A look at the best android image cropping libraries and how to use them.

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1 1. Yalantis/uCrop
2 Step 1: Install it
3 Step 2: Add to Manifest
4 Step 3: Write Code:
5 Customization
6 Compatibility
7 Reference

1. Yalantis/uCrop

Image Cropping Library for Android.

uCrop aims to provide an ultimate and flexible image cropping experience.

Here is a sample screenshot:

Step 1: Install it

  1. Include the library as a local library project.
    allprojects {
       repositories {
          jcenter()
          maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
       }
    }

A lightweight general solution:

    implementation 'com.github.yalantis:ucrop:2.2.6'

Get power of the native code to preserve image quality (+ about 1.5 MB to an apk size):

     implementation 'com.github.yalantis:ucrop:2.2.6-native'

Step 2: Add to Manifest

Add UCropActivity into your AndroidManifest.xml

    <activity
        android:name="com.yalantis.ucrop.UCropActivity"
        android:screenOrientation="portrait"
        android:theme="@style/Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar"/>

Step 3: Write Code:

The uCrop configuration is created using the builder pattern.

    UCrop.of(sourceUri, destinationUri)
        .withAspectRatio(16, 9)
        .withMaxResultSize(maxWidth, maxHeight)
        .start(context);

Then Override onActivityResult method and handle uCrop result:

    @Override
    public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
        if (resultCode == RESULT_OK && requestCode == UCrop.REQUEST_CROP) {
            final Uri resultUri = UCrop.getOutput(data);
        } else if (resultCode == UCrop.RESULT_ERROR) {
            final Throwable cropError = UCrop.getError(data);
        }
    }

You may want to add this to your PROGUARD config:

    -dontwarn com.yalantis.ucrop**
    -keep class com.yalantis.ucrop** { *; }
    -keep interface com.yalantis.ucrop** { *; }

Customization

If you want to let your users choose crop ratio dynamically, just do not call withAspectRatio(x, y).

uCrop builder class has method withOptions(UCrop.Options options) which extends library configurations.

Currently, you can change:

  • image compression format (e.g. PNG, JPEG, WEBP), compression
  • image compression quality [0 - 100]. PNG which is lossless, will ignore the quality setting.
  • whether all gestures are enabled simultaneously
  • maximum size for Bitmap that is decoded from source Uri and used within crop view. If you want to override the default behaviour.
  • toggle whether to show crop frame/guidelines
  • setup color/width/count of crop frame/rows/columns
  • choose whether you want rectangle or oval(options.setCircleDimmedLayer(true)) crop area
  • the UI colors (Toolbar, StatusBar, active widget state)
  • and more...

Compatibility

  • Library - Android ICS 4.0+ (API 14) (Android GINGERBREAD 2.3+ (API 10) for versions <= 1.3.2)
  • Sample - Android ICS 4.0+ (API 14)
  • CPU - armeabi armeabi-v7a x86 x86_64 arm64-v8a (for versions >= 2.1.2)

Reference

Read more here.

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