How to make a rectangular picture square without cropping photoshop

Q: How do I resize an image in Photoshop without cropping?

Select the layer containing the image or graphic youd like to resize. Choose the Transform tool found in the Edit > Transform > Scale menus. Much like the crop tool, the Transform tool provides several handles around the edge of the image. Click and drag a handle to start resizing the image.

When you take a photo with your smartphone or a camera, the photo will either be in landscape mode or in portrait mode. However, there will be times when you need to make a photo square without losing any details. The most common way to make a photo square is either to resize or crop the picture in a photo editing tool. However, when you resize a picture, you may distort the image and if you crop it, you may lose details in the photo. So, to deal with that you can simply resize the canvas. Here’s how to do it.

Table of Contents Show

Make Photo Square Without Cropping
Option 1: One-Click Option
Option 2: Pixlr
Option 3: Mac App
Option 4: Windows App
How do you make a rectangular picture square without cropping it?
How do I convert a rectangular picture to a square?
How do I resize an image in Photoshop without cropping?
How do I make a rectangle square in Photoshop?

Make Photo Square Without Cropping

Option 1: One-Click Option

If you are looking for a 1-Click web app to turn a rectangle photo into a square without cropping then this is the best option out there. Recently, Kapwing removed the watermark from its free version.

All you have to do is drag and drop your photo (or even a video) to this link and wait a few seconds for it to process.

The app will automatically apply white padding to your picture thus making it a perfect square. Additionally, you can also choose between other aspect ratios such as 4:5, 5:4, 16:9. They can also make other modifications such as align your image, left-right, and bottom, etc. And once you are satisfied with your changes click on the red Export Image button on the top right side of the web page.

On the next page, you can click on the big “Download” button on the left side of the image to download the jpeg version of it.

On the next screen, you have to sign in to remove the watermark. You can sign in with either Google or Facebook. It’s free.

Once done, you will see the watermark vanished from the picture. Next click on the Export Image option.

And finally, you will be able to download the square image with white padding on it.

Option 2: Pixlr

Next, if you want a bit of customization and some basic editing tools you can use a free online editor called Pixlr. Being a web tool, it is operating system independent and you can use it right in your web browser.

1. To start off, head over to the Pixlr site and select the option “Open Image from Computer”.

2. In this window, navigate to the folder where your photo is stored, select it, and click on the button “Open”.

3. The above action will open the photo in the Pixlr editor. Now, click on the “Properties” option at the top-left corner.

4. Under Properties, click on the “Canvas Size” button.

4. Now, we need to enter the same value for the height and width in pixels. For a landscape image, match the height with the width. For a portrait image, match the width with the height.

Since my photo is in landscape mode, I’m changing the photo’s canvas height to match the width. After you are done with the changes, click on the “Apply” button to apply the changes.

5. After applying the changes, this is how it looks like in the Pixlr editor. Make sure you have turned on the toggle beside the Background option on the left-hand side. From the below image, we’ve added white space both on the top and bottom of the photo to make it square without distorting or losing details.

6. To save the photo, click on the “Save” button at the bottom bar.

7. On the Save Image page, select “JPEG” format, leave the quality setting at the default, and click on the “Download” button.

8. In this window, click on the “Save” button to save the photo.

Option 3: Mac App

In case you often upload pictures from your laptop, it’s better to use a dedicated app rather than an online converter. A good app to quickly make an image square without cropping is the Polarr Photo Editor. It is available on the macOS App Store.

Once you download the Polarr Photo Editor, open the editor app and import the picture. Once the picture loads, click on the adjustments tab on the right side of the screen. Scroll down and click on ‘Border’. Now select the aspect ratio and border color from the custom menu available. Clicking on save will save changes to the photo and the iPhoto library will be updated immediately. If you are using an iPhone, it’s probably in your iPhone photo library as well.

Download Polarr Photo Editor

Option 4: Windows App

Square Size No Crop Photo Maker is a Windows app that lets you quickly convert a picture to square size. The app is available on the Windows store and can be downloaded for free.

Once downloaded, open the app and click on the “Gallery” button to select a photo to be imported and edited.

After a photo is imported you’ll see a number of editing options at the bottom. You can select solid or blur backgrounds. Additionally, you can select from multiple editing options like stickers, effects, etc. Once you’re done editing the image, click on the download icon on the top right. If you are not able to see some options or the download button, switch to full-screen mode. The app seems to be optimized for full-screen use.

Download Square Size Photo Maker

So these were 4 simple ways to make a photo square without cropping. It really helps when you have to upload a landscape or portrait photo to Instagram. For more queries or issues, let me know in the comments below.

Also Read: How to Change the Theme of Instagram DMs

Mrinal Saha

Mrinal is a tech geek who spends half of his day reading and writing about tech. While the nights are spent on shooting or editing YouTube videos. Feel free to geek out with him on-

How do you make a rectangular picture square without cropping it?

To make a photo square without cropping, all you need to do is upload the photo to a square canvas. From there, you can choose whether or not to fill in the new white blank space and background with other design elements or not.

How do I convert a rectangular picture to a square?

The most common way to make a photo square is either to resize or crop the picture in a photo editing tool. However, when you resize a picture, you may distort the image and if you crop it, you may lose details in the photo. So, to deal with that you can simply resize the canvas.

How do I resize an image in Photoshop without cropping?

Select the layer containing the image or graphic you'd like to resize. Choose the Transform tool found in the Edit > Transform > Scale menus. Much like the crop tool, the Transform tool provides several "handles" around the edge of the image. Click and drag a handle to start resizing the image.

How do I make a rectangle square in Photoshop?

If you want to create a square, hold down the Shift key while you're dragging. You can also use the Rectangle Tool to draw a rounded rectangle by holding down the Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) key while you're dragging. If you want to use the Shape tool, select it from the Options bar and then click and drag on your canvas.