Elements in the sidebar. Select a shape under Frames. Click on All to view all available frames.

Step 2: Select a shape and add it to your template. Then, drag and drop the image you want to crop into the shape. The image will automatically fit into the shape.

Step 3: Use any of the four corners to resize your circle.

Step 4: Double click the circle to crop the image. Use the four white corners to crop. Save the changes by hitting the Done button.

Similarly, you can choose various shapes like heart, oval, polygon, numbers, alphabets, and more.

Mobile Apps

There are two methods to do it on mobile apps: Android and iOS.

Canva lacks a proper frame option in its mobile apps. However, you can still access other elements like illustrations, text, images, and shapes. Although it’s worth mentioning that the shapes available are different from frames. To work around this limitation, follow these steps: 1. Open a blank or existing template. 2. Tap the add icon in the bottom-right corner.

Step 3: Tap on Illustration or Shape. Use the search bar to type “frames” and press enter.

Step 4: Tap on the frame of your choice. It will be added to the template.

Step 5: Tap on the edit icon in the bottom panel. Then, select the Gallery option.

Step 6: Select the image you want to crop in the shape. It will be automatically cropped according to the shape.

Step 7: To crop the picture or change the visible area in the shape, tap the frame. Edit the picture by tapping the crop icon and using pinch and zoom to modify the area. Save the change by tapping the checkmark icon.

Step 8: Adjust the frame size using the corners.

2. Use Existing Template

If you use an existing template with a shape, you can also crop the image. Follow these steps: Step 1: On the app’s home screen, search for your desired shape, such as a circle.

Step 2: Find the template with an image in a circle.

Note:
Step 3: Tap the circle. You will see three options at the bottom. Select Gallery to add an image from your mobile. Then choose the image to be cropped. It will be cropped into a round shape.

Step 4: Modify the image by tapping the crop icon. Adjust the visible area using pinch and zoom gesture. Save it by tapping the checkmark.

Round Is a Shape

The circular crop feature can generate profile pictures for social networks. If you use an existing template, delete all elements except your shape. Your template will only have the shape on a white background. You can also use other shapes to design graphics.

Talking about shapes, did you know you can crop your image in the circle shape in Paint 3D too? Check the tutorial for more information.