diff --git a/manualcrop.admin.inc b/manualcrop.admin.inc
index db13345..c945fa2 100644
--- a/manualcrop.admin.inc
+++ b/manualcrop.admin.inc
@@ -618,6 +618,13 @@ function manualcrop_field_widget_settings_form($widget_type, $settings) {
     '#default_value' => $settings['manualcrop_default_crop_area'],
   );
 
+  $form['manualcrop']['manualcrop_automatic_default_crop'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'checkbox',
+    '#title' => t('Automatically crop to default crop area.'),
+    '#description' => t('Automatically create a default crop area when uploading an image. Note: Only manualcrop_crop_and_scale is supported and maximize selection is implicitly assumed.'),
+    '#default_value' => $settings['manualcrop_automatic_default_crop'],
+  );
+
   $form['manualcrop']['manualcrop_maximize_default_crop_area'] = array(
     '#type' => 'checkbox',
     '#title' => t('Maximize default crop area'),
diff --git a/manualcrop.helpers.inc b/manualcrop.helpers.inc
index 4c1e185..1f2c2a3 100644
--- a/manualcrop.helpers.inc
+++ b/manualcrop.helpers.inc
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ function manualcrop_default_widget_settings() {
     'manualcrop_instant_crop' => FALSE,
     // Show a default crop area when opening an uncropped image?
     'manualcrop_default_crop_area' => TRUE,
+    // Automatically crop an uploaded image?
+    'manualcrop_automatic_default_crop' => FALSE,
     // Maximize the default crop area?
     'manualcrop_maximize_default_crop_area' => FALSE,
     // Exclude or include the selected styles?
diff --git a/manualcrop.module b/manualcrop.module
index dd894c7..8ababeb 100644
--- a/manualcrop.module
+++ b/manualcrop.module
@@ -388,6 +388,69 @@ function manualcrop_croptool_prepare_form(&$form, &$form_state, $js_identifier,
 }
 
 /**
+ * Return the default crop size for images.
+ *
+ * This prevents a user to need to:
+ * "Click 'upload', click 'crop', click 'save'"
+ * to prevent a validation error.
+ *
+ * @param $file
+ *   The file object that contains the image.
+ * @param $image_style
+ *   The name of the manualcrop* image style to use.
+ * @param $settings
+ *   Widget settings.
+ *
+ * @return
+ *   Returns the default crop size or '' if not appliable.
+ */
+function manualcrop_get_default_crop_size($file, $image_style, $settings) {
+  $image = image_get_info($file->uri);
+
+  // Generate image style settings.
+  $styles = manualcrop_styles_with_crop();
+  if (!isset($styles[$image_style])) {
+    return '';
+  }
+  $name = $styles[$image_style]['effect']['name'];
+  $style_data = $styles[$image_style]['effect']['data'];
+
+  // @todo: Maximise default crop selection is implicit on here.
+  if (empty($settings['manualcrop_automatic_default_crop'])) {
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  // @todo: Support manualcrop_crop as well
+  if ($name != 'manualcrop_crop_and_scale') {
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  // This code is copied mainly from the javascript code
+  // and needs to be synchronized with ManualCrop.maximizeSelection.
+
+  $x = 0;
+  $y = 0;
+  $width = $image['width'];
+  $height = $image['height'];
+
+  $ratioWidth = $style_data['width'];
+  $ratioHeight = $style_data['height'];
+
+  if (($ratioWidth / $ratioHeight) > ($image['width'] / $image['height'])) {
+    // Crop from top and bottom.
+    $height = floor(($width / $ratioWidth) * $ratioHeight);
+    $y = floor(($image['height'] - $height) / 2);
+  }
+  else {
+    // Crop from sides.
+    $width = floor(($image['height'] / $ratioHeight) * $ratioWidth);
+    $x = floor(($image['width'] - $width) / 2);
+  }
+
+  return "$x|$y|$width|$height";
+}
+
+/**
  * Add a croptool to the form element. This extends the FAPI widget or simply adds
  * a new form item to enable cropping in a regular form.
  *
@@ -553,7 +616,7 @@ function manualcrop_croptool_process(&$element, &$form_state, $js_identifier, $f
       foreach ($styles as $style_name => $info) {
         $container['manualcrop_selections'][$style_name] = array(
           '#type' => 'hidden',
-          '#default_value' => (isset($item['manualcrop_selections'][$style_name]) ? $item['manualcrop_selections'][$style_name] : ''),
+          '#default_value' => (isset($item['manualcrop_selections'][$style_name]) ? $item['manualcrop_selections'][$style_name] : manualcrop_get_default_crop_size($file, $style_name, $settings)),
           '#attributes' => array(
             'id' => 'manualcrop-area-' . $file->fid . '-' . $style_name,
             'class' => array('manualcrop-cropdata'),