ImageCropper

A fast, fullscreen image cropping tool written in Rust using egui and wgpu. Designed for efficient workflows involving large datasets of images.

Quick overview

Installation

Global installation:

cargo install imagecropper

and ensure ~/.cargo/bin is in your PATH. Then, you can just run

imagecropper <DIRECTORY>

Simple cropping

imagecropper test-images

Drag with your mouse to select the crop area, then press Enter to save the cropped image and move to the next one. Use Space to skip images and Delete to move bad images to trash.

when pressing Enter, it will save this image:

Multi-selection cropping (Multicropping)

You can create multiple selections by holding Ctrl while dragging. Press Enter to crop all selected areas from the current image and assemble them into a single image.

results in

Output format

By default, cropped images are saved as AVIF files for high efficiency - Saving AVIF files takes a LONG time (minutes!) but the TINY filesize despite HIGH QUALITY is impressive. You can adjust the quality using the -q option, or choose a different output format using -f/--format.

imagecropper -f png test-images

Recursive directory scanning

By default, ImageCropper scans only the files in the top-level directory you provide. If you want to include images inside subdirectories as well, use -r/--recursive to enable recursive scanning.

Image processing order

You can control the order in which images are processed using the -o/--order option. By default, images are processed in filename order. You can invert the sorting using -i/--inverse-order.

To select images in filename order:

imagecropper -o randomize test-images

or by last modified time:

imagecropper -o modified test-images

Resave unchanged images?

You can use the --resave option to automatically convert images to AVIF when navigating away from them, even if no crop was performed. This is useful for batch converting a folder of images.

imagecropper --resave test-images

Features

• Fullscreen Interface: Maximizes screen real estate for image viewing.
• Efficient Workflow: Keyboard-driven navigation and operations.
• Non-Destructive (by default): Original images are moved to a backup folder (.imagecropper-originals) instead of being overwritten or deleted.
• AVIF Output: Automatically converts and saves cropped images as AVIF for high efficiency.
• Multiple Selections: Crop multiple regions from a single image at once.
• Background Processing: Saving and conversion happens in the background to keep the UI responsive.
• Preloading: Preloads next/previous images for instant navigation.

Usage

imagecropper [OPTIONS] <DIRECTORY>

Options

• -q, --quality <QUALITY>: Set the output AVIF quality (1-100). Default is 70 which is a conservative choice. Most photos will do fine with q=30 even if you are watching them on a TV. Checkout MisterAVIF for a tool to determine the correct quality level for your images.
• -r, --recursive: Recursively scan subdirectories for images. Disabled by default.
• --resave: Automatically convert images to AVIF when navigating away from them, even if no crop was performed. Useful for batch converting a folder.
• --report-sizes: When enabled, show the original and new file sizes (human-readable: KB/MB) and the percentage of the new file after background save/backup operations complete.
• --dry-run: Simulate operations without moving or writing files.

Controls

• Mouse Drag: Create a selection.

• Ctrl + Mouse Drag: Create additional selections.

• Drag Handles/Corners: Resize the active selection.

• Arrow Keys: Move all selections.

• Enter: Crop the selected area(s) and save. Moves to the next image.

• Space: Skip to the next image (triggers auto-resave if enabled).

• Backspace: Go to the previous image.

• Delete: Move the current image to the trash folder (.imagecropper-trash).

• Esc: Clear current selection. If no selection, exit the application.

• R: Rotate the current image 90° clockwise.

• Shift + R: Rotate the current image 90° counter-clockwise.

  Note: rotating the image clears any existing selections because selection coordinates are image-space specific.

Workflow

1. Run the tool on a directory of images.
2. Navigate through images using Space.
3. If an image needs cropping, select the region(s) and press Enter.
   • The original is backed up.
   • The crop is saved as an AVIF.
   • The tool advances to the next image.
4. If an image is bad, press Delete to move it to trash.
5. If --resave is on, simply pressing Space on a non-AVIF image will convert it to AVIF in the background.

Output

• Cropped Images: Saved in the same directory with the .avif extension.
• Originals: Moved to .imagecropper-originals/ in the directory where the image is located.
• Trash: Moved to .imagecropper-trash/ in the directory where the image is located.

License

Apache-2.0 License. See LICENSE file for details.

The test images are Uli Köhler's work and are hereby released into the public domain (CC0 1.0 Universal).