diff --git a/core/includes/image.inc b/core/includes/image.inc
index 8dc36b9..7da9495 100644
--- a/core/includes/image.inc
+++ b/core/includes/image.inc
@@ -326,6 +326,11 @@ function image_rotate(stdClass $image, $degrees, $background = NULL) {
  *   The target width, in pixels.
  * @param $height
  *   The target height, in pixels.
+ * @param $background
+ *   An hexadecimal string specifying the background color to use for the
+ *   additional area created when cropping to larger dimensions than the source.
+ *   Examples: "RGB", "RGBA", "RRGGBB", "RRGGBBAA". For images that support
+ *   transparency, this will default to transparent. Otherwise it will be white.
  *
  * @return
  *   TRUE on success, FALSE on failure.
@@ -334,7 +339,7 @@ function image_rotate(stdClass $image, $degrees, $background = NULL) {
  * @see image_scale_and_crop()
  * @see image_gd_crop()
  */
-function image_crop(stdClass $image, $x, $y, $width, $height) {
+function image_crop(stdClass $image, $x, $y, $width, $height, $background = NULL) {
   $aspect = $image->info['height'] / $image->info['width'];
   if (empty($height)) $height = $width / $aspect;
   if (empty($width)) $width = $height * $aspect;
@@ -342,7 +347,7 @@ function image_crop(stdClass $image, $x, $y, $width, $height) {
   $width = (int) round($width);
   $height = (int) round($height);
 
-  return image_toolkit_invoke('crop', $image, array($x, $y, $width, $height));
+  return image_toolkit_invoke('crop', $image, array($x, $y, $width, $height, $background));
 }
 
 /**
@@ -438,5 +443,52 @@ function image_save(stdClass $image, $destination = NULL) {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Converts a hex string to RGBA (Red, Green, Blue, Alpha) integer values.
+ *
+ * @param $hex
+ *   A string specifing an RGB color in the formats:
+ *   '#ABC','ABC','#ABCD','ABCD','#AABBCC','AABBCC','#AABBCCDD','AABBCCDD'
+ *
+ * @return
+ *   An array with four elements for red, green, blue, and alpha.
+ */
+function image_hex2rgba($hex) {
+  $hex = ltrim($hex, '#');
+  if (preg_match('/^[0-9a-f]{3}$/i', $hex)) {
+    // 'FA3' is the same as 'FFAA33' so r=FF, g=AA, b=33
+    $red = str_repeat($hex{0}, 2);
+    $green = str_repeat($hex{1}, 2);
+    $blue = str_repeat($hex{2}, 2);
+    $alpha = '0';
+  }
+  elseif (preg_match('/^[0-9a-f]{6}$/i', $hex)) {
+    // #FFAA33 or r=FF, g=AA, b=33
+    list($red, $green, $blue) = str_split($hex, 2);
+    $alpha = '0';
+  }
+  elseif (preg_match('/^[0-9a-f]{8}$/i', $hex)) {
+    // #FFAA33 or r=FF, g=AA, b=33
+    list($red, $green, $blue, $alpha) = str_split($hex, 2);
+  }
+  elseif (preg_match('/^[0-9a-f]{4}$/i', $hex)) {
+    // 'FA37' is the same as 'FFAA3377' so r=FF, g=AA, b=33, a=77
+    $red = str_repeat($hex{0}, 2);
+    $green = str_repeat($hex{1}, 2);
+    $blue = str_repeat($hex{2}, 2);
+    $alpha = str_repeat($hex{3}, 2);
+  }
+  else {
+    // Error: invalide hex string.
+    return FALSE;
+  }
+
+  $red = hexdec($r);
+  $green = hexdec($g);
+  $blue = hexdec($b);
+  $alpha = hexdec($a);
+  return array('red' => $red, 'green' => $green, 'blue' => $blue, 'alpha' => $alpha);
+}
+
+/**
  * @} End of "defgroup image".
  */
diff --git a/core/modules/image/image.admin.inc b/core/modules/image/image.admin.inc
index d72fdf4..49b3fde 100644
--- a/core/modules/image/image.admin.inc
+++ b/core/modules/image/image.admin.inc
@@ -588,6 +588,15 @@ function image_crop_form($data) {
     '#default_value' => $data['anchor'],
     '#description' => t('The part of the image that will be retained during the crop.'),
   );
+  $form['background_color'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Crop background color'),
+    '#size' => 10,
+    '#maxlength' => 8,
+    '#default_value' => empty($data['background_color']) ? '' : $data['background_color'],
+    '#field_prefix' => '#',
+    '#description' => t('Hex string specifying the background color to use when cropping the image to dimensions that exceeds the source. If not provided, will use the default. Examples: "RGB", "RGBA", "RRGGBB", "RRGGBBAA".'),
+  );
 
   return $form;
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/image/image.effects.inc b/core/modules/image/image.effects.inc
index ea898f9..eb4526f 100644
--- a/core/modules/image/image.effects.inc
+++ b/core/modules/image/image.effects.inc
@@ -185,7 +185,8 @@ function image_crop_effect(&$image, $data) {
   list($x, $y) = explode('-', $data['anchor']);
   $x = image_filter_keyword($x, $image->info['width'], $data['width']);
   $y = image_filter_keyword($y, $image->info['height'], $data['height']);
-  if (!image_crop($image, $x, $y, $data['width'], $data['height'])) {
+  $background_color = empty($data['background_color']) ? NULL : $data['background_color'];
+  if (!image_crop($image, $x, $y, $data['width'], $data['height'], $background_color)) {
     watchdog('image', 'Image crop failed using the %toolkit toolkit on %path (%mimetype, %dimensions)', array('%toolkit' => $image->toolkit, '%path' => $image->source, '%mimetype' => $image->info['mime_type'], '%dimensions' => $image->info['width'] . 'x' . $image->info['height']), WATCHDOG_ERROR);
     return FALSE;
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/simpletest/tests/image.test b/core/modules/simpletest/tests/image.test
index 60599be..e0c53f2 100644
--- a/core/modules/simpletest/tests/image.test
+++ b/core/modules/simpletest/tests/image.test
@@ -458,3 +458,129 @@ class ImageToolkitGdTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
 
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Tests image cropping functionality.
+ */
+class ImageCropBackgroundTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
+
+  protected $image;
+  protected $isid1;
+  protected $isid2;
+
+  public static function getInfo() {
+    return array(
+      'name' => 'Crop background color',
+      'description' => 'Check if after cropping to larger dimensions, the uncovered area has the correct color.',
+      'group' => 'Image',
+    );
+  }
+
+  function setUp() {
+
+    // Invoke parent method.
+    parent::setUp();
+
+    // Source image width & height.
+    $width = 50;
+    $height = 25;
+
+    // Create a new non-squared image.
+    $resource = imagecreatetruecolor($width, $height);
+
+    // Find extension.
+    $extension_png = image_type_to_extension(IMAGETYPE_PNG);
+
+    // Fill the image with pure blue color.
+    imagefill($resource, 0, 0, imagecolorallocate($resource, 0, 0, 255));
+
+    // Create a image destination.
+    $file = 'public://' . user_password() . $extension_png;
+
+    // Save test image to disk.
+    $this->image = (object) array(
+      'source' => $file,
+      'resource' => $resource,
+      'info' => array(
+        'width' => $width,
+        'height' => $height,
+        'extension' => ltrim($extension_png, '.'),
+        'mime_type' => image_type_to_mime_type(IMAGETYPE_PNG),
+      ),
+      'toolkit' => image_get_toolkit(),
+    );
+    image_save($this->image, $file);
+
+    // Create 2 dummy styles.
+    $style1 = image_style_save(array('name' => 'color'));
+    $this->isid1 = $style1['isid'];
+    $style2 = image_style_save(array('name' => 'no-color'));
+    $this->isid2 = $style2['isid'];
+
+    // Attach a single "image_crop" effect to the first style that enlarges the
+    // source image to add additional area filled with red (#FF0000).
+    $effect = array(
+      'isid' => $this->isid1,
+      'weight' => 0,
+      'name' => 'image_crop',
+      'data' => array('width' => 50, 'height' => 50, 'anchor' => 'center-center', 'background_color' => 'FF0000'),
+    );
+    image_effect_save($effect);
+
+    // Attach a single "image_crop" effect to the second style that enlarges the
+    // source image to add additional area with no specified fill.
+    $effect = array(
+      'isid' => $this->isid2,
+      'weight' => 0,
+      'name' => 'image_crop',
+      'data' => array('width' => 50, 'height' => 50, 'anchor' => 'center-center', 'background_color' => ''),
+    );
+    image_effect_save($effect);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Tests that image cropping uses the correct background color.
+   */
+  function testCropBackgroundColor() {
+    // Check if physical image file is really created.
+    $this->assertTrue(is_file($this->image->source), t('The source image (50x25) filled with blue (#0000FF) has been created: %url.', array('%url' => $this->image->source)));
+
+    $style1 = image_style_load(NULL, $this->isid1);
+    $style1['description'] = t('Cropping center-to-center from 50x20 to 50x50 with red (#FF0000) color on additional area.');
+    $style1['expected_color'] = t('red (#FF0000)');
+    $style1['expected_color_map'] = array('red' => 255, 'green' => 0, 'blue' => 0, 'alpha' => 0);
+    $style2 = image_style_load(NULL, $this->isid2);
+    $style2['description'] = t('Cropping center-to-center from 50x20 to 50x50 with no color specified for additional area.');
+    $style2['expected_color'] = t('transparent');
+    $style2['expected_color_map'] = array('red' => 0, 'green' => 0, 'blue' => 0, 'alpha' => 127);
+
+    $styles = array(
+      $style1['name'] => $style1,
+      $style2['name'] => $style2,
+    );
+
+    foreach ($styles as $style_name => $style) {
+      $name = array('%name' => $style_name);
+      $color = array('%color' => $style['expected_color']);
+      $uri = image_style_path($style_name, $this->image->source);
+
+      // Check if the Image Style has been created.
+      $this->assertTrue($style, t('The Image Style "%name" has been created and is usable.', $name));
+
+      // Inform on current operation.
+      $this->assertTrue(TRUE, $style['description']);
+
+      // Create derivative with a simple GET.
+      $this->drupalGet(image_style_url($style_name, $this->image->source));
+
+      // Load image as resource to inspect the pixel
+      // from (5, 5) which is in the new added area.
+      $this->assert(TRUE, t('Checking a pixel color from the new area, at (5, 5) in "%file".<br />Expecting %color.', $color + array('%file' => $uri)));
+      $image = image_load($uri);
+      $rgb = imagecolorat($image->resource, 5, 5);
+      $colors = imagecolorsforindex($image->resource, $rgb);
+
+      $this->assertIdentical($colors, $style['expected_color_map'], t('Pixel from (5, 5) is %color', $color));
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/core/modules/system/image.gd.inc b/core/modules/system/image.gd.inc
index 39f86dc..48c5e27 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/image.gd.inc
+++ b/core/modules/system/image.gd.inc
@@ -179,15 +179,32 @@ function image_gd_rotate(stdClass $image, $degrees, $background = NULL) {
  *   The width of the cropped area, in pixels.
  * @param $height
  *   The height of the cropped area, in pixels.
+ * @param $background
+ *   An hexadecimal string specifying the background color to use for the
+ *   additional area created when cropping to larger dimensions than the source.
+ *   Examples: "RGB", "RGBA", "RRGGBB", "RRGGBBAA". For images that support
+ *   transparency, this will default to transparent. Otherwise it will be white.
+ *
  * @return
  *   TRUE or FALSE, based on success.
  *
  * @see image_crop()
  */
-function image_gd_crop(stdClass $image, $x, $y, $width, $height) {
+function image_gd_crop(stdClass $image, $x, $y, $width, $height, $background = NULL) {
   $res = image_gd_create_tmp($image, $width, $height);
 
-  if (!imagecopyresampled($res, $image->resource, 0, 0, $x, $y, $width, $height, $width, $height)) {
+  // Fill the background color if desired.
+  if (!empty($background)) {
+    if ($background = image_hex2rgba($background)) {
+      $background = imagecolorallocatealpha($res, $background['red'], $background['green'], $background['blue'], $background['alpha']);
+      imagefill($res, 0, 0, $background);
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Copy the source image to our new destination image. We use
+  // $image->info['width'] instead of $width because we are copying using the
+  // source image's width and height, not the destination width and height.
+  if (!imagecopyresampled($res, $image->resource, -$x, -$y, 0, 0, $image->info['width'], $image->info['height'], $image->info['width'], $image->info['height'])) {
     return FALSE;
   }