A colleague asked me today about cropping a square image into a circle using Google Drawing. This process is called “masking,” and it can be done quickly and easily not only in Drawing, but also in Slides. In fact, you are not limited to masking your image with a circle; you can crop it into a number of different shapes. The illustrations below show the process in a drawing, but it works the same for images on slides.
Click on the image you want mask, then click the dropdown arrow next to the crop icon.
You can choose from any of the four categories of masks. Select a category, then click on the shape you want.
The mask is applied to show as much as possible of the original image. You can resize and adjust it by dragging on the blue handles.
Resulting image:
To add a frame, adjust the width and color of the line while the image is selected.
You can reset your image and start over with the click of a button.
Express your creativity by using different shapes to mask your images.
Original image used in this post:
By Jessie Eastland (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Thanks for the tip Nancy. This is very helpful.
My pleasure! I think this could be a great feature to use when creating infographics and posters. It gives you the opportunity to make your images look different and more interesting.
Love that my innocent and totally confused nature triggered this post:) Love the visuals and that I’m no longer TRAPPED in a box:) Thanks!
You are always an inspiration to me. Anytime I can free you from a box, I will.
Thanks a bunch! As an art teacher focusing on traditional as well graphic art on the computer, I am keeping ahead of my students by learning everything in technology I can wrap my mind around. I SO appreciate the tip!
My pleasure. If there is anything else you would like to see, please let me know!