MEDIA GUIDES / Image Effects

Creating Custom Image Cropping Interfaces in Android

crop image android

Image cropping is a common feature in many Android applications, allowing users to select a specific portion of an image. In this article, we’ll cover different approaches to implementing image cropping in an Android application using the Cloudinary Android SDK.

In order to follow along with this tutorial, you’ll need to have a basic understanding of Android development. You’ll also need to be familiar with Java and Android Studio, though many of these concepts can be applied to Kotlin.

Maximize your digital asset’s impact with Cloudinary’s dynamic resizing and cropping. Sign up for free today!

In this article:

crop image android

Cropping an Image using Cloudinary Android SDK

The Cloudinary Android SDK provides a simple, comprehensive solution for uploading, transforming, optimizing, and delivering media assets, such as images and videos, using code that integrates seamlessly with your existing Android application.

To get started with the Android SDK in your code, you’ll need to get your Cloudinary credentials (cloud name, API Key, API Secret), which will be used to configure your application. You can get yours by logging in to your Cloudinary dashboard.

crop image android

Step 1 – Import the Required Packages and Libraries

Naturally, the first thing we’ll need to do is install the resources that power our application. Let’s take a look at our imports:

package com.example.cloudinaryexample;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.ImageView;

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

import com.bumptech.glide.Glide;
import com.cloudinary.Transformation;
import com.cloudinary.android.MediaManager;
import com.cloudinary.android.callback.ErrorInfo;
import com.cloudinary.android.callback.UploadCallback;

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

Step 2 – Add Project Dependencies in Your build.gradle File

The following code adds the latest version of the Cloudinary Android SDK, Glide (a popular image loading and caching library for Android), and Glide’s annotation processor as dependencies for the project.

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.cloudinary:cloudinary-android:2.5.0'
    implementation 'com.github.bumptech.glide:glide:4.12.0'
    annotationProcessor 'com.github.bumptech.glide:compiler:4.12.0'
}

Step 3 – Configure Cloudinary

Next, initialize your Cloudinary configuration in the Application class or MainActivity:

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

private ImageView imageView;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        imageView = findViewById(R.id.imageView);

        // Initialize Cloudinary
        Map<String, Object> config = new HashMap<>();
        config.put("cloud_name", "your_cloud_name"); // Replace with your cloud name
        config.put("secure", true);
        MediaManager.init(this, config);

        applyCroppingTransformation("sample.jpg"); // Replace with the path to your image
    }

}

Step 4 – Cropping the Image

Next, create an applyCroppingTransformation method to crop the image and generate a transformed image URL:

private void applyCroppingTransformation(String imageName) {
        Transformation transformation = new Transformation();
        transformation.gravity("face").height(150).width(150).crop("thumb");

        String transformedUrl = MediaManager.get().url().transformation(transformation).generate(imageName);

        // Upload the image to Cloudinary with the applied transformation
        MediaManager.get().upload(transformedUrl)
            .unsigned("preset1") // Use your unsigned preset
            .option("resource_type", "image")
            .callback(new UploadCallback() {
                @Override
                public void onSuccess(String requestId, Map resultData) {
                    Log.d(resultData.toString());
                    loadCroppedImage(transformedUrl);
                }

                @Override
                public void onError(String requestId, ErrorInfo error) {
                    Log.e(error.getDescription());
                }
            })
            .dispatch();
    }

This example shows how to crop the input image using the gravity method to focus on the faces of the people in it. You can learn more about other options in Cloudinary’s Android SDK documentation.

Step 5 – Load the Transformed Image URL

Create a method to load the transformed image URL into ImageView using Glide:

  private void loadCroppedImage(String url) {
        Glide.with(this)
            .load(url)
            .into(imageView);
    }

Then, in activity_main.xml, add the ImageView like so:

<ImageView
    android:id="@+id/imageView"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_gravity="center" />

Here’s the complete code for your reference:

package com.example.cloudinaryexample;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.widget.ImageView;

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

import com.bumptech.glide.Glide;
import com.cloudinary.Transformation;
import com.cloudinary.android.MediaManager;
import com.cloudinary.android.callback.ErrorInfo;
import com.cloudinary.android.callback.UploadCallback;

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

private ImageView imageView;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        imageView = findViewById(R.id.imageView);

        // Initialize Cloudinary
        Map<String, Object> config = new HashMap<>();
        config.put("cloud_name", "your_cloud_name"); // Replace with your cloud name
        config.put("secure", true);
        MediaManager.init(this, config);

        applyCroppingTransformation("sample.jpg"); // Replace with the path to your image
    }




    private void applyCroppingTransformation(String imageName) {
        Transformation transformation = new Transformation();
        transformation.gravity("face").height(150).width(150).crop("thumb");

        String transformedUrl = MediaManager.get().url().transformation(transformation).generate(imageName);

        // Upload the image to Cloudinary with the applied transformation
        MediaManager.get().upload(transformedUrl)
            .unsigned("preset1") // Use your unsigned preset
            .option("resource_type", "image")
            .callback(new UploadCallback() {
                @Override
                public void onSuccess(String requestId, Map resultData) {
                    Log.d(resultData.toString());
                    loadCroppedImage(transformedUrl);
                }

                @Override
                public void onError(String requestId, ErrorInfo error) {
                    Log.e(error.getDescription());
                }
            })
            .dispatch();
    }


      private void loadCroppedImage(String url) {
        Glide.with(this)
            .load(url)
            .into(imageView);
    }

}

Conclusion

In this article, we have demonstrated how to apply a basic cropping transformation using the Cloudinary Android SDK. You can modify the transformation parameters to achieve different cropping effects, such as changing the dimensions, crop mode, or gravity.

For more information, see:

QUICK TIPS
Colby Fayock
Cloudinary Logo Colby Fayock

In my experience, here are tips that can help you better implement custom image cropping interfaces in Android:

  1. Cache transformation results locally To reduce redundant API calls and speed up subsequent image loading, cache the transformed images locally on the device using Glide’s built-in caching mechanism. This ensures that once cropped, the same image isn’t fetched from the cloud every time.
  2. Add real-time cropping previews Consider providing users a live preview of their cropping actions before uploading the image. Implement a cropping UI using libraries like uCrop or CropperView to give more control to the user and enhance their experience.
  3. Use offline mode for uploading Add an offline mode feature for your app, where users can crop and edit images even without internet connectivity. Queue the transformation requests and upload them when the user reconnects to the internet.
  4. Leverage Cloudinary’s responsive images feature Dynamically adjust the cropping parameters based on device screen size or resolution using Cloudinary’s auto cropping mode. This helps optimize image quality and performance across different devices.
  5. Integrate gesture-based cropping Implement gesture-based cropping using Android’s multi-touch gestures. This allows users to pinch, zoom, and rotate the crop area, giving a more intuitive and engaging cropping experience.
  6. Use async image processing with coroutines If you’re using Kotlin, consider leveraging coroutines for asynchronous image transformations. This ensures that image processing happens off the main UI thread, improving app performance and responsiveness.
  7. Implement fallback mechanisms for cropping errors Add fallback methods to handle cropping errors gracefully. For instance, in case of failed transformations, display the original image while logging errors for debugging purposes. This ensures that the user experience is not interrupted.
  8. Enhance UI/UX with loading states Show clear progress indicators during the image cropping and uploading processes. Visual feedback like spinners or progress bars ensures users don’t think the app has frozen during these operations.
  9. Optimize image formats for delivery Convert cropped images to more efficient formats such as WebP or AVIF before delivering them to the client. This reduces bandwidth usage and speeds up the loading time of the cropped images on various devices.
  10. Implement security controls for media uploads Secure your uploads by validating and sanitizing images before processing them. Implement Cloudinary’s security measures like restricted upload presets and auto-expiring URLs to prevent unauthorized access or tampering with the media.

These tips will help you create a more robust and user-friendly image cropping experience in your Android app.

Last updated: Oct 2, 2024