How to Resize in Photoshop Using the Crop Tool
If you want to resize an image to focus entirely on a smaller portion of it, one of the quickest and easiest methods is to use the Crop tool. It enables you to select a portion of an image and remove everything else — not just the image, but that portion of the active canvas entirely.
How to Resize in Photoshop Using the Image Resizer
Photoshop has a built in tool designed exclusively to change the size of a picture. Select Image > Image Size in the top menu bar to open it. There are several ways to change the size of your image depending on your chosen parameters.
Fit to
This option gives you a selection of different image sizes to pick from, including specific resolutions, paper sizes, and pixel densities. If you want to make sure your picture fits into a prescribed size, this is one of the quickest and easiest options to pick from.
Width/Height
If you know the exact dimensions you want your photo to change to, you can input them manually. You have the option of adjusting them by pixels, percentage (of original size), inches, centimeters, and a number of other measurements.
Resolution
This lets you adjust the physical number of pixels within an image on a per-inch or per-centimeter basis. Although this will change the physical size of the image, it’s more aimed at reducing or increasing the number or density of pixels within the image.
Save for Web
To save a resized copy of an image without adjusting the size of the picture you are editing:
Transform
If you want to change the size of an image within your larger canvas you can transform it.
Transform on a New Canvas
This is great for situations when you have a specific size you want your image to conform to and don’t mind losing a little around the edges.
Fit for Print
If you want to resize an image just before printing it, use the various options within the print menu.
What Happens When You Resize a Picture?
Before you start resizing a photo in Photoshop, it’s important to understand the effect(s) that may have on your chosen image. Resizing is, in effect, changing the amount of data in a file. If you’re shrinking a picture in Photoshop, you’re removing data; enlarging it adds data.
Resampling Helps Preserve Quality
The quality of the image is reduced whenever resizing occurs, but to prevent too much of a detrimental effect on the image, Photoshop performs a task known as resampling. Photoshop reconfigures the pixels in an image and either upsamples or downsamples it depending on whether you’re enlarging or shrinking the photo. There are a number of resample options in Photoshop, but know that when Photoshop shrinks an image, it removes selective pixels while attempting to retain as much of the original picture clarity as possible. When it enlarges, it adds new pixels and slots them in where most applicable.
Quality Issues With Resizing
Enlarging images, even with clever resampling, usually results in some obvious artifacts like pixelation — the greater the enlargement, the more prominent the artifacts. Shrinking images can lead to similar problems, especially if you shrink a complicated image down so much there isn’t enough pixel space to render the same detail.
