Preview is a tool that most Mac users use every day. I use it for viewing files, playing videos, and viewing images. I even use it for annotating images and making minor image edits.
One of the primary ways that I use Preview with images is when I need to crop an image to only display a specific portion. You could choose to copy and paste the portion of the image that you wish to save to a new photo, but there’s extra steps involved there that aren’t necessary.
Instead, wouldn’t it be better if you could crop an image using a handy keyboard shortcut? In this brief tutorial, I’ll show you how.
How to crop images with Preview
Step 1: Open the image that you wish to crop in Preview.
Step 2: Use your mouse or trackpad to select the portion of the image that you want to keep. You can use the Selection Tool on the left of the toolbar to choose a different shape.
Step 3: Press Command + K to crop the image. You can also use Tools → Crop in the menu bar or the Crop button that appears in the Preview toolbar.
It’s really that simple. There’s no need to create a brand new file; just crop the original file and you’re done.
