# Circle Crop Image > A free online tool that crops a picture into a circle with transparent corners, by cutting a centered or chosen square and masking it into a circle in one request, and saves it as PNG or WebP. Circle Crop Image with this free online tool to turn a photo into a round picture. It is a simple way to crop circular pictures from any photo. Choose the square area or use the centered square, then save the result as PNG or WebP. Anonymous use needs a quick human check, and signed-in users skip it and use credits. ## Key facts - Input: one picture up to 5 MB in the free tool and 10 MB when signed in, and up to 16 MP (4096 x 4096); an animated GIF or WebP uses its first frame only. - Settings: a centered square (default) or a square you draw or type, and the save type, PNG or WebP with a quality setting. - One request (action=round_corners with shape=circle) cuts the square and masks it into a circle; the circle keeps the size of the square (a 560 px square gives a 560 x 560 px circle). - In our test an 800 x 560 px PNG gave a 560 x 560 px circle of 22 KB with transparent corners; the same picture with a plain 50 percent corner radius gives a pill shape, not a circle. - The upload is deleted when the job ends and the result after 10 minutes; signed-in users pay 1 credit for the circle. - Free without an account: up to 30 image jobs per day per visitor, no watermark; a circle crop is one job. Signed in, a circle costs 1 credit (100 free credits every month). - Files are deleted automatically: 10 minutes after conversion without an account, 1 day with a free account. - Developers can run the same job with POST https://api.aiipworld.com/v1/image-jobs?op=image_edit (the image as the request body, settings in the query string) and an API key (see the API docs page). ## How it works 1. Upload one picture. PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, BMP and TIFF are accepted. 2. Under "How to crop", keep "Centered square (default)" or choose "Choose the square area" and set the square. 3. Under "Save as", pick PNG (default) or WebP. For WebP, set the Quality slider. 4. Click "Crop circle" and wait for the result panel. 5. Check the circle, then download it. ## How to Circle Crop Image Files Circle crop image files in three simple steps: upload, pick the area, and click "Crop circle". You do not need to install anything. The page sends your picture to our server, which makes the circle and returns the result. The default setting cuts the largest centered square from your picture. It works well when the subject sits in the middle, and the result is a circle image you can save as PNG or WebP. - Upload one picture per job. - Keep the default crop for a quick result. - Click "Crop circle" once. ## Choose the Square Area to Crop a Photo Circle If the face or subject is off center, use "Choose the square area" to circle crop photo files around the part you want. Drag a square on the preview, move it, or resize it by a corner. The box stays square at all times. You can also type Left (x), Top (y), Width and Height in pixels of the original picture. This is useful when you want an exact position. Values are based on the original size, not the preview. ## How the Circle Is Made in One Request The tool sends one request, and you click only once. The server cuts a square out of your picture, the largest centered one or the area you chose, and masks it into a circle in the same step. It is a single job, and it costs 1 credit when you are signed in. A plain round corner setting on a picture that is not square gives a pill shape with long sides, not a circle. The circle option takes the square first, so the result is always round. In our test, an 800 x 560 px picture with a 50 percent radius became a pill shape with a radius of 280 px, while the circle option gave a 560 x 560 px circle. ## The Corners Are Transparent The corners outside the circle are transparent. PNG and WebP keep that transparency, so the area around the circle shows whatever background sits behind the picture. In an editor you see the transparent corners as empty space. JPEG cannot hold transparency, so JPEG is not offered on this page. ## Choose PNG or WebP PNG is the default. It keeps every pixel of the picture, so it is a safe choice for logos, avatars and illustrations with sharp edges. The file is larger than WebP in most cases. WebP is smaller and still keeps the transparent corners. In our test on a generated 800 x 560 px avatar-style illustration, the PNG circle was 22 KB and the WebP circle at quality 90 was 13 KB. Results vary with the picture. ## Size of the Circle The circle keeps the size of the square you cut. A 560 px square gives a 560 x 560 px circle. The tool does not resize to a fixed size, so there is no 512 x 512 option. If you need a different size, resize the picture after you download it. ## Cropping an Animated GIF or WebP An animated GIF or WebP uses its first frame only. The result is a single circle picture, not an animation. The animation settings do not apply on this page. For a round animation, the Round Image Corners tool works frame by frame on animated files, and a radius of 50 percent on a square animation gives a circle. Animated input follows the same frame and pixel limits as other image tools. ## Limits: Size and Pixels Each uploaded picture can be up to 5 MB without an account and up to 10 MB when signed in. Each picture must stay within 16 MP (4096 x 4096) width times height, which the tool checks before it opens the picture. The result can be up to 20 MB, and no more than 40 MP in one picture. WebP results are limited to 16,383 px on a side. A result over these limits is refused before any work is done. ## What to Check in the Result The result panel shows the circle picture, its size, what was done, and the credits used. Look at the edges first. A round shape with clean transparent corners is what you should see. If the subject is cut off, go back, choose the square area again, and run the crop once more. Signed in, a circle costs 1 credit. Failed and timed-out jobs are refunded in full. ## Circle Crop Image From Code Send a POST request to https://api.aiipworld.com/v1/image-jobs?op=image_edit with the raw picture bytes as the body, not JSON or multipart. Set Content-Type to image/png, image/jpeg, image/webp, image/gif, image/avif, image/bmp or image/tiff, and send your API key as Authorization: Bearer `` or x-api-key. Send one request with action=round_corners and shape=circle for the largest centered square. To choose the square yourself, add x, y and size in pixels of the original picture (all three together, whole numbers); an area that goes outside the picture fails with invalid_input. Set format=png or format=webp, because the default keeps the type of your picture. The API returns 202 with a job_id, and you poll GET /v1/jobs/:id until the job is done. The page shows a ready cURL, Node and Python example, built from the settings you chose, and general API details are at /docs/. Common errors are 400 invalid_params, 400 unsupported_image, 413 file_too_large, 402 insufficient_credits and 429 rate limited. A failed job can show invalid_input, image_too_large, output_limit or timeout. ## Privacy: What Happens to Your Picture Use only pictures you have the right to use, as set out in the Acceptable Use Policy. Your uploaded file is used only to make the result. The working copy of the upload is deleted as soon as the job ends, whether it succeeds or fails. The result is deleted after 10 minutes in the free web tool, and no history is kept. Download links are short-lived, so save the file when it is ready. Camera and location tags (EXIF and GPS) are not written to the result. ## Questions ### Can I circle crop an image for free? Yes, you can circle crop an image for free without an account, up to 30 jobs per day per visitor. ### How do I crop a photo into a circle? Upload the photo, keep the centered square or choose your own square area, and click "Crop circle". The result is a round picture with transparent corners. ### Is a circle crop one request or two? One request. The server cuts the square and masks it into a circle in the same job, so a signed-in circle costs 1 credit. ### Can I choose which part of the photo is in the circle? Yes, choose "Choose the square area" and drag or resize the square, or type Left, Top, Width and Height in pixels of the original. ### Why are the corners transparent? The corners outside the circle are transparent so that only the round subject remains. PNG and WebP keep that transparency. ### Can I save the circle as a JPEG? No, JPEG is not offered on this page because it cannot hold transparent corners. Choose PNG or WebP instead. ### What size is the circle? The circle keeps the size of the square you cut. A 560 px square gives a 560 x 560 px circle, and the tool does not resize it to a fixed size. ### Can I crop an animated GIF into a circle? Only the first frame is used, so the result is a single circle picture rather than an animation. ### Does circle cropping reduce the quality? The picture is saved only once, as PNG or WebP. PNG output keeps every pixel of the circle, and WebP is lossy with a Quality slider. ### Can I circle crop an image in my own code? Yes, send one request to the image_edit endpoint with action=round_corners and shape=circle, and add x, y and size to choose the square. The page shows ready examples for cURL, Node and Python. ## Related - [Rotate Image Online](https://aiipworld.com/tools/rotate-image/index.md) - [Flip Image Online](https://aiipworld.com/tools/flip-image/index.md) - [Convert Image to Black and White](https://aiipworld.com/tools/image-to-black-and-white/index.md) - [Crop PNG Online](https://aiipworld.com/tools/crop-png/index.md) - [Add Border to Image](https://aiipworld.com/tools/add-border-to-image/index.md) - [Round Image Corners](https://aiipworld.com/tools/round-corners-image/index.md) - [Image Splitter](https://aiipworld.com/tools/image-splitter/index.md) Page: https://aiipworld.com/tools/circle-crop-image/