How to Crop an Image Into a Circle in Google Docs

Quick Tips

• Add the image to your Google Docs using the Insert menu and selecting Image.
• Click on the image, then select the Crop image icon and choose Crop image to access cropping options.
• Select Shape, and then choose the circle shape to crop the image into a circle.
• Drag the handles around the image to resize and position the circular crop as desired, and press Enter to apply the circular crop.

How to Crop an Image Into a Circle in Google Docs

Step 1: Launch Google Docs and open a document. Now, point the cursor to where you want to place the image.

Step 2: Next, bring up the Insert menu, select Drawing, and then choose New.

Step 3: On the Drawing pop-up, click on the Image icon as shown below to add the image/picture of your choice.

Here, you can either paste the link or upload the image directly.

Step 4: Select the image and click on the chevron (little arrow) beside the crop icon.

Step 5: Now, click Shapes and choose Circle from the lot.

However, the default shape is often not the desired one. The default crop looks more like a sphere than a circle if you upload a rectangular image.

Step 6: To adjust the shape and size of the image, place the cursor at the corner of the image. Now, slowly drag the pointer inside, as shown in the screenshot below. This will ensure that the cropped shape is an actual circle.

Likewise, you can drag the pointer out to increase the shape.

Once you have achieved the shape, adjust the orientation of the image as per your choice. You can also insert Word art into the image to add a little twist.

Step 7: To do so, click on Actions > Word art.

Step 8: Once done, hit the Save and Close button to insert the shape into the document.

The good thing about the Drawing tool is that it lets you crop an image into any shape. So, if you want to crop a picture into a quirky arrow shape, you can do so. All you need to do is resize the shape to fit your requirements.

Furthermore, any picture that you modify can be copied and pasted on other Google Docs as well. Such images carry over all the additional modifications.

How to Add a Border to the Shape

The Drawing tool of Google Docs also lets you add borders to these cropped images. Furthermore, you can also play with the style and weight of the border, just like any other image.

So, once you have cropped the image as per the required shape, click on the Border icon and pick the weight of your choice.

How to Download a Cropped Image

As noted above, Google Docs is a versatile tool, and the images you make here are downloadable in PNG, JPG, or SVG format. You can use these images on other Google tools, like Slides.

Step 1: Double-click on the image to open the Drawing panel.

Step 2: Next, click Action on the left side, select Download, and choose the format.

Pick the format of your choice, and that’s it! Google Docs will download the image directly to your PC’s Downloads folder. The only issue is that you will have to adjust the transparency using tools like GIMP, Canva, or LunaPic.

What About the Google Docs Mobile App

Unfortunately, Google Docs for mobile doesn’t allow you to play with the shape of an image. However, you can use a third-party app like Canva or Paint 3D to crop the image into the required shape.

Alternatively, you can use Google Slides to crop images and pictures to other shapes. But there’s no way to bring that shape into Docs.

While the above method is suitable for an image or two, it’s not viable if you crop a slew of images. For that, you will have to rely on tools like Canva or GIMP. The former is an added advantage since you can crop images into shapes both on desktop and mobile.