How to Handle Basic Image Editing in WordPress
Do you know that it is possible to do basic image editing in WordPress? This feature will come in handy when you want to rotate, crop, scale and flip images. It will save you time instead of having to switch to a photo editor just to make minor changes. The feature will also be helpful when you are not near your computer or don’t have any photo editing software installed. Let’s look at the basic things you can do from the WordPress admin area when it comes to image editing.
Upload the image
The first thing you have to do to perform basic image editing in WordPress is to upload your image. You can upload it through the post editor as you edit your post or through the Media>>Add New page. After the image has been uploaded you need to go to Media>>Library page. Locate the images that you uploaded and click it. Clicking on the image will open it in a popup window. You will be able to see the details of the image as well as an image preview.
Opening the image editing screen
There are two ways you can open the image with the built-in image editor in WordPress. The first option is to click on ‘Edit Image’ button located below the image preview. This will open the image editor in a popup. The second option is to click on the ‘Edit Image Details’ link. The second option will close the media popup and open an Edit Media page. From here you need to click on ‘Edit Image’ button under the image preview in order to open the image editing screen.
The image editing screen will give editing options on top of the image. There are additional buttons on the right column for resizing the image. You will be able to do the following using the buttons on top:
- Crop: Click on the crop button and select the image area that you wish to crop out of the original image.
- Rotate: You will be able to rotate the image clockwise as well as counter-clockwise.
- Flip: This enables you to flip your image vertically or horizontally.
- Undo/redo: This will help revert the changes you have made.
The buttons to the right will help you do the following:
- Scale image: This scales the image while keeping the original propositions. Use this option before you crop the image.
- Aspect ratio: This helps set a specific aspect ratio. You can then click the crop button while maintaining the aspect ratio that you want.
- Thumbnail settings: You can apply the settings to all image sizes, just a thumbnail or to all image sizes except thumbnail. Thumbnail is the smallest image size that you can create.
Once you are done editing your image you just need to save the changes and everything will be applied. If you wish to restore the original image to its original version after editing, simply edit the image again and you will find the ‘Restore original image’ Meta box.