I spent the better part of a decade maintaining a graveyard of Photoshop actions that promised to automate cropping. They worked until they didn’t—layer orders changed, specs shifted, or I simply forgot which hotkey triggered the right sequence. HyperCrop is the modern answer because it keeps the process tied to the actual Figma frames we are already reviewing.

Reliability beats nostalgia

Photoshop actions are powerful, but they are brittle. If the canvas dimensions change, an action might slice content in the wrong place or fail entirely. HyperCrop reads the live frame, detects subjects automatically, and recalculates every crop on the fly. That is the reliability I need during a crunch.

Context remains intact

With HyperCrop, there is no exporting a flattened PNG just to crop it elsewhere. The plugin keeps every export connected to the same component used in design reviews, so when feedback arrives, I update the design, rerun the preset, and ship new files. Photoshop requires branching off from that main file, which increases drift.

When Photoshop still has a place

I am not uninstalling Photoshop—it is still unmatched for heavy retouching, masking, and compositing. But once those assets exist in Figma, HyperCrop wins the repurposing battle. It understands the intent of your layout, speaks in presets instead of action scripts, and never fails because you renamed a layer incorrectly.

So if you are debating HyperCrop vs Photoshop actions, ask yourself whether you want to maintain scripts or simply click “export” with confidence. I made my choice.

Collaboration advantage

HyperCrop keeps the workflow visible to the whole team. Stakeholders can preview crops, request tweaks, and run exports themselves. Photoshop actions usually live on one person’s machine, which turns them into a bottleneck whenever they’re out of office.

Maintenance reality

Specs evolve constantly. Updating a Photoshop action involves digging through GUI steps. Updating a HyperCrop preset takes seconds, and the change propagates to everyone instantly. That saves hours each quarter and keeps your process future-proof.