Crop a picture in Publisher
Applies ToPublisher for Microsoft 365 Publisher 2021 Publisher 2019 Publisher 2016 Publisher 2013 Publisher 2010 Publisher 2007

Sometimes you might want to fit a picture into a space in a newsletter or brochure without distorting the picture or changing the way it looks.

You can resize or crop to change the size of a picture. Resizing changes the dimensions of the picture by stretching or shrinking it, while cropping reduces the size of the picture by removing the vertical or horizontal edges. Cropping is often used to hide or trim a part of a picture, either for emphasis or to remove unwanted portions.

  1. Click the picture, and click Picture Tools Format > Crop.

    Crop Tool

  2. Position the cropping handle over an edge or corner.

    Crop Handles

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To crop one side, drag the center handle on that side.

    • To crop evenly on two sides at once, hold down the Ctrl key as you drag a center handle.

    • To crop all four sides of your picture evenly and at the same time, press Ctrl+Shift while you drag a corner handle. 

    Notes: 

    • Release the mouse button to see the cropped picture.

    • Click the Crop tool to see only the cropped picture. To view entire picture again, click the Crop tool again. The picture shows the cropped portion clearly and the rest of the picture as a transparent image.

Fit, Fill, Pan, and Rotate tools

Fit

If your picture is larger or smaller than the picture frame you can resize the picture to fit without changing the way it looks.

  • Click the picture, and click Picture Tools Format > Fit.

    Crop Fit Tool

    The picture is resized to fit in the picture frame.

    Crop Fill Example

Note:  For the picture to stay mostly the same, some outside portions of the picture might be cropped.

Fill

Use the Fill tool to fill a picture area without changing the way the picture looks.

  • Click the picture, and click Picture Tools Format > Fill.

    Crop Fill

    The picture is resized to fill the picture area.

    Crop Fill Example

Note:  For the picture to stay mostly the same, some outside portions of the picture might be cropped.

Pan

You can center the picture while you’re using the crop tool.

  1. Click the picture, and click Picture Tools Format > Crop.

    Crop Tool

  2. Move the mouse pointer over the picture until it changes to the Move pointer.

  3. Click and drag the picture to position the picture where you want it.

    Crop Pan Tool

Note:  To continue cropping, click the crop handles so they become the focus.

Rotate

You can rotate the picture while you’re using the crop tool.

  1. Click the picture, and click Picture Tools Format > Crop.

    Crop Tool

  2. Point to the green rotation handle, and drag the mouse in the direction you want the object to rotate.

    Crop Rotate Example

Note:  To rotate in 15 degrees at a time, press Shift while you drag the handle.

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