How to Resize Images in Photoshop
Resizing an image is a common skill in Adobe Photoshop. It is so common that even people who do not know a lot about Photoshop still deal with using it to resize their images. It should give you the idea that how easy it is to resize an image in Photoshop.
In this tutorial we learn how to resize images using the Image Size Tool, using the Canvas Size Tool, Crop Tool, Transform Tool, and at the end, some tips about image scaling in Photoshop is provided.
It is very important for any person to know how to resize an image. You may need to change the size of an image for uploading on a website, or you may need to scale an image down to a 3*4 one. So you are not going to ask a specialist or a friend to do the job for you for such a simple task.
Generally, there are 4 ways to resize a picture in Photoshop:
- Image Size. Here you can enter precise numbers to change the size of a picture.
- Canvas Size. Resizes images by increasing or decreasing the background size.
- Crop Tool. Reduces image size by trimming some parts of it.
- Transform Tool. Resize individual parts of your picture without changing the size.
If you want to have a good view over how to change the size of an image, don’t miss this tutorial.
Resize Photos Using the Image Size Tool
After you opened up an image in Adobe Photoshop, the one you are to resize it, simply go to the Image menu at the top left, and then select “Image Size”, or you can press Ctrl+Alt+I which opens you the resizing image box.
In the document size, you see many options. For resizing you can either do it in percent, centimeter, inches, millimeters, points, picas or columns. Since most of the users use “Pixels”, so we will also stick to that preference and choose pixels.
For example, you can take 2000 x 1500 pixels. So you must enter 2000 in the width section, and 1500 px the height section. Once you have done that, the resolution will automatically adjust according to the dimension you entered.
This box can also be used for resampling an image, so if you are just resizing your image, then uncheck the option of “Resample”. Once you have done that, the top box of pixel dimension becomes inaccessible. So the only option you will be dealing with is document size.
After clicking on OK, when you come back to the screen the change in the size is not apparent, because unless you do the resample of the file the image on Photoshop will look exactly the same on screen, even though its size has been changed.
If you check the resample image option, then the top box of the resizing image box becomes available to use now. Now change the width to 600 and the height will automatically change to 450 pixels. By changing the width and height the resolution will not be changed. This is because we have activated the Resample option now.
The image size is now 791 KB, which used to be 8.58 MB before. When you press OK, you will notice that the picture actually shrinks and the change becomes visible on the screen.
Resize Images Using the Canvas Size Tool
Open a new image in your Photoshop. We are going to use the Canvas Size Tool. You can access this tool through Image → Canvas Size found in the top menu bar. Or you can access the canvas window by pressing Alt+Ctrl+C. anyway, you must have the Canvas window opened.
Here you can crop some parts of your image. Actually, by entering the width and height amounts you define what parts are important for you. Notice that this is not going to change the size of your picture.
The Anchor option is for determining where to add or remove data from. It consists of a 3*3 grid. When you select one of these 9 squares, you determine which part you intend to enlarge or reduce.
For example, selecting the topmost, center square, and then raising the height amount adds data to the top part of your picture.
At the bottom, you see the Canvas extension color option. This is for times when you are enlarging your picture. Select a color from here, and Photoshop will automatically fill any enlarged areas with the color you selected.
After clicking on OK, you will see a message asking you if you are sure to clip some parts of your image. By pressing “Proceed” you can see what has happened to your pictures.
Resize Images Using the Crop Tool
Photoshop Crop Tool is another way for resizing your pictures. As the name shows, this method is a destructive way for resizing images. It will definitely resize your image finally, but at the expense of your picture. The parts of the picture which are cropped will not be visible anymore.
This is the best method whenever you want to remove parts of your picture. to get started, from the Toolbar select Crop Tool. As soon as you click on it, you’ll see some “handles” in the center and corner edges of your canvas. You can click and drag these from a corner or edge to start cropping the picture.
After selecting some parts and removing some other, you can see that the new picture has its original brightness, but portions that are to be cropped are now dark. When you are finished, press Enter to complete the cropping process.
Resize Images Using the Transform Tool
Another method for changing the image size is using the Transform Tool. Press Ctrl+T on your keyboard. With the Transform option, you can easily increase or decrease the size of the image. In order to increase the width and the height of the image accordingly, hold the Shift key while dragging the picture from its corner points.
If you are making a picture collage, you can make all your pictures of different sizes rotate, and change their position as well. You can do that to any picture you want.
Tips for Scaling Images in Photoshop
When you are scaling pictures up or down, here are some points to keep in mind.
- Always view pictures at 100%. You cannot find any other way to tell the true quality for this is the only amplification that doesn’t trick you and gives the right feedback.
- Use Resize Presets if you scale pictures to a set size often.
- You can use Image Processor pro to process lots of images.
Conclusion
This tutorial tries to induce you new points about how to resize a picture in Adobe Photoshop by yourself. We went through 4 different tools in order to resize a picture. If you have read the article, you agree with me that all of the methods are very simple and can be performed easily. In the end, as a reward, some brief tips about picture resizing is provided.