Image Rotator

The three rotations

To turn a picture 270° clockwise, choose 90° counter-clockwise once. Doing three clockwise turns would re-encode a JPG three times for the same result. Straightening a slightly tilted horizon, or any angle such as 15°, is not supported; it would need cropping or blank corners. If you want a mirror image, that is a different operation: use the image flipper.

Sideways phone photos and EXIF orientation

A phone usually stores a photo's pixels in one fixed direction and records an EXIF orientation flag. Viewers that read the flag turn the picture for display, so the photo looks upright. Software that ignores the flag, which includes some websites and upload forms, shows the stored pixels, so the photo appears sideways.

This tool reads the flag when it opens a JPG and applies it, then rotates what you would see. The result has upright pixels and no flag. We tested JPGs stored at 600 × 400 with a red block in one corner and rotation flag 6, which a viewer displays at 400 × 600 with the block at the top right. After 90° clockwise the block was at the bottom right and the file was 600 × 400, so the rotation followed the viewed picture, not the stored one. The flag is applied to JPG files only: PNG and WebP files that carry one have it dropped without being applied.

That has a practical consequence. If a photo looks upright on your computer but sideways after upload, you do not need a rotation, you need a copy whose pixels already match the flag. This tool always adds a turn of its own, but the JPG compressor (quality 75) and the JPG to PNG converter (lossless, larger file) both write upright pixels with no flag and add no turn.

Rotating or removing metadata

Rotating removes EXIF, GPS and colour-profile data as a side effect of re-saving, but it is the wrong tool if privacy is your only goal. The Image Metadata Remover removes the same fields without re-encoding the picture and keeps the rotation flag, so the photo does not turn sideways. Use that when you only want the data gone, and this when you want the picture turned. To check the new width and height afterwards, the Image Dimensions Checker shows them.

What happens to quality

• JPG is saved again at quality 85 with colour detail at half resolution (4:2:0). Rotation here is not lossless, and every run re-encodes the file. Four 90° turns return a picture to its original orientation, but they are four JPG re-saves and the result is not the same file.
• PNG stays exact. In our test of a transparent logo, every alpha value and visible colour matched the rotated original. Because the angles are all multiples of 90°, no blank corners are added.
• WebP is saved again as lossy WebP at quality 85, even when the source was lossless, and transparency is kept.

In our test a generated 1200 × 800 JPG saved at quality 95 (397.4 KB) came out at 203.0 KB after a 90° turn in either direction and 186.9 KB after 180°. A transparent PNG logo went from 7.1 KB to 8.5 KB. Generated locally; not a benchmark; not a guaranteed result.

If you are choosing which format to keep after rotating, the JPG vs PNG vs WebP guide compares them.

Accepts JPG/JPEG, PNG and WebP (static). Output is the same format as the input. GIF and animated WebP are not supported, and an animated PNG returns its first frame only. Limits: 20 MB per file, 12,000 px per side and 40 megapixels. One file is rotated at a time.

1. Choose a JPG, PNG or WebP (up to 20 MB).
2. Pick "90° Clockwise", "90° Counter-Clockwise" or "180°". An angle must be chosen before the button works.
3. Click "Rotate Image" and download the result, named after your original with "-rotated" added.

• Turning a scan or photo that was captured on its side
• Making a landscape picture portrait for a form or layout that expects it
• Correcting an upside-down image from a scanner or document camera
• Turning a transparent PNG logo for a different placement without losing its edges

Only 90° clockwise, 90° counter-clockwise and 180° are supported, with no custom angles. JPG and WebP are re-encoded at quality 85, so rotation is not lossless for them, and a lossless WebP is saved as lossy. There is no option to apply the stored orientation without also turning the picture. EXIF, GPS and embedded colour profiles are removed, and a rotation flag is applied to JPG files only. Animated PNG files lose every frame after the first, and GIF is not accepted.