Is it ok to edit someone else's images?

Question

I recently edited this question - What would be the best software to place together a tessellation for laser cutting

As well as clarifying the title, fixing spelling & grammar and adding tags, I cropped the images that were uploaded to the question.

Is doing this ok?

Normally I wouldn't edit anyone else's images - I don't think I'd be happy if someone just started cropping images in my questions - but in this case I think it greatly improved the readability of the question. The original two images had a huge amount of white-space around the graphic (which obviously wasn't intentional or needed) the same color as the page so it just looked like empty space and you had to scroll a lot to get past the images.

I didn't think twice about doing this until after the edit was approved so I just want to see how everyone else feels about this.

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For reference, this is one of the images. I've added a border so it's easier to see, but this is the original:

and this is what I edited it too:

Answer 1

I've edited images here before. No one minds as long as it was for a good reason.

As long as you can clearly articulate to yourself why something is worth doing, and how it will benefit the site, do whatever you deem necessary to posts.

Worst case scenario, you get called out on it, you explain why and a discussion about editing ensues that benefits everyone.

If incorrect, you learn a lesson and it gets rolled back, no harm done. If correct, you helped improve the site and we're grateful.

It's win-win unless you hate any kind of confrontation, but if that was the case I doubt you'd be confident enough to edit in the first place.

Answer 2

I see no issue with editing someone else's images as long as they don't vandalize what they are trying to display. Personally I think it makes the Q&A better if the images are also edited along with the question or the answer it is associated with.