iMovie -- adding jpegs question

[Fishrrman]

iMovie beginner here, I apologize for the simplicity of the question.

iMovie 9
OS 10.11.6 El Capitan
MacBook Pro 2015

What I want to do:
Import a single jpg from desktop into iMovie.
Not from iPhoto or Photos, but a pic right from a folder on the desktop

What I've done:
Gone to the import photo pane - ok
Added folder which contains jpg - ok
Dragged that jpg into project window area - ok
The clip now appears in the project window - ok
BUT...

What's wrong:
The photo doesn't "show up" in the "viewer" to the right
The photo doesn't appear when I click the spacebar to "play through" it.

I'm doing something wrong.
What is it?
Do the imported photos have to be in a certain format?
If so, which one?
I notice that if I try to edit the photo's "properties", all I see in "the editing window" is a solid color, not the pic itself.

Any guidance appreciated.

 

[Fishrrman]

Here's a followup to the original post above.

I did some researching on the net, and found that with El Capitan (and later, I think), iMovie 09 will not properly import a jpg -unless- it is 1080p (or, perhaps, smaller) in size.

OK, but...
...how does one -controllably- crop an image to 1920x1080?

By "controllably", I mean I'd like to "crop out" within the image the selection I want (for my 1080p file).
However, simply drawing a "crop rectangle" tool across an image will not produce a result that is EXACTLY 1920x1080.

I understand that Photoshop can do this, but I don't need PS and I don't feel like paying for it to simply resize a few images to use in iMovie.

Are there any other Mac-specific apps or tools "out there" that can do this to "prep" photos for importing into iMovie?

 

[steve123]

Here's a followup to the original post above.

I did some researching on the net, and found that with El Capitan (and later, I think), iMovie 09 will not properly import a jpg -unless- it is 1080p (or, perhaps, smaller) in size.

OK, but...
...how does one -controllably- crop an image to 1920x1080?

By "controllably", I mean I'd like to "crop out" within the image the selection I want (for my 1080p file).
However, simply drawing a "crop rectangle" tool across an image will not produce a result that is EXACTLY 1920x1080.

I understand that Photoshop can do this, but I don't need PS and I don't feel like paying for it to simply resize a few images to use in iMovie.

Are there any other Mac-specific apps or tools "out there" that can do this to "prep" photos for importing into iMovie?

There are a few. Affinity Photos and Pixelmator should be able to do this for you.

 

[kohlson]

If you just want to resize, use the Preview app which comes with every Mac. Does this and other simple edit things, too.