[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":275},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-crop-and-straighten":3,"related-crop-and-straighten":128},{"slug":4,"section":5,"title":6,"seoTitle":7,"description":8,"intro":9,"level":10,"minutes":11,"updated":12,"icon":13,"keywords":14,"photo":19,"steps":20,"faq":83,"related":90,"order":93,"downloads":94,"images":95},"crop-and-straighten","app","Crop and straighten a photo","How to crop, straighten and rotate photos in LightBites","Level a crooked horizon, crop to 4:5, 9:16 or square for social media, rotate and flip, and change it all again later.","A level horizon and a tighter frame fix more photos than any slider. Here is how, in a few taps.","Beginner",3,"2026-10-21","i-lucide-crop",[15,16,17,18],"crop photo","straighten horizon","crop 4:5 Instagram","rotate photo","sun-on-horizon.jpg",[21,32,53,68],{"id":22,"title":23,"text":24,"shot":27},"open","Open Crop",{"ios":25,"mac":26},"Open a photo and tap **Crop** in the bar at the bottom. The screen is called **Crop & Rotate**.","Open a photo and click **Crop** in the tool strip, or press `C`.",{"alt":28,"ui":29},"Crop & Rotate on a beach at sunset, with the crop frame and the straighten dial",{"screen":30,"cropTab":31},"crop","aspect",{"id":33,"title":34,"do":35,"edit":42,"tip":46,"shot":49},"straighten","Level the horizon",[36,39],{"ios":37,"mac":38},"Tap **Auto** to level it for you, or turn the dial under the photo.","Drag **Angle** until the horizon is level.",{"ios":40,"mac":41},"Or tap **Straighten** and draw a line along something that should be level, like the sea.","The **Overlay** menu puts a grid over the photo to judge it by.",[43],[44,45],"crop.autoStraighten",{},{"ios":47,"mac":48},"Double-tap the dial to set it back to 0°.","Double-click Angle to set it back to 0°.",{"alt":50,"ui":51},"The horizon levelled, with a grid over the photo",{"screen":30,"cropTab":31,"cropGuide":52},"grid",{"id":31,"title":54,"text":55,"edit":56,"tip":61,"shot":64},"Choose a shape","Under **Aspect**, pick **Original**, **Free** or a ratio. **4 × 5** (Portrait) fills the most of an Instagram feed, **9 × 16** is a story or reel, **1 × 1** is square. Drag the photo to choose what's in the frame.",[57],[58,59],"crop.aspect",{"aspect":60},"4x5",{"ios":62,"mac":63},"**Lock Aspect** keeps the shape while you drag a corner.","Press `X` to swap the crop between portrait and landscape.",{"alt":65,"ui":66},"The photo cropped to 4 by 5, with the aspect tiles below",{"screen":30,"cropTab":31,"cropGuide":67},"thirds",{"id":69,"title":70,"do":71,"tip":78,"shot":79},"done","Rotate, flip, and finish",[72,75],{"ios":73,"mac":74},"**Rotate** turns it by 90°; **…** ▸ **Flip Horizontal** mirrors it.","**Rotate Left** and **Rotate Right** (`⌘[` and `⌘]`) turn it by 90°; the flip buttons mirror it.",{"ios":76,"mac":77},"Tap ✓ to keep the crop, or ✕ to go back to how it was.","Click **Done** to keep it, or **Cancel** to go back to how it was.","A crop is an edit like any other: open Crop again any time to change it, or choose **Reset Crop**.",{"alt":80,"ui":81},"The finished crop: a level horizon in a tall 4 by 5 frame",{"screen":82},"photo",[84,87],{"q":85,"a":86},"What size should I crop for Instagram?","4 × 5 for photos in the feed (it takes up the most room), 9 × 16 for stories and reels, and 1 × 1 for a square grid. LightBites has them all under Aspect, in Social.",{"q":88,"a":89},"Does cropping lose the rest of the photo?","No. The crop is stored as an edit. Open Crop again and the whole photo is still 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a photo: the basics","How to edit photos on iPhone and Mac: the LightBites editor in five minutes","The editor in five minutes: the edit groups, Auto, the Light and Color sliders, comparing before and after, undo, and dials or sliders.","Every edit in LightBites can be undone and none of them touches the original. Here is the editor, and the few sliders that do most of the work.",5,"i-lucide-sliders-horizontal",[137,138,139,140],"photo editor iPhone","edit photos Mac","exposure contrast highlights shadows","Lightroom alternative","lake-louise.jpg",[143,157,172,181,195],{"id":144,"title":145,"text":146,"tip":149,"shot":152},"open-edit","Open the editor",{"ios":147,"mac":148},"Open a photo and tap **Edit** (the sliders) in the bar at the bottom. The groups run along the panel: **Auto**, **Light**, **Color**, **Effects**, **Detail**, **Optics**, **Lens Blur**, **Calibration** and **Profile**.","Open a photo and click **Edit** in the tool strip. The panel has **Auto**, **B&W** and **HDR** at the top, the profile, then the groups one under another: **Light**, **Color**, **Effects**, **Detail**, **Optics**, **Lens Blur** and **Calibration**. Click a title to open or close it; `⌥`-click opens only that one.",{"ios":150,"mac":151},"**Auto** gives a balanced starting point to adjust from. Tap it again, before you change anything else, to take it away.","**Auto** (`⇧A`) gives a balanced starting point to adjust from.",{"alt":153,"ui":154},"The editor open on a photo of kayaks on a mountain lake, with the Light group's sliders",{"screen":155,"group":156},"edit","light",{"id":156,"title":158,"text":159,"set":160,"tip":166,"shot":169},"Set the light","Work down the **Light** group. **Exposure** sets the overall brightness. **Highlights** down brings back a bright sky; **Shadows** up opens the dark parts. **Whites** and **Blacks** set the brightest and darkest points, and **Contrast** comes last.",{"light.exposure":161,"light.highlights":162,"light.shadows":163,"light.whites":164,"light.blacks":165,"light.contrast":164},0.15,-45,30,10,-8,{"ios":167,"mac":168},"Double-tap a slider to put it back to zero.","Double-click a slider to put it back to zero.",{"alt":170,"ui":171},"The Light group: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Blacks moved",{"screen":155,"group":156},{"id":173,"title":174,"text":175,"set":176,"shot":178},"color","Fix the colour","In **Color**, the **White Balance** menu (**As Shot**, **Auto**, **Daylight**, **Cloudy**…) and the eyedropper take a colour cast away; **Temp** and **Tint** fine-tune it. Then add **Vibrance**, which boosts the dull colours more than the bright ones, before you reach for **Saturation**.",{"color.vibrance":177,"color.saturation":93},22,{"alt":179,"ui":180},"The Color group: white balance, Temp, Tint, Vibrance and Saturation",{"screen":155,"group":173},{"id":182,"title":183,"do":184,"shot":191},"compare","Compare, undo, start again",[185,188],{"ios":186,"mac":187},"Press and hold the photo to see it as it was; let go to come back.","Hold `\\` to see the photo as it was; tap it to keep the original on screen.",{"ios":189,"mac":190},"**Undo** at the top left takes back the last change. Hold it for **Redo**, **Reset**, **Versions** and **History**.","`⌘Z` undoes and `⇧⌘Z` redoes. **Photo ▸ Reset Edits** (`⇧⌘R`) starts over.",{"alt":192,"ui":193},"Before and after: the original photo beside the edited one",{"screen":155,"group":156,"beforeAfter":194},true,{"id":196,"title":197,"text":198,"shot":199},"dials","Dials or sliders","On iPhone and iPad, choose how you adjust in **Settings ▸ Interface ▸ Adjustments**: **Dials**, a row of dials like the Photos app's, **Sliders**, like Lightroom's, or **Automatic**: dials under the photo, sliders beside it on a wide screen. Both edit the same way.",{"alt":200,"only":201,"ui":202},"The Light group as a row of dials under the photo","ios",{"screen":155,"group":156,"editStyle":196},[204,207],{"q":205,"a":206},"Can I undo an edit later?","Yes, at any time. Edits are saved as instructions, not baked into the photo: reset a slider, step back through History, or reset the whole photo, even weeks later.",{"q":208,"a":209},"Is LightBites a Lightroom alternative?","It works the way Lightroom does, with the same kind of sliders, masks, presets and raw processing, but it runs entirely on your device, with no account and no subscription.",[211,4],"raw-workflow",{},{"editing-basics-open-edit-mac-dark-1600":214,"editing-basics-open-edit-mac-dark-800":215,"editing-basics-open-edit-mac-light-1600":216,"editing-basics-open-edit-mac-light-800":217},"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F341898eb-bd18-4717-b9e5-cbd256278dda.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F1e09ac99-4d2f-4846-b5ab-a5ffb7077513.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F7c5fd437-fc3c-4ad0-b5c0-f00e1ca71d3e.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F6e60365b-0d73-4f78-8924-797822605df9.webp",{"slug":92,"section":5,"title":219,"seoTitle":220,"description":221,"intro":222,"level":10,"minutes":11,"updated":12,"icon":223,"keywords":224,"photo":230,"steps":231,"faq":259,"related":266,"order":268,"downloads":269,"images":270},"Export and share your photos","How to export and share photos from LightBites: sizes, formats and quality","Send an edit to Messages, AirDrop or Photos, choose JPEG, PNG, TIFF, AVIF or the original, pick the right size, and keep your location private.","Your edit only exists inside LightBites until you export it. Choose a size and a format, and send it on.","i-lucide-share",[225,226,227,228,229],"export photos","share photos iPhone","photo export size","JPEG quality","remove location from photo","tokyo-alley.jpg",[232,245,253],{"id":22,"title":233,"do":234,"shot":241},"Open Share",[235,238],{"ios":236,"mac":237},"In a photo, tap **Share** at the top.","Choose **File ▸ Export…** (`⇧E`), or right-click a photo and choose **Export…**.",{"ios":239,"mac":240},"For several, tap **Select**, choose them, and tap **Export**.","For several, select them first.",{"alt":242,"ui":243},"The Share sheet for a night photo of a Tokyo alley: file type, size, quality and metadata",{"screen":82,"sheet":244},"export",{"id":246,"title":247,"do":248,"tip":252},"options","Pick the file and the size",[249,250,251],"**File Type**: JPEG goes anywhere; PNG or TIFF for printing and more editing; AVIF, WebP and JPEG XL make small files; **Original** sends the file as you imported it.","**Size**: **Small** (1080 px) for messages, **Medium** (2048 px) for social media, **Large** (4096 px), or **Full Size** for prints.","**Metadata**: keep it all, only the copyright, or none. **Remove Location** leaves out where you took it.","Use the same settings again and again? Save them with **Preset ▸ Save as Preset…** at the top of the sheet.",{"id":254,"title":255,"text":256},"send","Send it",{"ios":257,"mac":258},"**Share** opens the share sheet: AirDrop, Messages, Mail, Files and the rest. **Save to Photos** puts a copy in your Photos library (JPEG, PNG, TIFF or DNG).","When it's done: **Share** to send it on, **Show in Finder** to see the files, or **Done**. **File ▸ Export with Previous** (`⌥⇧⌘E`) exports the photos you've chosen with the settings you used last time.",[260,263],{"q":261,"a":262},"Which size should I export for Instagram?","Medium (2048 px on the long side) is plenty: Instagram shows photos at most 1080 px wide. Crop to 4 × 5 first for the most room in the feed.",{"q":264,"a":265},"Can I export the original raw file?","Yes: choose Original as the file type to send the file exactly as you imported it, or DNG to export it as a DNG.",[4,267],"presets",8,{},{"export-and-share-open-mac-dark-1600":271,"export-and-share-open-mac-dark-800":272,"export-and-share-open-mac-light-1600":273,"export-and-share-open-mac-light-800":274},"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002Faaa84b27-bac7-4c59-b52b-d9387edbb0c1.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002Fcbbe47dd-4d76-441c-97e6-0f6431c26190.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002F30eccd36-9b93-4cae-8433-f8fbf1eca5df.webp","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.eliasruiz.com\u002Fhelp-bites\u002Ftb4A2EAxRx\u002Fblog\u002Fa483121f-dcd8-445e-92f5-6b5afb2b7a9a.webp",1792693337595]