How to crop a photo on a Xiaomi smartphone: from basic tools to professional tricks

Cutting photos on Xiaomi smartphones is a challenge that every user faces, whether it’s preparing a social media avatar, framing a landscape or removing unnecessary details in a picture. Despite the apparent simplicity, many miss the nuances of losing quality while saving to the non-obvious features in a standard gallery. In this article, we will examine all available methods of cropping, from embedded tools to professional applications, and also reveal the secrets to avoid typical mistakes.

Xiaomi smartphones (including Redmi, POCO and flagship series) offer several built-in photo editing solutions, but their capabilities often go unnoticed. For example, did you know that MIUI can crop photos while saving the original file? Or that some models support gold-straight trimming for the perfect composition? We tested all methods on current firmware and collected checklists for each case.

Importantly, if you're working with photos for printing or professional tasks, standard tools may not work, and in such cases, you'll need third-party applications that support layers and are lossless, and we'll go into detail about which programs to choose for Xiaomi and how to set them up.

Method 1: Trimming through the standard MIUI gallery

The fastest and most obvious method is to use the built-in MIUI gallery, which is suitable for 90% of tasks, does not require additional applications to be installed, and works even on budget Redmi models.

1. Open the gallery and select the photo you want. Tap the edit icon (usually a pencil or three dots in the lower right corner).
2. In the editing menu, tap on the "Pruning" icon (scissors or frame with corners).
3. A grid will appear with markers in the corners. Drag them to set a new frame area. Use the grid of thirds (turns on in the camera settings) to fine-tune the frame.
4. After selecting the area, click "Done" or "Save" and the system will suggest replacing the original or saving a copy.

Notice the hidden feature: if you pinch your finger in a photo while trimming, you will see a 90° turn option, which is convenient for quickly aligning the horizon, and some versions of MIUI also have the "Fix Perspective" option, which is useful for architectural shots.

Make sure the cut area does not contain important details|Select the format of the save (JPEG/PNG)|Check the resolution of the output file|Disable Automatic Optimization (if you need to maintain quality)-->

An important nuance: when trimming through the Xiaomi gallery, compression is applied by default. To avoid loss of quality, go to Settings → Camera → Photo format and select the maximum resolution before saving. For models with RAW support (for example, Xiaomi 13 Pro), it is recommended to edit the source files in specialized applications.

⚠️ Attention: On devices with MIUI 14 and later cropped photos are automatically optimized for the Xiaomi ecosystem.This can cause color distortion when viewed on other devices. To disable optimization, deactivate the option "Smart correction" in the gallery settings".

Method 2: Using Google Photos for Advanced Trimming

The Google Photos app offers more flexible editing tools than the standard Xiaomi gallery.

• 🔍 Automatic object allocation (AI offers optimal framing).
• 📏 Side ratio templates (1:1 for Instagram, 16:9 for stories, 4:3 for print).
• 🔄 Cancel action (you can take up to 10 steps back).
• 🌐 Synchronization between devices (editing on the phone will also appear on the PC).

Instructions for pruning:

1. Open the photo in Google Photos and click "Edit" (pencil icon).
2. Select the "Cadrize" tool (third icon on the left).
3. Use the AI options or adjust the area manually. To be precise, turn on the grid ("Show the grid" in the menu).
4. After trimming, click "Save copy" so as not to erase the original.

The thing about Google Photos is that when you trim it analyzes the contents of the image and suggests the optimal aspect ratio for the main object, for example, for a portrait, the AI will automatically highlight the face and pick up the frame 4:5, and for a landscape it will save time, but sometimes it requires manual adjustment.

Standard gallery MIUI|Google Photo|Third-party applications (Snapseed, Lightroom)|I don't edit the photo.-->

Method 3: Professional trimming in Snapseed

For users who need advanced features like cropping with curves or perspective correction, Google's Snapseed app is a good fit. It's free, it supports layers and saves editing history. Here's how to crop a photo in Snapseed:

1. Import the photo to the app (click + and select the file).
2. Slip on the Tools icon and select "Pruning".
3. In Snapseed available: Free trimming (dragging corners); fixed ratios (from 1:1 to 16:9); Crop curve (a unique feature for non-standard frames).

"Done."

The main advantage of Snapseed is the ability to save the trim settings as a template and apply them to other photos. This is convenient for serial shots (for example, cropping grocery photos for an online store), and the app has a tool “Perspective”, which corrects distortion from wide-angle lenses (relevant to Xiaomi smartphones with an ultra-wide module).

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In Snapseed, you can crop the photo with the golden ratio. To do this, in the cropping settings, turn on the "Show the spiral" option, which will help you place the main object at the focal point of the composition.

The disadvantage of Snapseed is the lack of support RAW-If you work with raw images, consider alternatives like Adobe Lightroom or VSCO.

Method 4: File Manager trimming (for power users)

Few people know, but Xiaomi can crop photos directly through the file manager without opening the gallery. This method is useful if you need to quickly prepare several pictures for sending or uploading.

1. Open Files (standard MIUI application).
2. Go to DCIM → Camera and select a photo.
3. Click on the "Edit" icon (pencil) in the lower menu.
4. In the editor that opens, select the “Pruning” tool and set up the area.
5. Save the changes (the option "Save as a new file" is only available in newer versions of MIUI).

This is inferior to the gallery in functionality, but it benefits in speed. For example, if you need to crop a screenshot to send to the messenger, the file manager can do it in 2-3 touches. However, there are no relationship templates and perspective correction tools.

⚠️ Note: When trimming through the file manager on devices with MIUI 12 and older are automatically compressed to 1920×1080, Even if the original was more resolution-free, to avoid this, pre-copy the photo to another folder (like Downloads) and edit from there.

Method 5: Automatic pruning with AI (Xiaomi AI Lab)

The latest Xiaomi models (starting with the Xiaomi 12 and Redmi Note 11) have an AI-based automatic cropping feature, which analyzes the shot and suggests the optimal frame, removing the extra elements.

1. Open the photo in the gallery and click "Edit".
2. Select the Smart Trimming Tool (Icon with Spark) ⚡).
3. Wait for the AI to analyze the image (usually 2-3 seconds).
4. The system will offer 3-5 trimming options. Choose the right one or modify it manually.
5. Save the result (it is recommended to select "Save as a copy").

Xiaomi AI Lab algorithm is trained on millions of photos and does a good job of:

• 👤 Portraits (automatically framing the face, saving space for the background).
• 🌄 Landscapes (removes empty skies or unnecessary edges).
• 🍽️ Food (focuses on a dish by cutting off a table or hands).
• 🏙️ Architecture (corrects the slope of the building).

But AI is not perfect: it can mistakenly crop important details (such as a part of a hand in a portrait) or suggest a shot that is too aggressive. Always check the result before saving. On POCO F5 and later, the option is available, "Manual AI correction" - it allows you to adjust the automatically selected area.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even experienced users make mistakes when cropping photos on Xiaomi, and here are the most common ones and ways to prevent them:

1. Loss of quality: When saving cropped photos, MIUI defaults to compression. To avoid this, go to Camera Settings → Photo Format and select High Quality before cropping.
2. Proportional distortion: It is easy to break the aspect ratio with hand-trimming. Always use a grid (includes in the editor settings) or templates (1:1, 16:9, etc.).
3. Cutting down important details: Before saving, zoom in and check if your hands, feet, or other significant items are caught.
4. Ignoring permission: cropping photos for social networks, take into account their requirements: Instagram: minimum 1080×1080 for posts, 1080×1920 for stories. VK: optimal 1200×800. TikTok: 1080×1920 (vertical video).

Another common problem is color mismatch after trimming, which is due to automatic color correction in MIUI. To avoid distortion, turn off the "Autoimprovement" option in the gallery settings or use third-party editors (for example, Lightroom Mobile).

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Always save the cropped photo as a new file, rather than overwrite the original, which will allow you to return the original version if the result does not suit you.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions