diff --git a/src/lib/images.ts b/src/lib/images.ts
index f56308c4..6f0b6a4f 100644
--- a/src/lib/images.ts
+++ b/src/lib/images.ts
@@ -112,3 +112,19 @@ export async function compressIfNeeded(
     maxSize,
   })
 }
+
+export interface Dim {
+  width: number
+  height: number
+}
+export function scaleDownDimensions(dim: Dim, max: Dim): Dim {
+  if (dim.width < max.width && dim.height < max.height) {
+    return dim
+  }
+  let wScale = dim.width > max.width ? max.width / dim.width : 1
+  let hScale = dim.height > max.height ? max.height / dim.height : 1
+  if (wScale < hScale) {
+    return {width: dim.width * wScale, height: dim.height * wScale}
+  }
+  return {width: dim.width * hScale, height: dim.height * hScale}
+}
diff --git a/src/state/models/user-local-photos.ts b/src/state/models/user-local-photos.ts
index 9a145503..08b2b390 100644
--- a/src/state/models/user-local-photos.ts
+++ b/src/state/models/user-local-photos.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import {makeAutoObservable, runInAction} from 'mobx'
 import {CameraRoll} from '@react-native-camera-roll/camera-roll'
 import {RootStoreModel} from './root-store'
 
+export type {PhotoIdentifier} from './../../../node_modules/@react-native-camera-roll/camera-roll/src/CameraRoll'
+
 export class UserLocalPhotosModel {
   // state
   photos: PhotoIdentifier[] = []
diff --git a/src/view/com/composer/PhotoCarouselPicker.tsx b/src/view/com/composer/PhotoCarouselPicker.tsx
index 12dac582..21e91fc9 100644
--- a/src/view/com/composer/PhotoCarouselPicker.tsx
+++ b/src/view/com/composer/PhotoCarouselPicker.tsx
@@ -6,10 +6,17 @@ import {
   openCamera,
   openCropper,
 } from 'react-native-image-crop-picker'
-import {compressIfNeeded} from '../../../lib/images'
+import {
+  UserLocalPhotosModel,
+  PhotoIdentifier,
+} from '../../../state/models/user-local-photos'
+import {compressIfNeeded, scaleDownDimensions} from '../../../lib/images'
 import {usePalette} from '../../lib/hooks/usePalette'
 import {useStores} from '../../../state'
 
+const MAX_WIDTH = 1000
+const MAX_HEIGHT = 1000
+
 const IMAGE_PARAMS = {
   width: 1000,
   height: 1000,
@@ -25,7 +32,7 @@ export const PhotoCarouselPicker = ({
 }: {
   selectedPhotos: string[]
   onSelectPhotos: (v: string[]) => void
-  localPhotos: any
+  localPhotos: UserLocalPhotosModel
 }) => {
   const pal = usePalette('default')
   const store = useStores()
@@ -45,12 +52,20 @@ export const PhotoCarouselPicker = ({
   }, [store.log, selectedPhotos, onSelectPhotos])
 
   const handleSelectPhoto = useCallback(
-    async (uri: string) => {
+    async (item: PhotoIdentifier) => {
       try {
+        // choose target dimensions based on the original
+        // this causes the photo cropper to start with the full image "selected"
+        const {width, height} = scaleDownDimensions(
+          {width: item.node.image.width, height: item.node.image.height},
+          {width: MAX_WIDTH, height: MAX_HEIGHT},
+        )
         const cropperRes = await openCropper({
           mediaType: 'photo',
-          path: uri,
+          path: item.node.image.uri,
           ...IMAGE_PARAMS,
+          width,
+          height,
         })
         const img = await compressIfNeeded(cropperRes, 300000)
         onSelectPhotos([img.path, ...selectedPhotos])
@@ -71,10 +86,18 @@ export const PhotoCarouselPicker = ({
       const result = []
 
       for (const image of items) {
+        // choose target dimensions based on the original
+        // this causes the photo cropper to start with the full image "selected"
+        const {width, height} = scaleDownDimensions(
+          {width: image.width, height: image.height},
+          {width: MAX_WIDTH, height: MAX_HEIGHT},
+        )
         const cropperRes = await openCropper({
           mediaType: 'photo',
           path: image.path,
           ...IMAGE_PARAMS,
+          width,
+          height,
         })
         const finalImg = await compressIfNeeded(cropperRes, 300000)
         result.push(finalImg.path)
@@ -101,12 +124,12 @@ export const PhotoCarouselPicker = ({
         onPress={handleOpenGallery}>
         <FontAwesomeIcon icon="image" style={pal.link} size={24} />
       </TouchableOpacity>
-      {localPhotos.photos.map((item: any, index: number) => (
+      {localPhotos.photos.map((item: PhotoIdentifier, index: number) => (
         <TouchableOpacity
           testID="openSelectPhotoButton"
           key={`local-image-${index}`}
           style={[pal.border, styles.photoButton]}
-          onPress={() => handleSelectPhoto(item.node.image.uri)}>
+          onPress={() => handleSelectPhoto(item)}>
           <Image style={styles.photo} source={{uri: item.node.image.uri}} />
         </TouchableOpacity>
       ))}