How to Customize Thumbnail and Crop images in WordPress

I often find that the default thumbnail cropping doesn't suit me. Just after I have uploaded an image, or after I pull it up in the "add media" screen, you'll see a button that says Edit Image, just underneath the thumbnail in the image above.

How To Crop Images in WordPress:

1. After uploading Click "Edit Image" and you'll get a little editing screen.

2. Select the Area which you want to Crop.

3. After Selecting an area, Click again on Crop button.

1. Click on Save button. And your image will be cropped. After cropping and saving you can restore your original image to its original form by click on "Restore to Original Form".

This video is a great overview of all these steps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu6KAVCeUyk  

How to Add Post Thumbnails in WordPress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUfgmRCPI0E

WordPress Plugins for Thumbnail Management:

1. Image Watermark

WordPress has handled cropping, resizing and rotating in the built-in image editor for years, so the one job still worth a plugin is watermarking. Image Watermark applies a watermark automatically on upload or in bulk to your existing library, and is actively maintained and tested against the current WordPress release. It replaces Scissors, which this article used to recommend and which was removed from the WordPress plugin directory in March 2021.

2. Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail)

Sets a featured image automatically from the first image in a post, so archive listings and excerpts get a thumbnail without you assigning one by hand. Actively maintained and tested against the current WordPress release. It replaces Thumbnail For Excerpts, which was removed from the WordPress plugin directory in June 2022.

3. R.I.P. ImageManager

The ImageManager plugin integrates the stand alone PHP ImageManager + Editor with WordPress. The ImageManager provides an interface for browsing and uploading image files on/to your server. The Editor allows for some basic image manipulations such as, cropping, rotation, flip, and scaling.

4. WP Vivtiger Image Resizer

Allows users to crop and resize an image easily using the WordPress attachment system.

5. WP Post Thumbnail

This plugin enables bloggers to upload images, crop and save it as post thumbnails without manually copy-n-paste custom field values. For theme develop

6. Auto Post Thumbnail

Automatically generate the Post Thumbnail (Featured Thumbnail) from the first image in post or any custom post type only if Post Thumbnail is not set