Updated Oct 2026

Edit an image

Crop, adjust, filter, and add your brand to any image in your media library. Then save your changes as a new image or replace the original. You never leave the app.

Before you start

You need an image in your media library. Only images can be edited. GIFs, videos, and PDFs don’t have an edit option. See Upload and manage your media if you haven’t added one yet.

Steps

On the Media page, find the image you want to edit.
Select Edit image from the tile’s ⋯ menu. Or open the image first and select Edit image in the preview. Either way, the image editor opens.
Pick a tool from the toolbar: Zoom, Crop, Adjust, Filters, or Branding. Each tool opens its own settings panel. The toolbar shows icons, so point at one to see its name.
Make your changes. If you change your mind, use the undo and redo arrows in the header. ⌘Z or Ctrl+Z works too.
When you’re done, select Save in the header. The save and export options open. They’re described below.

To rename the image, select the pencil next to its name in the header.

Zoom

Zoom changes your view, not the image. Select Fit to see the whole image, or 100% to see it at full size. You can also scroll to zoom, drag to move around, or pinch on a touch screen.

Crop

Open Crop to trim or reframe the image.

Pick a ratio to lock the crop to a common social shape: Free, Square 1:1, Portrait 4:5, Story 9:16, Wide 16:9, or Link 1.91:1.
Drag the frame or its handles on the image to change the crop. A ratio stays locked while you drag.
Select Rotate 90° to turn the image a quarter turn. Select Flip H or Flip V to mirror it side to side or top to bottom.
Select Reset at the top of the panel to clear the crop, the turns, and the flips.

Adjustments

Open Adjust for six sliders: Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Exposure, Warmth, and Sharpness. Drag a slider and watch the image change. Double-click a slider to reset just that one. Select Reset at the top of the panel to clear them all at once.

Filters

Open Filters to give the image a one-tap look: None, B&W, B&W+, Warm, Cool, Fade, or Punch. Each swatch shows a small preview with your crop and adjustments. After you pick a filter, use the Intensity slider to blend it in, from 0% to 100%.

Branding

Open Branding to add your logo, your sign-off text, or both. Pick one of four templates: Corner logo, Logo + handle, Caption pill, or Top badge. A template goes on as soon as you pick it.

Drag a layer on the image to move it.
Use each layer’s Opacity slider to fade it, and its Visible checkbox to hide it without removing it.
A text layer starts with your brand’s sign-off. Type in its text box to change the words for this image only.
Select Remove branding to take it all off.

You can move and fade the layers. Each template’s fonts, colors, and layout stay fixed.

If your brand has no logo saved, logo layers are left out when you save or export. You’ll see a note: “This brand has no logo, so logo layers are skipped on export. Add one on the Brands page.”

Save your changes

Select Save to open the Save or export dialog. Then pick one of two ways to save:

Save as a new image: keeps the original as it is and adds a new copy to your library. The copy stays editable. You can reopen it later and change your edits.
Replace this image: writes over the original in your library. If it’s an original image, your edits become part of it for good.

Both use the Size and file type settings described in Export below. Select Save to library to finish. You’ll see “Saved to library”, and the Media page opens again.

How Replace affects your posts

Under Replace this image, the dialog says “Posts using this image will show the edited version.” That’s only partly true today.

A post that picked the image from your library keeps the old version. Picking an image gives the post its own copy.
An image you uploaded or made with AI right inside a post is different. Replacing it changes that post too, even if the post is already approved.

To put an edited image in a post, save it as a new image. Then swap it in on the post’s page.

Export

The same dialog also lets you take a copy without saving it to your library:

Download saves the edited image as a file on your device.
Copy to clipboard copies it as a PNG so you can paste it somewhere else. You’ll only see this if your browser can copy images.

Both use the Size dropdown. Pick a target size: Original size, Instagram Square 1080×1080, Instagram Portrait 1080×1350, Story/Reel 1080×1920, or X Landscape 1600×900. Then pick JPEG or PNG. JPEG is picked to start. For JPEG, drag the Quality slider to trade file size for image quality. The estimated file size updates as you change these.

If the size you pick has a different shape than your crop, you’ll see a warning: “Aspect differs — the export will be center-cropped. Tip: use the matching crop preset.” The export keeps the middle of your image and cuts off the edges to fit. To avoid that, go back to Crop and pick the ratio that matches the size.

Leaving without saving

An unsaved tag shows next to the image name while you have changes you haven’t saved. If you select Back then, your browser asks “Discard unsaved edits?” Select Cancel to keep editing, or confirm to leave and lose your changes. Closing the tab warns you too.

Re-editing a saved copy

When you reopen a copy you saved as new, the editor loads the original image underneath. Your earlier changes are all still set, so you can change or remove any of them. They don’t pile up on top of the old result.

If the original image is gone, you’ll see “Original image unavailable — editing the flattened copy.” Then the editor opens the saved copy as a plain image, and the earlier changes can’t be undone.

If something goes wrong

“Only images can be edited.” You tried to open the editor on a GIF, a video, or another file that isn’t an image. Select Back to library.

“Media not found.” The image couldn’t be loaded. It may have been deleted. Select Back to library and try again from there.

“Could not load the image.” The image file didn’t load after the editor opened. Use your browser’s back button, then open the image again.

“Your plan’s media limit is reached — Upgrade to save more.”: Saving would put you over your plan’s storage or item limit. Select Upgrade, or free up space first. See Manage your storage space.

“Save failed”: Saving to your library didn’t work. Most of the time the message names the reason instead. Try again. If it keeps happening, check your connection.

“Export failed”: The Download didn’t work. Try again.

“Copy failed”: Copy to clipboard didn’t work. Try Download instead, or try again.