Learning how to resize an image in Photoshop is essential whether you need to fit your photo to a specific dimension or rescale a layer to meet your project. There are a few methods you can use, but some will cause a lower quality image than what you started with.
Follow three of the best strategies described below to ensure you preserve the same high-resolution quality you started with.
3 easy ways to resize images without losing quality
The three methods shown here are the best ways to resize an image in Photoshop without sacrificing quality. Whether you want to resize an entire image or simply a layer, these choices make it simple.
Adjusting the image size
You can change the dimensions and resolution of a photo using the Image resize adjustment. This strategy is useful if you have specific dimensions to match. You can immediately change the image size to achieve the greatest results, especially if you’re trying to print a photo.
Here’s how to go about it:
- Go to Image > Image size with the layer you want to make bigger selected.
- Change the dimension of your new image
- Change your image resolution
- Use your resize settings to apply to the photo
Using smart objects
Smart objects enable you to resize layers in Photoshop without sacrificing quality. Because they place your image in a “container,” you can only edit the container, not the image itself. So, even if you scaled up and down a layer repeatedly, the quality would remain steady. You’d wind up with a Pixelated, low-resolution mess if you used raster layers.
Drag and drop
All you have to do for the third method of resizing photographs without losing quality is drag and drop them from your computer. When you drag and drop files into Photoshop, the layer is automatically repositioned and scaled.
- On your computer, locate the file you wish to work with.
- Import the file into Photoshop by drag and drop
- Resize your image to meet the size of your canvas
- Commit to your modifications
