Edit images

Overview

DooFiles lets you edit an image right in the media viewer, without downloading it: rotate it, flip it, crop it, make it smaller, change its format and quality, and remove the information stored in it, such as the camera and the location.

Everything you do is a preview until you save. Then you choose to save a copy next to the original, or to put the edited image in place of the original. DooFiles edits with the image editor of your server, the same one WordPress uses for the Media Library.

[SCREENSHOT_HERE: The image editor of the media viewer, with a photo, the crop frame in 1:1, the proportions above the bar of tools, and Cancel, Replace original and Save copy at the top]

Which images you can edit

EDIT does not appear when the image cannot be edited, when DooFiles is in read-only mode, or when your license is not active.

Start editing

1. Open the image in the media viewer: click its name in the list.
2. Click EDIT at the top.

The viewer changes for editing:

• the tools show in a bar at the bottom;
• the top bar shows Cancel, Replace original and Save copy;
• next to the name, the size of the image before and after your changes, such as 4032 × 3024 → 1080 × 1080;
• the arrows to move between files, the zoom and the Details panel are off until you leave.

The tools

The tool that is open shows lighter in the bar.

Rotate and flip

Click Rotate right to turn the image 90 degrees clockwise, or Rotate left to turn it the other way. You can also press R to rotate right, and Shift + R to rotate left.

Click Flip horizontally or Flip vertically to mirror the image.

If you already chose a crop, the frame turns and flips together with the image, so it keeps the same part.

Crop

1. Click Crop. A frame shows over the image. What stays outside the frame looks darker and slightly blurred, so you can see what you keep.
2. Above the bar, choose a proportion:

Choosing a proportion places the largest frame of that shape in the center of the image.

1. Drag the frame to move it, or drag the handles on its corners and sides to change its size. With a proportion other than Free, the frame keeps its shape.
2. Click Crop again to stop changing the frame. It stays on the image, and the crop is applied when you save.

[SCREENSHOT_HERE: The crop frame over a photo, with the handles, the thirds grid inside and the outside darkened and blurred]

Resize

1. Click Resize.
2. Type the new width or height, in pixels. With the lock closed, the other value follows, so the image keeps its proportion. Click the lock to open it and type both values.
3. The size after the change shows next to the name.

An image can only get smaller: DooFiles never makes it bigger, because that would only make it blurry. If you crop after resizing, the size goes back to the size of the crop.

Format, quality and metadata

Click Format to choose how the image is saved:

To see what a photo has before you edit it, click INFO in the viewer. See Details of a file.

Undo and cancel

• Click Undo, or press Ctrl + Z (Cmd + Z on a Mac), to undo the last change. You can undo every change you made since you clicked EDIT.
• Click Cancel, or press Escape, to leave the editor without saving. The image stays as it was.

Save your changes

When you click Replace original, DooFiles asks Replace the original? and tells you that the original goes to the Trash, where you can restore it. Click Replace to go ahead.

While DooFiles saves, the image fades and blurs, with a loading circle over it. Then the saved image shows in the viewer, and DooFiles says Saved as “photo-edited.jpg”. or Image replaced. The original is in the trash.

Some rules:

• Replace original keeps the format. To save the image in another format, use Save copy.
• If the image belongs to something WordPress needs, such as the active theme, DooFiles asks you to confirm first. See Files WordPress needs.
• Each saved edit shows in the Activity log as Edited image.

Images of the Media Library

The images in wp-content/uploads belong to the Media Library of WordPress. For each one, WordPress keeps several sizes, such as photo-300x200.jpg, and your posts use them. If the original changed and those sizes did not, your posts would keep showing the old image.

That is why, by default, images of the Media Library can only be saved as a copy:

• the top bar shows Media Library instead of Replace original;
• Media Library opens Media › Library in a new tab, with the image searched for. There, WordPress can replace or edit the image and make its sizes again.

The sizes WordPress makes of each image open in the viewer, but cannot be edited on their own.

An administrator can change this with Protect Media Library images, in DooFiles › Settings › Security:

Developers can also set it with the doofiles_protect_media filter. See Filters and constants.

Photos taken with a phone

Phones often save photos turned on their side, with a note that tells the screen how to show them. DooFiles reads that note before applying your changes, so the image you save looks exactly like the one you saw while editing.

Keyboard shortcuts

Troubleshooting

Need more help? Open a support ticket.