diff --git a/gallery/tutorials/lecture_feature_demo.py b/gallery/tutorials/lecture_feature_demo.py
index eb8f4a48d4..f3b156e79a 100644
--- a/gallery/tutorials/lecture_feature_demo.py
+++ b/gallery/tutorials/lecture_feature_demo.py
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@
 from aspire.noise import AnisotropicNoiseEstimator, WhiteNoiseEstimator
 from aspire.operators import FunctionFilter, RadialCTFFilter, ScalarFilter
 from aspire.source import RelionSource, Simulation
-from aspire.utils import Rotation
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import (
+from aspire.utils import (
+    Rotation,
     get_aligned_rotations,
     get_rots_mse,
     register_rotations,
diff --git a/gallery/tutorials/orient3d_simulation.py b/gallery/tutorials/orient3d_simulation.py
index ce23ee5f87..c3719f0a0d 100644
--- a/gallery/tutorials/orient3d_simulation.py
+++ b/gallery/tutorials/orient3d_simulation.py
@@ -15,11 +15,7 @@
 from aspire.abinitio import CLSyncVoting
 from aspire.operators import RadialCTFFilter
 from aspire.source.simulation import Simulation
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import (
-    get_aligned_rotations,
-    get_rots_mse,
-    register_rotations,
-)
+from aspire.utils import get_aligned_rotations, get_rots_mse, register_rotations
 from aspire.volume import Volume
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/src/aspire/abinitio/commonline_base.py b/src/aspire/abinitio/commonline_base.py
index f46302c577..beb2bbd1d3 100644
--- a/src/aspire/abinitio/commonline_base.py
+++ b/src/aspire/abinitio/commonline_base.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 from aspire.abinitio.orientation_src import OrientEstSource
 from aspire.basis import PolarBasis2D
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import common_line_from_rots
+from aspire.utils import common_line_from_rots
 from aspire.utils.random import choice
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/src/aspire/basis/basis_utils.py b/src/aspire/basis/basis_utils.py
index ce05f5c4c7..8219e350b2 100644
--- a/src/aspire/basis/basis_utils.py
+++ b/src/aspire/basis/basis_utils.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 from numpy.polynomial.legendre import leggauss
 from scipy.special import jn, jv, sph_harm
 
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d, grid_3d
+from aspire.utils import grid_2d, grid_3d
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/src/aspire/ctf/ctf_estimator.py b/src/aspire/ctf/ctf_estimator.py
index 46e2ff9682..d7b933b9f9 100644
--- a/src/aspire/ctf/ctf_estimator.py
+++ b/src/aspire/ctf/ctf_estimator.py
@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@
 from aspire.numeric import fft
 from aspire.operators import voltage_to_wavelength
 from aspire.storage import StarFile
-from aspire.utils import abs2, complex_type
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_1d, grid_2d
+from aspire.utils import abs2, complex_type, grid_1d, grid_2d
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/src/aspire/denoising/adaptive_support.py b/src/aspire/denoising/adaptive_support.py
index c95afdc9fa..fa9d9bc608 100644
--- a/src/aspire/denoising/adaptive_support.py
+++ b/src/aspire/denoising/adaptive_support.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 from aspire.noise import WhiteNoiseEstimator
 from aspire.numeric import fft
 from aspire.source import ImageSource
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d
+from aspire.utils import grid_2d
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/src/aspire/image/image.py b/src/aspire/image/image.py
index 2a175a8f7c..2f8e2a8a6d 100644
--- a/src/aspire/image/image.py
+++ b/src/aspire/image/image.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 import aspire.volume
 from aspire.nufft import anufft
 from aspire.numeric import fft, xp
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d
+from aspire.utils import grid_2d
 from aspire.utils.matrix import anorm
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/src/aspire/noise/noise.py b/src/aspire/noise/noise.py
index b99a43f665..af04a00c0f 100644
--- a/src/aspire/noise/noise.py
+++ b/src/aspire/noise/noise.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from aspire.numeric import fft, xp
 from aspire.operators import ArrayFilter, ScalarFilter
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d
+from aspire.utils import grid_2d
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/src/aspire/operators/filters.py b/src/aspire/operators/filters.py
index 2397bd1404..8bf95bd935 100644
--- a/src/aspire/operators/filters.py
+++ b/src/aspire/operators/filters.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 from scipy.interpolate import RegularGridInterpolator
 
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d
+from aspire.utils import grid_2d
 from aspire.utils.filter_to_fb_mat import filter_to_fb_mat
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
diff --git a/src/aspire/source/image.py b/src/aspire/source/image.py
index bb96e251fb..8967d5dfc3 100644
--- a/src/aspire/source/image.py
+++ b/src/aspire/source/image.py
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@
     PowerFilter,
 )
 from aspire.storage import MrcStats, StarFile
-from aspire.utils import Rotation
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d
+from aspire.utils import Rotation, grid_2d
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/src/aspire/source/simulation.py b/src/aspire/source/simulation.py
index f76e07bec0..a9453ab632 100644
--- a/src/aspire/source/simulation.py
+++ b/src/aspire/source/simulation.py
@@ -8,8 +8,14 @@
 from aspire.image.xform import NoiseAdder
 from aspire.operators import ZeroFilter
 from aspire.source import ImageSource
-from aspire.utils import acorr, ainner, anorm, make_symmat, vecmat_to_volmat
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import uniform_random_angles
+from aspire.utils import (
+    acorr,
+    ainner,
+    anorm,
+    make_symmat,
+    uniform_random_angles,
+    vecmat_to_volmat,
+)
 from aspire.utils.random import rand, randi, randn
 from aspire.volume import Volume, gaussian_blob_vols
 
diff --git a/src/aspire/utils/__init__.py b/src/aspire/utils/__init__.py
index 0517ffce08..8f88da3f0f 100644
--- a/src/aspire/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/src/aspire/utils/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,23 @@
-from .misc import abs2, get_full_version, powerset, sha256sum  # isort:skip
+from .coor_trans import (  # isort:skip
+    common_line_from_rots,
+    crop_pad_2d,
+    get_aligned_rotations,
+    get_rots_mse,
+    grid_1d,
+    grid_2d,
+    grid_3d,
+    register_rotations,
+    uniform_random_angles,
+)
+from .misc import (  # isort:skip
+    abs2,
+    circ,
+    gaussian_2d,
+    get_full_version,
+    inverse_r,
+    powerset,
+    sha256sum,
+)
 from .matrix import (
     acorr,
     ainner,
@@ -23,6 +42,5 @@
     vol_to_vec,
     volmat_to_vecmat,
 )
-from .misc import circ, gaussian_2d, inverse_r
 from .rotation import Rotation
 from .types import complex_type, real_type, utest_tolerance
diff --git a/src/aspire/utils/coor_trans.py b/src/aspire/utils/coor_trans.py
index d03f4345ff..a8ad8f2d40 100644
--- a/src/aspire/utils/coor_trans.py
+++ b/src/aspire/utils/coor_trans.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 General purpose math functions, mostly geometric in nature.
 """
 
+import math
+
 import numpy as np
 from numpy.linalg import norm
 from scipy.linalg import svd
@@ -302,3 +304,32 @@ def common_line_from_rots(r1, r2, ell):
     ell_ji = int(np.mod(np.round(ell_ji), ell))
 
     return ell_ij, ell_ji
+
+
+def crop_pad_2d(im, size, fill_value=0):
+    """
+    :param im: A 2-dimensional numpy array
+    :param size: Integer size of cropped/padded output
+    :return: A numpy array of shape (size, size)
+    """
+
+    im_y, im_x = im.shape
+    # shift terms
+    start_x = math.floor(im_x / 2) - math.floor(size / 2)
+    start_y = math.floor(im_y / 2) - math.floor(size / 2)
+
+    # cropping
+    if size <= min(im_y, im_x):
+        return im[start_y : start_y + size, start_x : start_x + size]
+    # padding
+    elif size >= max(im_y, im_x):
+        # ensure that we return in the same dtype as the input
+        to_return = fill_value * np.ones((size, size), dtype=im.dtype)
+        # when padding, start_x and start_y are negative since size is larger
+        # than im_x and im_y; the below line calculates where the original image
+        # is placed in relation to the (now-larger) box size
+        to_return[-start_y : im_y - start_y, -start_x : im_x - start_x] = im
+        return to_return
+    else:
+        # target size is between mat_x and mat_y
+        raise ValueError("Cannot crop and pad an image at the same time.")
diff --git a/src/aspire/utils/misc.py b/src/aspire/utils/misc.py
index 85a19b4ab1..c1608d7408 100644
--- a/src/aspire/utils/misc.py
+++ b/src/aspire/utils/misc.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_1d, grid_2d, grid_3d
+from aspire.utils import grid_1d, grid_2d, grid_3d
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/src/aspire/volume/__init__.py b/src/aspire/volume/__init__.py
index a0288fa75a..16128246a2 100644
--- a/src/aspire/volume/__init__.py
+++ b/src/aspire/volume/__init__.py
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@
 import aspire.image
 from aspire.nufft import nufft
 from aspire.numeric import fft, xp
-from aspire.utils import Rotation, mat_to_vec, vec_to_mat
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d, grid_3d
+from aspire.utils import Rotation, grid_2d, grid_3d, mat_to_vec, vec_to_mat
 from aspire.utils.matlab_compat import m_reshape
 from aspire.utils.random import Random, randn
 from aspire.utils.types import complex_type
diff --git a/tests/test_coor_trans.py b/tests/test_coor_trans.py
index 167e58bf74..56603bb702 100644
--- a/tests/test_coor_trans.py
+++ b/tests/test_coor_trans.py
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 
-from aspire.utils import Rotation
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import (
+from aspire.utils import (
+    Rotation,
+    crop_pad_2d,
     get_aligned_rotations,
     grid_2d,
     grid_3d,
@@ -77,3 +78,184 @@ def testRegisterRots(self):
         q_mat_est, flag_est = register_rotations(rots_ref, regrots_ref)
 
         self.assertTrue(np.allclose(flag_est, flag) and np.allclose(q_mat_est, q_mat))
+
+    def testSquareCrop2D(self):
+        # Test even/odd cases based on the convention that the center of a sequence of length n
+        # is (n+1)/2 if n is odd and n/2 + 1 if even.
+        # Cropping is done to keep the center of the sequence the same value before and after.
+        # Therefore the following apply:
+        # Cropping even to odd will result in the 0-index (beginning)
+        # of the sequence being chopped off (x marks the center, ~ marks deleted data):
+        # ---x-- => ~--x--
+        # Cropping odd to even will result in the -1-index (end)
+        # of the sequence being chopped off:
+        # ---x--- => ---x--~
+
+        # even to even
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(8))
+        test_a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 7))
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(test_a, crop_pad_2d(a, 6)))
+
+        # even to odd
+        # the extra row/column cut off are the top and left
+        # due to the centering convention
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(8))
+        test_a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 8))
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(test_a, crop_pad_2d(a, 7)))
+
+        # odd to odd
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(9))
+        test_a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 8))
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(test_a, crop_pad_2d(a, 7)))
+
+        # odd to even
+        # the extra row/column cut off are the bottom and right
+        # due to the centering convention
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(9))
+        test_a = np.diag(np.arange(8))
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(test_a, crop_pad_2d(a, 8)))
+
+    def testSquarePad2D(self):
+        # Test even/odd cases based on the convention that the center of a sequence of length n
+        # is (n+1)/2 if n is odd and n/2 + 1 if even.
+        # Padding is done to keep the center of the sequence the same value before and after.
+        # Therefore the following apply:
+        # Padding from even to odd results in the spare padding being added to the -1-index (end)
+        # of the sequence (x represents the center, + represents padding):
+        # ---x-- => ---x--+
+        # Padding from odd to even results in the spare padding being added to the 0-index (beginning)
+        # of the sequence:
+        # --x-- => +--x--
+
+        # even to even
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 9))
+        test_a = np.diag([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 0])
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(test_a, crop_pad_2d(a, 10)))
+
+        # even to odd
+        # the extra padding is to the bottom and right
+        # due to the centering convention
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 9))
+        test_a = np.diag([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 0, 0])
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(test_a, crop_pad_2d(a, 11)))
+
+        # odd to odd
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 10))
+        test_a = np.diag([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0])
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(test_a, crop_pad_2d(a, 11)))
+
+        # odd to even
+        # the extra padding is to the top and left
+        # due to the centering convention
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 10))
+        test_a = np.diag([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9])
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(test_a, crop_pad_2d(a, 10)))
+
+    def testRectCrop2D(self):
+        # Additional sanity checks for rectangular cropping case
+
+        # 12x10 -> 10x10
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 11))
+        # augment to 12 rows
+        aug = np.vstack([a, np.zeros(10)])
+        aug = np.vstack([np.zeros(10), aug])
+        # make sure the top and bottom rows are stripped
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(a, crop_pad_2d(aug, 10)))
+
+        # 10x12 -> 10x10
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 11))
+        # augment to 12 columns
+        aug = np.column_stack([a, np.zeros(10)])
+        aug = np.column_stack([np.zeros(10), aug])
+        # make sure the left and right columns are stripped
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(a, crop_pad_2d(aug, 10)))
+
+        # 9x7 -> 7x7
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 8))
+        # augment to 9 rows
+        aug = np.vstack([a, np.zeros(7)])
+        aug = np.vstack([np.zeros(7), aug])
+        # make sure the top and bottom rows are stripped
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(a, crop_pad_2d(aug, 7)))
+
+        # 7x9 -> 7x7
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 8))
+        # augment to 9 columns
+        aug = np.column_stack([a, np.zeros(7)])
+        aug = np.column_stack([np.zeros(7), aug])
+        # make sure the left and right columns are stripped
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(a, crop_pad_2d(aug, 7)))
+
+    def testRectPad2D(self):
+        # Additional sanity checks for rectangular padding case
+
+        # 12x10 -> 12x12
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 11))
+        # augment to 12 rows
+        aug = np.vstack([a, np.zeros(10)])
+        aug = np.vstack([np.zeros(10), aug])
+        # expected result
+        padded = np.column_stack([aug, np.zeros(12)])
+        padded = np.column_stack([np.zeros(12), padded])
+        # make sure columns of fill value (0) are added to the
+        # left and right
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(padded, crop_pad_2d(aug, 12)))
+
+        # 10x12 -> 12x12
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 11))
+        # augment to 12 columns
+        aug = np.column_stack([a, np.zeros(10)])
+        aug = np.column_stack([np.zeros(10), aug])
+        # expected result
+        padded = np.vstack([aug, np.zeros(12)])
+        padded = np.vstack([np.zeros(12), padded])
+        # make sure rows of fill value (0) are added to the
+        # top and bottom
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(padded, crop_pad_2d(aug, 12)))
+
+        # 9x7 -> 9x9
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 8))
+        # augment to 9 rows
+        aug = np.vstack([a, np.zeros(7)])
+        aug = np.vstack([np.zeros(7), aug])
+        # expected result
+        padded = np.column_stack([aug, np.zeros(9)])
+        padded = np.column_stack([np.zeros(9), padded])
+        # make sure columns of fill value (0) are added to the
+        # left and right
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(padded, crop_pad_2d(aug, 9)))
+
+        # 7x9 -> 9x9
+        a = np.diag(np.arange(1, 8))
+        # augment to 9 columns
+        aug = np.column_stack([a, np.zeros(7)])
+        aug = np.column_stack([np.zeros(7), aug])
+        # expected result
+        padded = np.vstack([aug, np.zeros(9)])
+        padded = np.vstack([np.zeros(9), padded])
+        # make sure rows of fill value (0) are added to the
+        # top and bottom
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(padded, crop_pad_2d(aug, 9)))
+
+    def testCropPad2DError(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError) as e:
+            _ = crop_pad_2d(np.zeros((6, 10)), 8)
+            self.assertTrue(
+                "Cannot crop and pad an image at the same time.", str(e.exception)
+            )
+
+    def testCrop2DDtype(self):
+        # crop_pad_2d must return an array of the same dtype it was given
+        # in particular, because the method is used for Fourier downsampling
+        # methods involving cropping complex arrays
+        self.assertEqual(
+            crop_pad_2d(np.eye(10).astype("complex"), 5).dtype, np.dtype("complex128")
+        )
+
+    def testCrop2DFillValue(self):
+        # make sure the fill value is as expected
+        # we are padding from an odd to an even dimension
+        # so the padded column is added to the left
+        a = np.ones((4, 3))
+        b = crop_pad_2d(a, 4, fill_value=-1)
+        self.assertTrue(np.array_equal(b[:, 0], np.array([-1, -1, -1, -1])))
diff --git a/tests/test_grids.py b/tests/test_grids.py
index 87e6372829..c2a4b657c3 100644
--- a/tests/test_grids.py
+++ b/tests/test_grids.py
@@ -4,8 +4,7 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 
-from aspire.utils import utest_tolerance
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d, grid_3d
+from aspire.utils import grid_2d, grid_3d, utest_tolerance
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_preprocess_pipeline.py b/tests/test_preprocess_pipeline.py
index c1a4c6d8fa..a2efcbcf1f 100644
--- a/tests/test_preprocess_pipeline.py
+++ b/tests/test_preprocess_pipeline.py
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@
 from aspire.operators.filters import FunctionFilter, RadialCTFFilter, ScalarFilter
 from aspire.source import ArrayImageSource
 from aspire.source.simulation import Simulation
-from aspire.utils import utest_tolerance
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_2d, grid_3d
+from aspire.utils import grid_2d, grid_3d, utest_tolerance
 from aspire.utils.matrix import anorm
 from aspire.volume import Volume
 
diff --git a/tests/test_volume.py b/tests/test_volume.py
index c990c22fe7..a360641f67 100644
--- a/tests/test_volume.py
+++ b/tests/test_volume.py
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@
 from parameterized import parameterized
 from pytest import raises
 
-from aspire.utils import Rotation, powerset
-from aspire.utils.coor_trans import grid_3d
+from aspire.utils import Rotation, grid_3d, powerset
 from aspire.utils.types import utest_tolerance
 from aspire.volume import Volume, gaussian_blob_vols