In order to explore the influencing factors of shrinkage crack propagation of compacted clay, compacted soil samples with different dry densities and initial moisture contents were prepared for the experimental study. By simulating drought conditions, shrinkage cracks gradually appeared in the compacted soil samples. During the test, the digital image processing technology was used to conduct the quantitative statistics and analysis on the formed cracks, and the influencing factors of crack development speed were analyzed by the variable density function of crack parameters. The results show that the initial water content limits the crack occurrence speed, and the number of cracks and the maximum crack width decrease with the increase of dry density. The growth rate of crack width increases with the increase of water content, but the influence of dry density on the crack development rate is not obvious. At the same initial water content, the fractal dimension decreases with the increase of dry density.